U Sure Do — Strike

“U Sure Do” got two shots at the UK chart and made the second one count. Strike released it in December 1994; four months later it was back, at No. 4, and at No. 1 on the UK dance chart.

Strike

Strike formed in London in 1994 around producers Matt Cantor and Andy Gardner, with Victoria Newton on vocals; a Record Mirror review named her as the singer on “U Sure Do”. The group worked with Fresh Records. Their first single, “Formula One”, reached No. 89 in 1994.

Two records, one hook

The track is assembled from two older records. The vocal hook comes from Donna Allen’s “Serious”, an R&B single first released in 1986 that reached No. 5 on the US R&B chart and No. 8 in the UK. The main synth line comes from “Night in Motion”, a 1991 track by Cubic 22. Gardner and Cantor are credited as the song’s writers and producers.

Release and re-release

Fresh Records released “U Sure Do” in December 1994, and it reached No. 31. In April 1995 it re-entered the chart and climbed to No. 4, while topping the UK dance chart. Abroad it reached No. 9 in Australia, No. 10 on the Eurochart Hot 100, No. 13 on the Dutch Top 40, No. 18 in Italy and No. 20 in Ireland. Billboard’s Larry Flick called it “instantly memorable”.

Strike followed it with “The Morning After (Free at Last)” (No. 38, 1995), “Inspiration” (No. 27, 1996), “My Love Is for Real” (No. 35, 1996) and “I Have Peace” (No. 17, 1997). Their only album, I Saw the Future, came out in 1997.

Remixes and legacy

A remix, “U Sure Do ’99”, reached No. 53 in the UK in 1999, and a third remix in 2006 went out to DJs only. MTV Dance ranked the original No. 45 in its 100 Biggest 90’s Dance Anthems in 2011, Attitude put it at No. 4 in its top ten dance tunes of the 1990s in 2016, and it is included in Robert Dimery’s 1001 Songs. In 2025 Classic Pop placed it ninth in a list of hits built on 1980s samples.

For more from the same UK charts, read about “Try Me Out” by Corona. For an earlier hit built on a borrowed vocal, see “Ride on Time” by Black Box.