“Good Vibrations”, a #1 song in the US, Denmark, Sweden & Switzerland in the fall of 1991, was the result of a promise made to Mark Wahlberg by his brother Donnie, who was on tour at the time with the indescribably successful New Kids On The Block.

Donnie and Mark were the first two members originally recruited into NKOTB by producer Maurice Starr. But when Starr wanted the group to focus on ballads instead of rap, Mark (who wasn’t a singer) quit. A few years later he had dropped out of school and was involved in shoplifting and street fights (later referring to his younger self as a ‘trainwreck’).

When Donnie came home from touring, he kept his promise and wrote “Good Vibrations” with his brother Mark and friend Amir Quadeer “MC Spice” Shakir. The three produced a demo tape that radio promotion executive Marc Benesch forwarded to Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine, who loved it, signed Mark to a record deal and put the brothers into a studio to record a full album.

The track includes samples from Loleatta Holloway’s #1 Dance Track “Love Sensation”. Whereas other hits like Samantha Fox’s “I Wanna Have Some Fun” and Blackbox’s “I Don’t Know Anybody Else” had already borrowed from the track without crediting Holloway, the Wahlbergs not only included her name on the release, but also asked her to appear in the song’s music video and perform on stage with them live on The Arsenio Hall Show.

Originally Mark wanted his track “Wildside” to be his debut single but the record company insisted on “Good Vibrations” instead, which reached the top 20 in fifteen countries, was certified Gold in the US, and Billboard ranked it the #20 song of 1991. “Wildside” was the follow-up and it fared admirably, reaching the top 40 in nine countries and was also certified Gold.