"Makin' Happy" is a song by American singer-songwriter Crystal Waters, released in 1991 by Mercury and A&M as the second single from her debut studio album, Surprise (1991). It was the follow-up to Waters' hugely successful song "Gypsy Woman" and achieved moderate success in European countries. Waters co-wrote it with Neal Conway and Mark Harris, and it was produced by house music production team The Basement Boys. In the US, the song spent one week at number-one on the BillboardDance Club Songs chart and it also reached the top of the Canadian RPM Dance/Urban chart. In the UK, the single peaked at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart.
Critical reception
Alex Henderson from AllMusic complimented the song as a "highly addictive and enjoyable house/neo-disco fare".[1]Larry Flick from Billboard described it as "a frenetic and hypnotic jam".[2] He remarked that it "maintains a similar deep house vibe [as her first single]. Waters more than proves her songwriting talent here, while her unique feline vocals will test some and delight others."[3] Andy Kastanas from The Charlotte Observer declared it as "a housy tune that's bound to, well, make you happy, what else?"[4] Jennifer Bowles from Chicago Sun-Times called it "a song about, well, "makin' whoopie""[5] and added that it's "self-explanatory - there's little stories going on in the song. It's just a fun song."[6]
Push from Melody Maker felt it "would certainly do well as a follow-up. You might mistake it for Flowered Up's "Take It" until the oompah-bumped house beats and Crystal's jazzy vocals weigh in. The lyrics are basically all about having sex, when, where and how you fancy."[7] Machgiel Bakker from Music & Media called it "pop-house".[8] An editor also commented in an album review, "Just repeat the words 'Makin' Happy' endlessly and you'll get a good flavour of 'Gypsy Woman, Part II'."[9]James Hamilton from Music Week's RM Dance Update wrote that "the strange nasally pitched girl is less Eartha Kitt-like for her follow-up to 'Gypsy Woman', a jauntly trotting repetitive canterer with some "ooh wee ooh wee ooh" (and a guy's "so happy") instead of all the "la da dee, la dee da"."[10] Stuart Maconie from New Musical Express declared it as "a spectacularly bangin' tune".[11] Jonathan Bernstein from Spin described it as "ebullient".[12]
Chart performance
"Makin' Happy" enjoyed moderate success on the charts in both Europe and North-America. The single peaked at number one on both the US BillboardDance Club Songs chart and the Canadian RPM Dance/Urban chart. It did also top the BillboardDance Singles Sales chart, as well as peaking at number 58 on the BillboardRadio Songs chart and number 63 on the BillboardHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In Europe, "Makin' Happy" entered the top 10 in Italy (9) and was a top-20 hit in France (17) and on the UK Singles Chart (18) in the UK. Additionally, it was a top-30 hit in Belgium (21) and Ireland (22), and a top-40 hit on the Eurochart Hot 100, peaking at number 33 in October 1991.[13] But on the European Dance Radio Chart, it was far more successful, reaching number five.[14]
