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Boy Meets Girl is an American pop-music duo consisting of keyboardist and vocalist George Merrill and singer Shannon Rubicam. They are perhaps best known for their hit song "Waiting for a Star to Fall" from 1988 and for writing two of Whitney Houston's number one hits: "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".[1]

Boy Meets Girl
OriginSeattle, Washington, U.S.
GenresPop rock, adult contemporary
Years active1982–present
LabelsA&M, RCA, Boy Meets Girl
MembersGeorge Merrill
Shannon Rubicam
Websitewww.boymeetsgirlmusic.com

Career

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The members of Boy Meets Girl, George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam,[2] wrote and composed a number of songs for other artists. Most famous are their two number one hits written for Whitney Houston, "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".[1] They also wrote the songs "Don't Tell Me We Have Nothing" and "Haunting Me" for Deniece Williams and the song "I Know You By Heart", which was recorded by Dolly Parton and Smokey Robinson for Parton's 1987 Rainbow album, and later covered by Bette Midler for the Beaches soundtrack. The duo also performed backing vocals on Deniece Williams's number one hit, "Let's Hear It for the Boy". Merrill also sang backing vocals on Bette Midler's Some People's Lives album.

Boy Meets Girl usually produced a demo version, or, in some cases such as "Don't Tell Me We Have Nothing", a studio version, before Merrill and Rubicam handed the songs to the intended artists.

The duo's first album as a recording act was self titled, and its lead-off song, "Oh Girl", a bitter tale of a failed relationship was released as a single by A&M Records.[2] The song reached number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in May 1985. The Boy Meets Girl album peaked at number 76 on the album chart.[3]

Three years later, the group released its follow-up album, Reel Life, which featured the single "Waiting for a Star to Fall".[2] With this selection, after years of writing and composing songs for other artists, the duo earned mainstream success in their own right. In the United States, "Waiting for a Star to Fall" peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[3] The song reached number 9 in the UK Singles Chart[4] and was also a top 40 Australian hit in April 1989.[5] It was featured in the 1990 movie Three Men and a Little Lady.[2] Reportedly, the song was inspired by an actual falling star that Rubicam had seen at one of Whitney Houston's concerts at the Greek Theatre. The duo submitted the song to Houston for consideration on her next album, but her A&R at the time, Clive Davis, rejected it.

Boy Meets Girl's follow-up single "Bring Down the Moon" peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and No. 28 Adult Contemporary).[3] Reel Life contained both singles and spent several weeks at No. 50 in the United States[3] and peaked at No. 74 in the United Kingdom.[4]

Boy Meets Girl's third album, New Dream, was released in the UK & Europe in 1990,[6] but RCA Records chose not release it in the US during their label reorganization. It was finally remastered and released in 2005.[1]

In the early 2000s, the couple, who had married during the 1980s, divorced, but continued their musical collaboration. In 2003, they released their fourth album, The Wonderground,[1] on their own label, and arranged for RCA Records to re-release their two RCA albums. Their debut album recorded for A&M Records was also re-released. The limited-release various artists album Number One With a Bullet also contains their original demo tape for "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".

In 2005, "Waiting for a Star to Fall" was involved in a "sample battle". Two electronic music groups, Cabin Crew and Sunset Strippers, wanted to sample the song and remix it. Sunset Strippers, from the UK, won the right for the samples from the band's record label, releasing "Falling Stars". However, Cabin Crew, from Australia, and vocalist George Merrill re-recorded the vocals for the remixed song, entitled "Star to Fall" or "Star2Fall".[7] A year earlier, Scottish electronic musician Mylo had also used samples of the song, mixing it with Kim Carnes's cover of "Bette Davis Eyes", for his song entitled "In My Arms".

Other hits using samples of their songs include "Somebody" by Natalie La Rose & Jeremih, "If You Really Love Me (How Will I Know)" by David Guetta, MistaJam, and John Newman, and "Dance with You" by Laura Marano & Grey.

In January 2021, the duo released "More Deeply (In Love with You)", the first single from their EP 5, followed by "Falling Hard" and "Gone". In 2022, they released the album Five (Deluxe Edition) including the single "How Will I Know (Martini Mix)".

In 2024, the band released the singles "Falling Hard (Loko Velocet Remix)", "The Wonderground" by Hopkinson & Boy Meets Girl, and "We The People".

Discography

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Albums and EPs

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Year Album Record Label Chart positions
US UK
1985 Boy Meets Girl A&M Records (Universal) 76
1988 Reel Life RCA/BMG (Sony) 50 74
1991 New Dream RCA/BMG (Sony)
2001 The Wonderground Independent
2021 Five (EP Independent
2022 Five Independent

Singles

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Year Song Peak chart positions Certifications Album
US US AC AUS UK
1985 "Oh Girl" 39 Boy Meets Girl
1985 "The Touch"
1986 "Heartbreaker" single only
1988 "Waiting for a Star to Fall" 5 1 35 1 Reel Life
1989 "Bring Down the Moon" 49 28 92
1989 "Stormy Love"
1991 "Waiting for a Star to Fall" (re-issue) 76
2021 "More Deeply (In Love With You)" [1] Five
2021 "Falling Hard" [2] Five
2021 "Gone" Five
2022 "Stars Are Falling"
2022 "How Will I Know (Martini Mix)" Five (Deluxe Edition)
2024 "We The People" [3]

Songwriting Credits

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Year Song Artist Release
1983 "Falling Star" Phyllis Hyman Goddess of Love
1983 "Your Move My Heart" Phyllis Hyman Goddess of Love
1984 "Haunting Me" Deniece Williams Let's Hear It for the Boy
1984 "Don't Tell Me We Have Nothing" Deniece Williams Let's Hear it for the Boy
1985 "How Will I Know" Whitney Houston Whitney Houston
1987 "Love Finds You" Deniece Williams Love Finds You
1987 "I Know You By Heart" Dolly Parton & Smokey Robinson Rainbow
1987 "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) Whitney Houston Whitney
1987 "Simply Meant to Be" Gary Morris & Jennifer Warnes Blind Date Soundtrack
1988 "Best Intentions" Russell Hitchcock Russell Hitchcock
1988 "I Know You By Heart" Bette Midler & David Pack Beaches
1989 "When The Lights Go Down Low" Herb Alpert When The Lights Go Down Low [4]
1990 "Singer In The Storm" Holly Near Singer In The Storm
1993 "Bring Me Home" Paul Young The Crossing
1995 "Next To You" Sheena Easton My Cherie
1996 "Knee Deep" Kermit the Frog The Muppets at Walt Disney World
1997 "The Day I Get Over You" Edyta Gorniak Edyta Gorniak
1997 "The Story Of Love" OTT This One's For You
1999 "Sheila" Danny O'Keefe Runnin' From the Devil
1999 "Only An Ocean Away" Danny O'Keefe Runnin' From the Devil
1999 "7 Lonely Days" Human Nature Counting Down
2000 "We See It Differently" Sister2Sister One
2000 "Last One Standing" Girl Thing Girl Thing
2004 "Take Me To The Clouds Above" LMC Take Me To The Clouds Above
2005 "In My Arms Mylo In My Arms
2005 "Star2Fall" Cabin Crew Star2Fall
2005 "Falling Stars" Sunset Strippers Falling Stars
2006 "Dance!" Fatman Scoop, Lumidee, Goleo FIFA World Cup 2006 soundtrack
2009 "Girls Just Wanna Dance" Royal Gigolos Girls Just Wanna Dance
2015 "How Will I Know" Sam Smith The Lonely Hour (Drowning Shadows Edition)
2015 "Somebody" Natalie La Rose, Jeremih Somebody
2018 "In The Middle" Em Rossi In The Middle
2021 "If You Really Love Me (How Will I Know)" David Guetta, MistaJam, John Newman If You Really Love Me (How Will I Know)
2021 "Dance with You" Laura Marano & Grey Us
2022 "YAH Know" Chance The Rapper YAH Know
2023 "A Better Life" Graham Nash Now
2024 "The Wonderground" Hopkinson & Boy Meets Girl The Wonderground [5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Demalon, Tom. "Boy Meets Girl Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 310. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  3. ^ a b c d "Boy Meets Girl - Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on July 9, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Boy Meets Girl - Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
  5. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  6. ^ "Boy Meets Girl - New Dream (1990, CD) - Discogs". Discogs.
  7. ^ Masterton, James. Chart Watch UK - Hits of 1989. James Masterton. ISBN 9780463138571.
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