"Tell Me Something Good" is a song by Rufus included on their 1974 album Rags to Rufus, written by Stevie Wonder and released in 1974. This was the first and only hit credited to Rufus, as once singer Chaka Khan's voice became the focus of the group, they changed their name to "Rufus featuring Chaka Khan" for their next album. The single was a hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent one week at number one on the Cash Box Top 100. It was among the earliest hits to use the guitar talk box, by Tony Maiden.

Production

The record was produced by the band with Bob Monaco. The song has been described as having ".. rude metallic guitar" (by Al Ciner) and ".. a beautiful bass, clav and heavy breathing groove." The song can be difficult to count as there is an off-count into the verse. The first note is on the "and of four."

Critical reception

Jason Elias of AllMusic described the song as "a rare instance of an artist like Stevie Wonder giving away a tune that he could have had a big hit with himself." On July 5, 1974, the band played the song on The Midnight Special and on September 7, played the song, along with "You Got The Love", on Don Cornelius's show Soul Train.

Awards

Rufus won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus for the song at the 17th Annual Grammy Awards in 1975.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

In popular culture

Ewan McVicar version

In 2021, Scottish DJ and producer Ewan McVicar released a dance version of the song on Trick Records which was licensed to Ministry of Sound. It reached the UK Singles Chart in September 2021, entering the top 40 of the chart dated October 15–21, 2021. On 5 November 2021, the song had reached number 15. It was certified gold by the BPI in 2022. It also reached No. 12 in Ireland, No. 34 on the Dutch Top 40 and No. 49 on the US Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

Charts

Certifications

Other versions and sampling