PLEASE HAMMER, DON’T HURT ’EM
Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ’Em is the third album (and second major-label release) by MC Hammer, released on February 12, 1990 by Capitol Records. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Felton Pilate and James Earley. The album ranked number one for 21 weeks on the Billboard 200, due primarily to the success of the single “U Can’t Touch This”. The song has been and continues to be used in many movies and television shows to date, and appears on soundtrack/compilation albums as well. Likewise, the album saw longevity on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at number one because it peaked there for 28 weeks. The album singles released all proved to be successful on radio and video television, with “U Can’t Touch This”, “Pray”, “Have You Seen Her”, “Here Comes the Hammer”, and “Yo!! Sweetness” (UK only) all charting. It was the first hip-hop album certified diamond by the RIAA for sales of over ten million. (More from Wikipedia)
Not long after we moved to New York City in January 1990, THE song on the radio and on videos and even in the air was the huge rap hit “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer. It is almost impossible not to like this song, or at least I found it that way, and my landing in the big city about the time that “U Can’t Touch This” was hitting its stride in the charts helped that along. The song was not initially available as a single, so album sales of Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ’Em hit 18 million. MC Hammer had other hit songs over the years but, not surprisingly, was never able to top this one.
(September 2016)
