| "Cold Blooded" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byRick James | ||||
| from the albumCold Blooded | ||||
| B-side | "Cold Blooded (Instrumental)" | |||
| Released | July 5, 1983 | |||
| Studio | Joint Recording Studio,Buffalo, New York | |||
| Genre | Electro-funk,synth-pop | |||
| Length | 5:59 (album version) 4:19 (single version) | |||
| Label | Gordy | |||
| Songwriter | Rick James | |||
| Producer | Rick James | |||
| Rick James singles chronology | ||||
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"Cold Blooded" is afunk song written and recorded byRick James in 1983. James wrote the song about his relationship with actressLinda Blair.[1]
Rick James began dating Linda Blair in the fall of 1982. In early 1983, she aborted their baby then informed him she had been pregnant after the procedure. James was hurt by her decision.[1] He wrote "Cold Blooded" about Blair. "It was about how Linda could freeze my blood," he wrote in his memoir.[2]
During one of Blair's visits to James' home inBuffalo, New York, he took her to his recording studio.[1] She was interested in learning how to write music so he fired up his synthesizer and absentmindedly began noodling with the keys and came up with the bass line. Running with the idea, he played all the instruments on the track. Synth-based, it was a departure from James' previous guitar-based, horns-laced sides. He utilized the Roland TR series of drum machines which were dominant on the '80s-era Jimmy Jam-and-Terry Lewis-produced hits ofThe S.O.S. Band.
Released as the firstsingle from thealbum of the same name, "Cold Blooded" spent six weeks at number one on theBillboard R&B Singles chart and reached number 40 on theHot 100.[3]
In 1999, the song was covered by AmericanrapperOl' Dirty Bastard and included on his albumNigga Please. The song was sampled byTLC on their third albumFanMail on the interlude "Whispering Playa"; the sample was later removed on future versions of the album and replaced with a sample of the group's own song "U in Me".
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboard Hot 100[4] | 40 |
| USBillboard R&B[4] | 1 |
| USBillboard Dance[4] | 17 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[5] | 93 |
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