"You Dropped a Bomb on Me" is a song performed by the Gap Band, released in 1982 on producer Lonnie Simmons' label, Total Experience Records. In addition to the single release, the song was featured on the band's 1982 album Gap Band IV.
Background[]
A notable feature of the song is its use of a synthesizer to imitate the whistling sound of a bomb being dropped. This is first heard immediately before the first verse, and throughout the song from the fourth chorus onward. The song also features timpani drum rolls.
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the song was one of those named on the 2001 Clear Channel memorandum of "lyrically questionable" songs.
Chart positions and performance[]
It reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B charts, No. 39 on the dance charts, and No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.