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We've had to charge the blog up for a week or so in order to resume at full strength. Return of the Yes More Drama at 100% commences now.


113. Mark Morrison - "Return of the Mack" (Atlantic, 1996)

I moved from Poland to Chicago at age 5, in 1990. Throughout the 90s I would go back to Poland for the summer at least every other year and my aunt, who had cable, would get (mostly German) music channels, which, along with sports channels, made up most of my summer TV viewing. Occasionally, I would catch something on Viva or Viva Zwei, and then I'd come back to America and a few months or a year later they'd be on MTV. During the summer of 96, such acts included the Backstreet Boys, the Prodigy, and Brit R&B singer Mark Morrison, whose "Return of the Mack" somehow finishes at 113 on our countdown.

Truthfully, this song could easily get by solely on introducing the phrase "pump up the world" into my life. But, also, it is quite fun to clap your hands to with a bunch of people while drunk. While its lyrics are more emotionally charged, it occupies a spot in my head as a sort of British cousin to "This is How We Do It", summertime R&B jams that are both super-smooth and party-appropriate.

(below is the 5 minute version for maximum groovin'. The black-turtleneck-featuring vid is here)