You Oughta Know: Bruno Mars, DOO-WOPS AND HOOLIGANS

10 years ago yesterday, Bruno Mars released his debut album, DOO-WOPS AND HOOLIGANS, an LP which has gone platinum six times over at this point. As such, we’d be very, very surprised if you weren’t already extremely aware of its existence. That said, if for some reason you don’t know about it... Well, you oughta know!

Produced by the triple threat of The Smeezingtons, Needlz, and Supa Dups, DOO-WOPS AND HOOLIGANS may have been Bruno Mars’ first album, but he’d already made a name for himself through his work as a featured artist on two major hits: B.o.B.’s 2009 single “Nothin’ on You,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100, and Travie McCoy’s 2010 single “Billionaire,” which hit #4. The songs were so successful that the aforementioned Smeezingtons – a trio which consisted of Mars, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine – were given a six-month deadline to knock out Mars’ debut album, only for the demand to prove so significant that they ultimately had to finish the whole affair in merely a month.

Fortunately, they succeeded, and they did so in such a big way that you probably know way more of the songs on DOO-WOPS AND HOOLIGANS than you think you do.

Here’s how the singles did:

•    “Just the Way You Are” – #1 pop hit, went platinum 12x over
•    “Grenade” – #1 pop hit, earned diamond certification
•    “The Lazy Song” - #4 pop hit, went platinum 7x over
•    “Talking to the Moon” – didn’t even chart and still went double platinum
•    “Marry You” – stalled at #85 but nonetheless went 4x platinum
•    “Count on Me” – didn’t chart but still went 3x platinum

See what we mean? Now that’s what we can an insanely popular album, and one which you absolutely, positively oughta know!