20 Things You Didn’t Know About Maroon 5’s ‘It Won’t Be Soon Before Long’
Think you know all there is to learn about Maroon 5? Here are 20 things you didn’t know about their dance-pop crossover smash ‘It Won’t Be Soon Before Long’.
Released on 16 May 2007, Maroon 5’s second album, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, saw them embrace a pop-funk sound that took the group closer to the dancefloor than ever before. The results were a crossover hit that would make them one of the biggest bands in the world.
uDiscover Music digs deep into to the past to find 20 things you didn’t know about It Won’t Be Soon Before Long.
1
Frontman Adam Levine claims that Alicia Keys was a big influence on the musical direction of the record.
2
Album track ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ proved so popular it managed to bubble under the Billboard Hot 100 as a breaking track.
3
‘Makes Me Wonder’ was premiered at the 2007 Kids’ Choice Awards, with the lyrics toned down so as not to offend sensitive young ears!
4
As part of the promotional campaign for It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, Maroon 5 performed on numerous US TV shows, including a prestigious slot on the semi-final of American Idol.
5
Weston-super-Mare was the unlikely choice for a seaside concert in the UK, when the band performed three songs as part of a TV-supported festival.
6
Mark Ronson steered the remix of ‘Wake Up Call’, which featured Mary J Blige and was added to some editions of the album’s deluxe reissue.
7
In a rare break from promoting It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, Adam Levine appeared in a video for Saturday Night Live, serenading the President of Iran alongside The Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg.
8
Despite its phenomenal sales streak and strong chart performance, Rolling Stone magazine only listed ‘Makes Me Wonder’ as the 49th best song of 2007.
9
A remix album, Call And Response, was issued at the end of the It Won’t Be Soon Before Long campaign, collecting remixes of songs from Maroon 5’s first two albums.
10
The album track ‘Not Falling Apart’ was remixed by Tiesto and became a major dance hit in the US, peaking at No.3 in the club charts.
11
‘Goodnight Goodnight’ was picked by TV executives to help promote The CW channel’s autumn line-up and was also used in an episode of CSI: NY.
12
Rihanna claimed she had been waiting for the band to call her, as she had long admired them. Her collaboration on ‘If I Never See Your Face Again’ proved to be a worldwide hit. Earlier, her ‘Umbrella’ smash had knocked ‘Makes Me Wonder’ off the top of the US charts.
13
Plans to create a fan montage video for ‘Won’t Go Home Without You’ were abandoned and a Sophie Muller-directed promo was eventually released in October 2007. Muller had previously worked with the band on ‘This Love’ and ‘She Will Be Loved’.
14
‘Won’t Go Home Without You’ lost out to Coldplay’s ‘Viva La Vida’ at the 51st Grammy Awards in February 2009. The band and Rihanna also lost out to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss in the pop collaboration category.
15
Despite nominations at the 50th and 51st Grammy Awards, Maroon 5 did not perform at either ceremony.
16
‘Wake Up Call’ can be heard in an episode of the HBO series Entourage.
17
Kelly Clarkson’s ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’ would later shatter ‘Makes Me Wonder’’s reign as the song with the record-breaking largest leap to the top of the Billboard charts.
18
Las Vegas radio station KMXB was honoured with the task of hosting the first-ever radio play of ‘Makes Me Wonder’.
19
‘Makes Me Wonder’ had an interrupted run at the top of the Billboard charts, with T-Pain’s ‘Buy You A Drink (Shawty Snappin’)’ briefly breaking the sequence for a single week.
20
The band issued a cover of John Lennon’s ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ on some international editions of the CD single for ‘Won’t Go Home Without You’.
Looking for more? Discover the full story behind It Won’t Be Soon Before Long.
It Won’t Be Soon Before Long can be bought here.
UK English
