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"Who's Johnny"
"Who's Johnny"
Single by El DeBarge
from the album El DeBarge
B-side	"Love Me in a Special Way"
Released	1986
Genre	Dance-pop
Length	4:08; 6:24 (12" version)
Label	Gordy
Songwriter(s)	Peter Wolf, Ina Wolf
Producer(s)	Peter Wolf
El DeBarge singles chronology

"Who's Johnny" is the debut solo single by El DeBarge. Released in 1986 on the Gordy label, the single was used for the film Short Circuit and reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B Singles chart.^[1] It was the only solo number 1 single El DeBarge released after he left his family group, DeBarge, that same year.

The song was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic on his album Polka Party! with the song "Here's Johnny".

Music video

The music video features El DeBarge singing in a courtroom, where a judge is presiding over the trial of Johnny 5 (the robotic protagonist of Short Circuit). A representative of NOVA, the government defense contractor that created Johnny, sits at the prosecutor's table as El DeBarge sings his testimony from the witness stand. Stephanie Speck (Ally Sheedy) and a cardboard cutout of Newton Graham Crosby, Ph.D. (Steve Guttenberg) are also in attendance as adversarial witnesses for the prosecution, implying that El Debarge is playing the co-lead role of Ben Jabituya, played by Fisher Stevens in the film. The prosecutor's sole question during these examinations is the titular line of the song "Who's Johnny?" She plays a VHS tape, labeled "Short Circuit", containing various clips from the movie. Meanwhile, Number 5 wreaks havoc in the courtroom (only his robotic hand is visible to the viewer) with various hijinks, including giving the prosecuting attorney a pair of funny nose glasses, turning up the ceiling fan to create a windstorm of papers, swapping the judge's gavel for an exploding one and calling the fire department, resulting in the judge being sprayed with water. Stephanie and El DeBarge sneak out of the courtroom at the end, covering the camera with a slate on their way out. The prosecutor, still wearing the trick glasses, pops up to deliver the last "Who's Johnny?"

Personnel

El DeBarge – lead vocals, backing vocals
Peter Wolf – various instruments, arrangements
Dann Huff – guitar
Siedah Garrett – backing vocals
Phillip Ingram – backing vocals
Dennis Lambert – backing vocals
Michael McDonald – backing vocals
Phil Perry – backing vocals
Julia Waters – backing vocals
Oren Waters – backing vocals
Ina Wolf – backing vocals

Production

Peter Wolf – producer
Brian Malouf – recording, mixing
Michael Bowman – assistant engineer
Dan Garcia – assistant engineer
Stephen Krause – assistant engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

(1986)	Peak
Australia Kent Music Report^[2]	33
Canada Top 100 (RPM)^[3]	1
Canada A.C. (RPM)^[4]	7
US Billboard Hot 100^[5]	3

Year-end charts

Year-end chart (1986)	Rank
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)^[6]	67
Canada (RPM)^[7]	15

References

^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 150.
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 85. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - July 19, 1986" (PDF).
^ "RPM Top 30 Adult Contemporary - July 6, 1986" (PDF).
^ "El DeBarge: Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 15, 2018.
^ "1986 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 52. Nielsen Business Media Inc. December 27, 1986. p. Y-21.
^ "RPM Top 100 Singles of '86 - December 27, 1986" (PDF).