"You Dropped a Bomb on Me"
A-side label of US 12-inch vinyl release
Single bythe Gap Band
from the albumGap Band IV
B-side	"Lonely Like Me" "Humpin'" "Early in the Morning"
Released	August 1982
Genre	Synth-funk[1][2]
Length	5:13 (album version and 12-inch single) 4:05 (single edit) 13:07 (special disco mix)
Label	Total Experience
Songwriters	Lonnie Simmons Rudy Taylor Charlie Wilson
Producer	Lonnie Simmons
The Gap Band singles chronology
"Early in the Morning" (1982) "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" (1982) "Outstanding" (1983)
Audio sample
"You Dropped A Bomb On Me" file help

"You Dropped a Bomb on Me" is afunk song performed by AmericanR&B andfunk bandThe Gap Band, released in August 1982 on producerLonnie Simmons's label,Total Experience Records. In addition to the single release, it was included on the band's sixth album,Gap Band IV (1982). It reached No. 2 on the USBillboardHot Black Singles chart, No. 39 on theBillboardDance/Disco Top 80, and No. 31 on theBillboard Hot 100. In 2022,Rolling Stone ranked "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" No. 96 in their list of the "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time".^[3]

The song prominently features a synthesizer that imitates the whistling sound of anaerial bomb being dropped. This is first heard once immediately before the first verse, and repeats throughout the song from the fourth chorus onward. The song also featurestimpani drum rolls.

A long-standing rumor claimed that "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" was inspired by theTulsa race massacre, during which bombs were dropped on black neighborhoods and businesses. Tulsa is the Gap Band's hometown. In 2021, 100 years after the massacre, Gap Band frontmanCharlie Wilson confirmed that the rumor was false, although he did express appreciation that it brought attention to the historical event.^[4]

In the aftermath of theSeptember 11 attacks, the song was one of those named on the2001 Clear Channel memorandum of "lyrically questionable" songs.^[5]

• You Dropped a Bomb on Me music video from the Gap Band'sVevo page

• 1982 songs
• 1982 singles
• American funk songs
• The Gap Band songs
• Songs written by Charlie Wilson (singer)
• Songs written by Lonnie Simmons
• Songs written by Rudy Taylor
• Total Experience Records singles

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