Peak
3
Weeks
42
Score
7,197
Chart Year
1996
///
Twenty-four years after The O'Jays invited us aboard the Love Train, The Quad City DJ's pulled into town with "C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)," a dance-floor filler that's all about getting your groove on. The song was one of the big hits in the Miami bass genre, which also includes "Me So Horny" by 2 Live Crew and "Whoomp! There It Is" by Tag Team. One of the Quad City DJ's is C.C. Lemonhead, who was also part of the group 95 South ("Whoot! There It Is") and the 69 Boyz ("Tootsee Roll"). Most Miami bass tracks are pumped full of testosterone, but this one features a female vocalist: JeLana LaFleur, who was part of the group. The guys in the group, Jay Ski and C.C. Lemonhead, handle the verses, where they make a few moves on the ladies ("I wanna take you home with me"...) but keep it clean, with the focus on dancing and having a good time. This gave the song lots of crossover appeal and earned it airplay on stations that shied away from booty songs. This is a lesson learned from Tag Team, whose family-friendly "Whoomp! There It Is," released in 1993, became a franchise. The beat is sampled from Barry White's 1974 "Theme From Together Brothers." The song's hook harks to the children's story The Little Engine That Could, where the little train wills himself up the tracks with the mantra, "I think I can, I think I can..." This song earned The Quad City DJ's a gig doing the theme song for the 1996 Michael Jordan movie Space Jam. "Space Jam" - the song - charted at #37. They broke up the following year after one more minor hit: "Summer Jam." Report this ad The Quad Cities are in Iowa, and no, that's not where the group is from. They're from Jacksonville, where "quad" is a term for "bass," thus the name. This was the last big "train" hit in America, although the group Train came on the scene soon after. Note that the TV series Soul Train had just let go of Don Cornelius in 1993, and was staggering around with a few different hosts trying to find itself again when this song was released. So there might have been an intentional continuation of the idea of trains being a metaphor for R&B music here. This was the theme song of the 1996 film High School High, which had a blink-and-miss-it box-office run. It starred Jon Lovitz - you almost remember him from the cult-classic animated TV series The Critic. The song also appears in the movie Celtic Pride, also from 1996. This was released on Atlantic Records, which in the '60s was home to the likes of Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, but scored their R&B success in the mid-'90s with artists that included Aaliyah, Changing Faces, Mark Morrison and Junior M.A.F.I.A. The 1996 University of Florida football team (The Gators), appropriated this song and made the "blowing the horn on the train" gesture to signify big plays. Their coach, Steve Spurrier, wasn't sure what those crazy kids were doing, but he didn't like it. In the Cameron Casey-directed music video, the DJ's are riding through the streets of Los Angeles, but not on a train. They're on a low-riding space ship with a crew of dancers. Most of the dance moves were improvised to accommodate the one-day shoot. We counted 44 repetitions of the word "train" in this song.
Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can Way deep down south, where we play this game It's them Quad City DJs and you, we call it the train So if you wanna ride your thing Just come on down the train We gonna rock, ooh, Lord, just jump aboard, baby So get your next of kin, your sister and your friend Pack it up now Choo, choo, ride on this, choo, choo And, boo, you need to stop faking, and come on with me I wanna take you home with me, to be alone with me And I can see you wanna hide it, come on, just divide it And please don't knock it, until you ride it So to all of you girls, you know, I'm calling your name Michelle, Tamika and Tanya wanna ride this train, ride out now Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, it's the choo, choo Come on, it's the choo, choo train Come on, it's the choo, choo Come on, it's the choo, choo train If you feel like dancing, well, come on, it's up to you We got the sound to keep you getting down, down The train is coming through Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can I can smell them tranquil breezes from a mile away Graduated from Booze, up to allazay Baby, you looking tough to death got your weave done right It's on so tight, now it's on tonight, yeah, yeah Right about now it's about that time for me to holler Girl, I wanna waller in the back of my Impala Woo, don't need no tickets for this thing Just jump on in, let me hit them switches on the train And it ain't no thing, it's all the same Get on the train tracks, here we go, so get on the floor And put a hump in your back So pack your bags, come on, get ready, say what? We're coming through your town Move your arm up and down And make that choo choo sound, like this Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Come on, it's the choo, choo Come on, it's the choo, choo train Come on, it's the choo, choo Come on, it's the choo, choo train If you feel like dancing, well, come on, it's up to you We got the sound to keep you getting down, down The train is coming through Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Ride that choo, choo, woo, woo Come on, it's the choo, choo Come on, it's the choo, choo train Come on, it's the choo, choo Come on, it's the choo, choo train If you feel like dancing, well, come on, it's up to you We got the sound to keep you getting down, down The train is coming through Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it Come on, it's the choo, choo Come on, it's the choo, choo train Come on, it's the choo, choo Come on, it's the choo, choo train
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 16, 1996 | 97 | 29 |
| 2 | Mar 23, 1996 | 90 | 36 |
| 3 | Mar 30, 1996 | 88 | 38 |
| 4 | Apr 6, 1996 | 84 | 42 |
| 5 | Apr 13, 1996 | 83 | 43 |
| 6 | Apr 20, 1996 | 71 | 55 |
| 7 | Apr 27, 1996 | 66 | 60 |
| 8 | May 4, 1996 | 60 | 66 |
| 9 | May 11, 1996 | 59 | 67 |
| 10 | May 18, 1996 | 51 | 75 |
| 11 | May 25, 1996 | 41 | 85 |
| 12 | Jun 1, 1996 | 38 | 88 |
| 13 | Jun 8, 1996 | 25 | 101 |
| 14 | Jun 15, 1996 | 20 | 106 |
| 15 | Jun 22, 1996 | 17 | 109 |
| 16 | Jun 29, 1996 | 15 | 111 |
| 17 | Jul 6, 1996 | 14 | 112 |
| 18 | Jul 13, 1996 | 9 | 117 |
| 19 | Jul 20, 1996 | 8 | 118 |
| 20 | Jul 27, 1996 | 9 | 117 |