| MUSIC |
| 14-07-2007: Finally I have started to change this bit (we have some new amazing facts at least) - should be done in about 2-3 days - well this particular page anyway. DJ Wittzy Now those who know DJ Wittzy know that his taste is music is very, very specific. VERY specific I might add. I believe I am the only one out of my "Homies" who has this particular taste in music, which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Anyway, it probably should go without saying that any DJ should be involved within ELECTRONIC music somewhere. And that is my passion - electronic music. Now for those of you who don't understand this term "electronic" - and there are quite a few - let me explain. It's really pretty simple. I used to tell everyone I liked "dance" music - I still tell most people that (purely because they don't know what electronic means...). But Dance is really the wrong term. That relates specifically to commercial club music and is sometimes wrongly associated with R&B (by morons). Electronic music on the other hand relates to all types of dance music (commercial and non-commercial) and popular music which uses synthesizers and other electronic devices. This includes Disco, Ambient, Experimental, Synth-pop, Drum & Bass, Garage, as well as House, Trance and Techno. Electronic bands and artists include anything from Chemical Brothers to Cascada, Depeche Mode to DJ Sammy, Fatboy Slim to Frankie Goes To Hollywood, KLF to Kylie Minogue, Leftfield to Livin' Joy, Moby to Madonna, New Order to N-Trance, Orbital to Oxide & Neutrino, Pet Shop Boys to Pendulum, and so on. Electronic music basically covers a huge range of genres within comercial and underground dance and pop music. BRIEF HISTORY OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC: Electronic music, like all styles of popular music, originated from the black natives of Africa. Popular music in the first half of the 20th century was dominated by R&B (not the shite we have now obviously), Jazz and Rock & Roll. Infact, Rock & Roll was responsible for the development and creation of electronic music. Disco was the first sub-genre of dance music to make an impact in the popular music scene in the late 1960s and 70s, with heavy influences of Rock and Funk, and this also signalled the very beginning of the clubbing era. As the 70s drew to a close, artists like Kraftwerk and Gary Numan made Electropop fashionable, using keyboards and synthesizers to create unusual, previously unheard of strange synthetic noises. The 80s was a definitive era in the music industry - many new styles of music were in development and were making a big impact in the charts by the end of the decade. Two of these new styles of music were created in the US. Garage music (probably got its name from DJs playing their sets in warehouses and garage) and House music (from 'Warehouse') originated from Chicago, which gave way to the wave of 'Chicago House' records coming out during that period. These two styles were developed from Disco, and the stereotypical producers of early Garage and House records were gay, black African-Americans. Meanwhile, in Detroit, three young music enthusiasts - Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson - developed a new style of music whilst playing around with some synthesizers. This new brand of music was Detroit Techno, or just Techno. Derrick May's project Rhythim Is Rhythim (yes it was indeed spelt with the i's in, although sometimes the name was seen without them in) produced one of the seminal early Techno anthems Strings Of Life in 1987, although it only crossed over to the UK in early '89. Saunderson's band Inner City had considerible success in the UK, unusual for a Techno act, with two big hits in 1988 - Big Fun and Good Life - which both typified the distinctive Detroit sound. Both made the UK Top ten, and Inner City's Paradise LP was also a major hit. In mid-80s UK, the charts were dominated by (typically) gay Synthpop acts, replacing the 70s Punk scene which had disappeared, and paving the way for electronic music to become a major force in the popular music industry. Most electronic music around this time used 808 or 909 drum-machines (as opposed to real drummers), and another new style - Acid House - used a Roland TB-303 sythesizer to create the 'acid squelches' present in every record (one of the many theories to how Acid House got its name). The US Acid House scene crossed over to the UK, and began the mental rave era amongst the youth of Britain. More and more new styles of House music were born in the ever-blossoming electronic scene of the late 80s, including Hip-House, Italo-House, Garage House, Deep House, Tech House, Ambient House, Progressive House and many more. But whilst the underground electronic scene was booming, few House acts had made a major impact on the UK charts. Steve "Silk" Hurley's Chicago House record Jack Your Body crossed over from America to become the first House number 1 record in the UK, when it hit top spot in January 1987. Later that same year, M/A/R/R/S also hit the #1 spot with Pump Up The Volume, a House record which used several samples and scratches over a simple repetitive keyboard bassline. This was one of several House and Hip-Hop records at the time which made use of short vocal samples or loops taken from other songs or even television programmes. Other records which used the same samples during the 1987-88 period included Beat Dis by Bomb The Bass, Coldcut's top ten hit Doctorin' The House, and their remix of Eric B & Rakim's Paid In Full. In 1989, the biggest-selling single of the year was Italian production team Black Box with their Italo-House hit Ride On Time, which spent six weeks at #1 in the UK. This was one of many Italian piano House hits to cross over and make a big impact on the charts; other acts included 49ers, FPI Project and Starlight (a pseudonym of Black Box). The piano House craze was particularly big in parts of Northern England at the time, whilst in Sheffield and Leeds 'bleepy' Techno was growing increasingly popular amongst local ravers. LFO and Tricky Disco both had self-titled top 20 hits in the UK charts in the summer of 1990. LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) contained an incredibly heavy low-frequency warped bassline which could destroy powerful speakers. In Manchester, Indie bands like the Happy Mondays used strong electronic influences in their music. The 'Madchester' scene was also famous for acts like Stone Roses, 808 State, New Order, A Guy Called Gerald, Future Sound Of London and of course the now defunct Hacienda Club, which was shut down in 1996. The Techno scene was also popular in Stafford, where Hardcore act Altern-8 and more pop-oriented Bizarre Inc produced several rave anthems in the early-90s. Nearby Stoke-On-Trent was home to the club Shelley's, which saw promising young DJs such as Sasha appear there on regular occasions. The 1991-92 Old Skool era saw many cheesy Hardcore and Euro-Techno anthems fly into the UK charts with varying degrees of success, whilst House music was as popular as ever. The rave scene went underground again towards the end of 1993, with the Breakbeat Hardcore replaced with much faster harder breaks, such as Ragga Jungle and early Drum & Bass. This coincided with the government ban on illegal raves in 1994. By then, cheesy Euro House had become big across the UK and Europe, and few people began to take dance music seriously. Trance music started to become big in the mid-90s after crossing over from Ibiza, although this modern Trance was much more club-friendly and commercial in comparison with how the genre began. The KLF created one of the first major Trance records with their instrumental What Time Is Love (Pure Trance Original) in 1988. They followed this up with a series of other Trance hits such as 3 A.M. Eternal and Last Train To Trancentral in 1989. The style of these early Trance records were much more ambient and relatively slow-paced, typified on the KLF's Chill Out LP. New Age band Enigma had a #1 hit at the very end of 1990 with their single Sadness Part 1 (or Sadeness, as it was spelt on the release). This was another downbeat instrumental hypnotic Trance cut which was much more emotive and in total contrast to the high energy club-friendly stuff produced in more recent times. German duo Jam & Spoon increased the popularity of the genre by producing a string of fantastic mellow Trance beats which were also club-friendly at the same time, such as Stella (1992), Odyssey To Anyoona (1994), and Follow Me! (1993). They also remixed Frankie Goes To Hollywood's massive hit Relax when it was re-released in 1993. As the 1990s ended, the dance craze at the beginning of the decade was beginning to wear thin, and popular music contained fewer influences of electronic music, with R&B in particular starting to make a bigger impact on the charts. The Old Skool days of Techno, Breakbeat Hardcore and mellow Trance had gone, and was replaced with much more commercial House and Trance, and also Big Beat - made popular by Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers. Dance music was now less about the music and more about the clubbing scene, as the quality of the music plummeted. After a series of Euro-Trance anthems and the occasional mellow Ibiza record hit the UK in 2000-01, Trance's commercial popularity faded considerably and is rarely seen in the modern UK charts. House remains the most commercially-appealing genre within electronic music, although since about 2005, Electro has dominated the electronic music scene. Hard Trance and Drum & Bass remain popular in the underground scene. So there you have it, 35 years or so of electronic music; it has changed immeasurably and constantly in that time, although it has passed its peak long ago. Not such a 'brief' history, but I guess most of you didn't even bother to read most of it, or any of it for that matter. WHAT MAKES ELECTRONIC MUSIC APPEAL TO ME: 1. Synth 2. Drum Machines 3. 303s 4. Bassline 5. Scratches 6. Samples 7. Emotion 8. Endless boundaries WHAT I HATE: 1992: I believe 1992 was the greatest-ever year for popular music - mainly because it was hugely influenced by electronic music. But nevertheless, there were so many fantastic pop records coming out throughout the year, it's incredible to think these songs are over 15 years old - some of them are way ahead of their time. The range of music coming out at this time was so diverse - so many different, unusual styles and genres most of which are almost non-existant nowadays. Dance music singles dominated the charts, spending a total of twenty weeks between them at the top of the UK charts: these singles were KWS - Please Don't Go, Erasure - Abba-esque EP, Snap! - Rhythm is A Dancer and the Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode. Dance music had catchy basslines, plenty of samples, emotive synth chords, complex drum patterns created on drum-machines, and finally the piano lines on top which was the icing on the cake. And of course the underground old skool rave scene was in full swing but was now becoming commercially successful, too. Some of the big old skool hits of the year were SL2's On A Ragga Tip (#2), the Prodigy's Everybody In The Place EP (#2), Altern-8's Evapor-8 (#6) and Hypnotic St-8 (#16), Urban Hype's A Trip To Trumpton (#6), Kicks Like A Mule's The Bouncer (#7), and Smart E's Sesame's Treet - which entered at a very high #3 on release before shifting up a place the following week. It heavily sampled the popular children's television show Sesame Street (the clue is in the title, duh!) which is why it was such a favourite amongst the kiddies; they probably also liked it because it was so cheesy and they could sing along to it as well. The large majority of dance music (especially old skool) around this time were using several samples - all the songs mentioned above relied heavily on samples, infact Altern-8 even sampled themselves on their hit Hypnotic St-8 - they used a loop from their old project Nexus 21 and their record Self Hypnosis (which again is suggested in the title of the Altern 8 record). But despite the sampling craze, record companies and artists were starting to crack down on groups stealing bits and pieces from their records. Probably the most famous example is Shut Up And Dance's hardcore smash Raving I'm Raving. It 'borrowed' from Marc Cohn's Walking In Memphis (1991), but after disapproving the sample, the record was withdrawn. Despite that, Raving I'm Raving still stormed in at #2, but only lasted another week on the chart because of the dispute over the sample used. Snap! had the biggest-selling dance single of the year with Rhythm Is A Dancer, which spent six weeks at number 1 at the end of the summer. Their record was knocked off the #1 spot by the Shamen's controversial hit Ebeneezer Goode, which was encouraging use of the popular rave drug ecstasy through the lyrics - "Eezer Goode, Eezer Goode!" = "E's are good, E's are good" and "Anyone got any Vera's? Sorted!" (Vera being slang for E). Despite these accusations and under constant pressure to ban the single, the song stayed proudly at #1 for four weeks in September and October. 1992 was a big year for the Shamen. Having made their breakthrough into the UK singles chart the previous summer with minor hit Hyperreal and then big smash Move Any Mountain (#4), the group had four consecutive top ten hits in 1992, which also included L.S.I. (Love Sex Intelligence) (#6), Boss Drum (#4) and Phorever People (#5), as well as Ebeneezer Goode. All of their songs (made commercially successful by the Beatmasters remixes, against the Shamen's wishes) entered the top ten on first week of release. To cap a successful year for the Techno outfit, their album Boss Drum shot straight in at #3 in the UK Album chart. The Shamen were one of several Techno artists to have big hits in 1992. Other songs included U96's Das Boot (#18), Utah Saints' Something Good (#4) (which sampled Cloudbursting by Kate Bush), novelty hit Tetris (#6) by Spin Doctor and the absolutely timeless Papua New Guinea (#22) by the Future Sound Of London. Although classified as a rave anthem, Papua New Guinea was completely the opposite of a stereotypical rave song. It was much more downbeat and a lot slower, an instrumental containing mellow trancey synth chords over a layered breakbeat and heavy bass guitar; much more likely to make you cry with emotion rather than make you ecstatic and happy - one of those songs that ravers would chill out to at the coming home from a hectic rave. 1992 was unique in that there were several of these unusual downtempo instrumental records coming out and making an impact on the charts. The Orb's Blue Room (#8) - an incredible 39 minutes 58 seconds in length - was another good example of this genre. Even pop/rock music was using this downtempo style. Opus III's It's A Fine Day (#5) combined influences of this downtempo element with reasonably fast breakbeats and trancey chords, and was a big club hit. The Boy's Own mix (created by Pete Heller and Terry Farley) of Sunscreem's Perfect Motion (#18) was another timeless house record which used these downtempo-style synth chords in the background whilst progressing at a relatively normal House tempo of 120-140 bpm, complemented by the use of breakbeats - another common appearance in popular music, although they were much smoother and slower in commercial songs, compared to the faster, harder breaks of old skool. Almost everyone in the music industry in 1992 was influenced by the dance explosion - Lionel Richie's My Destiny (#7) was in the style of a typical house record, and even Ozzie Osbourne provided the vocals for a house record - Shake Your Head (#4) by Was Not Was. Even Take That were churning out dance records in 1992; It Only Takes A Minute (#7) was a pumping Euro House style pop record and got their careers off and running. George Michael scored himself a #4 hit with Too Funky, another Housey pop record with lovely trancey synth chords in the background. House music was as popular as ever at the time - acts such as Bizarre Inc, Ce Ce Peniston, Felix, Rage (who covered Bryan Adams' Run To You), the Bassheads, Inner City, the KLF, Rozalla, 2 Unlimited, Hyper Go Go, Undercover (who turned Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street into a house record, and subsequently earned themselves a #2 hit) and Dr. Alban all had major hits during 1992. Paul Oakenfold scored himself a #8 hit when he remixed U2's Even Better Than The Real Thing in July, a month after the original came out (which only made #12). German duo Hardfloor re-ignited the 80s Acid House craze with their seminal Acperience EP - although this was more specifically techno and hard trance rather than a form of house music. Although it was not a commercial hit in the UK, it was massive in the underground scene and in Europe; the track Acperience 1 from the EP remains a classic to this very day, using that distictive sound of the Roland TB-303 synthesizer (which is frequently used by Hardfloor in their music) to create that unique 'acid' sound. Aside from electronic music, even rock and hip-hop music were still tasteful in the year of 1992. So many great songs from 1992 - if you ask anyone in their 30s who was around in 1992 what it was like, honestly they will all tell you that the music back then was fantastic - much better than what we have now. Shame I missed out on the whole experience as I was just 4 years old at the time... and a shame that music will never be as good as it was in 1992... LONG LIVE 1992!!! UK MUSIC CHARTS: In the 1950s it was decided that a chart system would be introduced to measure popularity and sales of singles and albums. The first chart was unveiled in November 1952 and originally only consisted of 20 places, but was later increased to the now traditional Top 40. Of course the chart extends much further beyond the top 40, to well over 200 placings, but these are generally ignored. Alternatively, sometimes the chart is made up of the Top 75 or Top 100 singles or albums. Generally, singles (and EPs) would enter at a low position in the chart in its first week, or miss it altogether, before making a steady climb up the charts to its peak position several weeks after release. Obviously every release fares differently, but in the early days of the Top 40 it was rare that a song would even make the top ten on its first week. This was a trend that continued right through to the end of the 1980s. A band's popularity would always ensure that a new release would enter the chart at a much higher position than if they were unheard of. There were only a handful of songs at this time which went straight into the UK charts at number 1; Band Aid (the original one) and Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Two Tribes both shot straight to #1 in 1984. As the 1990s began, songs started to enter at higher positions and take fewer weeks to climb to their peak. Even songs which only peaked at a lowly position in the Top 40 (i.e. below 20) could take a few weeks to move up to their peak position and would hang around for several weeks before exiting the Top 40. But generally once a song peaked, it would drop sharply and fall out of the chart within about 3 or 4 weeks. In about 1994, songs would maybe move up just a couple of places or so to its peak the week after entering, and would not climb the chart any further, although it would hang around the chart for longer before falling out of the Top 40. After 1996, it was rare for songs to move up the chart to its peak, instead the vast majority would peak in their first week and slowly slip down the chart. This trend continued for about a decade; the main reason for this was because the singles were being promoted to the public weeks before they actually went on sale, due to media such as music television channels and radio, and as a result everyone went out to buy the songs as soon as they came out. In 2004, a download chart was created so that instead of buying a physical CD single (or vinyl), music fans could download singles from the internet from online music sites. In April 2005, the download and sales chart was merged together, although there was little change in the pattern in the week-by-week analysis of a single. However, a lot of songs moved up in the very first week of the new singles chart, and it was slightly more common (but still rare) to see a song climb the chart, even if only one or two places. What was different, though was that some songs hung around on the chart for a lot longer - maybe several months - before finally disappearing, or occasionally they would re-enter the Top 40 weeks after exiting the chart. In early 2006, it was decided that songs could be allowed to chart a week before officially being released as a physical single, i.e. if it made enough download sales, it was eligible to make the chart. Gnarls Barkley made history when the band's single 'Crazy' was the first-ever song to make #1 on just downloads alone. It stayed at the top for 9 weeks, something that is very rare nowadays, although it was much more common in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Infact 1992 had the fewest amount of different #1 singles (12), where as 2000 had the highest number of #1 singles (about 40). Most recently at the very beginning of 2007, songs were allowed to chart regardless of the physical release date or whether the song was actually available to buy in the shops as a physical single. This has seen many songs rise up the chart to its peak, but generally a song will always receive a boost when it is physically released, causing the climb up the chart. It has also seen the re-entry of several very old songs, which have been downloaded. Some new songs appear on the chart as download-only, and rise up the chart in similar fashion to songs in the 70s and 80s, although they find it difficult to compete with the physical releases and generally struggle. I have selected some songs below just to demonstrate the pattern of singles chart performance over the years, mainly for my amusement rather than yours: 1981: Soft Cell - Tainted Love Entered the UK Chart on 1st August 1981 (at #62): #62 - #45 - | #26 - #9 - #2 - | #1 - #1 | - #2 - #2 - #8 - #12 - #20 - #22 - #28 - #36 | - ...... An example of a typical number one record in the 70s and 80s, where the song actually missed the top 40 altogether in its first week (or in this case two weeks), but gained a lot of momentum in the next few weeks, making a big climb from the lower reaches of the top 40 into the top ten, and then making a smaller climb up as it reaches the summit of the chart. 1987: M/A/R/R/S - Pump Up The Volume Entered the UK Chart on 5th September 1987 (at #35): | #35 - #11 - #2 - #2 - | #1 - #1 | - #3 - #6 - #16 - #25 - #35 - #37 | - ...... Another similar example but in the late 80s, as the single enters the top 40 at a low position in its first week, but jumps 24 places in the following week ands continuing momentum sees it land in the top two in its third week, where it stays locked at for a second week running. It then makes the climb up to number 1, before falling fairly rapidly out of the top 40, in similar fashion to how it climbed up the chart previously. 1990: Bassomatic - Fascinating Rhythm Entered the UK Chart on 1st September 1990 (at #54): #54 - | #38 - #22 - #14 - | #9 - #9 | - #10 - #13 - #24 - #38 | - ...... Into the 90s now, but some big hits still managed to miss the top 40 in its first few weeks. Again the single makes a couple of large climbs up the chart before stalling once the top ten has been reached, and then vanishing from the top 40 within a few weeks. 1991: SL2 - DJs Take Control Entered the UK Chart on 2nd November 1991 (at #24): | #24 - | #11 | - #12 - #26 | - ...... It is now becoming more common for singles to enter at higher positions (not that #24 is high), but in this case the record only makes one reasonably large climb before getting stuck and then falls out of the top 40 after only one further week. 1992: Future Sound Of London - Papua New Guinea Entered the UK Chart on 23rd May 1992 (at #27): | #27 - | #22 - #22 | - #34 | - ...... Some singles which entered at a relatively low position still managed to make a small climb up the chart before reaching its new peak position. Sometimes the song could stay at its peak for more than one consecutive week before exiting the chart. Bassheads - Back To The Old School Entered the UK Chart on 30th May 1992 (at #15): | #15 - | #12 | - #25 | - ...... Another example from '92, where this time the song enters at a relatively high #15, but only makes a very small improvement on sales the following week and then tumbles down the chart. 1995: Grace - Not Over Yet Entered the UK Chart on 8th April 1995 (at #8): | #8 - | #6 | - #9 - #13 - #21 - #34 | - ...... By the mid-90s it has now become normal for records to enter the top ten immediately after release. Some songs made a marginal climb up the chart whereas many others peaked in their first week and then just fell down the chart. 1997: Dario G - Sunchyme Entered the UK Chart on 27th September 1997 (at #2): | | #2 | - #3 - | #2 | - #3 - #5 - #6 - #10 - #15 - #21 - #34 | - ...... In the late-90s it was very rare for a song to make a climb up to a new peak position after entering, although songs did hang around the chart for longer after peaking. 2001: PPK - Resurrection Entered the UK Chart on 8th December 2001 (at #3): | | #3 | - #6 - #8 - #12 - #11 - #11 - #19 - #25 - #34 - #32 - #32 | - ...... It was now more common to see songs making the occasional small move up the chart weeks after entering, as they refused to exit the chart quickly. 2005: Basement Jaxx - Oh My Gosh Entered the UK Chart on 26th March 2005 (at #8): | | #8 | - #12 - #19 - #31 - #27 - #28 - #38 | - ...... Donwload sales were introduced into the sales chart in April 2005 and had a small influence, as several songs shifted up the week into came into force (shown here by the #31 - #27 jump). 2006: Bodyrox - Yeah Yeah Entered the UK Chart on 4th November 2006 (at #11): | #11 - | #2 | - #6 - #10 - #12 - #13 - #15 - #29 - #29 - #26 - #21 - #29 - #32 -#36 | - ...... In 2006, singles were allowed to appear on the chart one week before being physically released in the shops (i.e. on download sales alone), and singles would usually make just one large jump up the chart before peaking. 2007: Calvin Harris - Acceptable In The 80s Entered the UK Chart on 10th March 2007 (at #32): | #32 - #17 - | #10 | - #16 - #12 - #17 - #24 - #26 - #31 - #36 | - ...... In 2007, it was decided that songs could appear in the chart regardless of whether they werw available as a physical CD single release or just as a download, meaning songs would enter lower and make a couple of jumps before peaking, usually making a big jump when the physical release came out (in this case the #17 - #10 jump). Nelly Furtado - Say It Right Entered the UK Chart on 10th February 2007 (at #37): | #37 - #19 - #16 - #14 - #11 - | #10 | - #11 - #14 - #15 - #18 - #25 - #23 - #24 - #27 - ... | - ...... I don't like Nelly Furtado, but this is a good example of a new download-only song appearing in the chart. It reflects the patterns in the 80s and early 90s of a single entering at the lower reaches of the top 40 before taking several weeks to climb to a new peak position, although the sales are restricted because no-one can buy a physical release of the single, so it would no doubt be higher up in the chart otherwise. Thanks to Polyhex.com for the information. LINKS IN THIS SECTION: In the words of a repeatedly used phrase in dance music, "Check This Out"... Dance Music Hall Of Fame Filled with only the seminal and timeless electronic/dance classics made from the past 30 years. Greatest Artists & Songs CURRENTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF A MASSIVELY OVERDUE UPDATE! Re-re-wind<< WILL BE ALTERED SHORTLY... |
 |
| WELCOME |
| TO |
| THE |
| & |
| IMPROVED |
| SECTION |
| RAVE ON!!! |
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
| DJ Profile | Other Stuff | Football | Cricket | Homies 1 | Homies 2 | Links |
 |
|
| DJ WITTZY'S AMAZING ELECTRONIC MUSIC FACT #1 |
| The longest single in UK Chart history belongs to The Orb, whose epic ambient instrumental Blue Room lasts a massive 39 minutes and 58 seconds. For those of you who don't know, the maximum length for a single to be eligible to enter the UK chart is 40 minutes. Infact, the CD single contained only one track - the full mix of Blue Room, with no remixes or alternative versions (which is unusual in electronic music). The 12" release split the song into two parts, roughly 18 minutes each, cutting off a few minutes from the end of the song. The 7" disc contained the 4-minute radio version of the song. Blue Room entered the UK charts on 20th June 1992 at #12, before rising to its peak of #8 the following week. |
| EVEN |
| MORE |
| NEWER |
| EVEN |
| DJ WITTZY'S AMAZING ELECTRONIC MUSIC FACT #2 |
| The biggest-selling 12" single in UK Chart history is New Order's Blue Monday. One of the main reasons it sold so well on 12" is because the original version was over 7 minutes long - too long for a 7" single - and so Factory Records only released the song on 12" (CD releases at the time were rare as they had only just come into use). Blue Monday is also the only million-selling song in the UK not to have hit the #1 spot. When released in March 1983, the song climbed to only #12 but re-entered the Top 40 the following August, where it peaked at #9. Then in 1988, the song was remixed and moved up to its highest position of #3 in May of that year. Hardfloor then turned the track into a fantastic piece of acid/hard trance in the summer of 1995, with the new version making #17. Also, interestingly, Factory actually made a loss on every Blue Monday single sold in 1983, as the cost of producing the record cover sleeve exceeded the selling price of the record! |
| DJ WITTZY'S AMAZING ELECTRONIC MUSIC FACT #3 |
| Deee-Lite's camp disco one-hit wonder Groove Is In The Heart was up against The Steve Miller Band and their song The Joker for the #1 spot during one week in Autumn 1990. But in that particular week, ending 15th September, incredibly both singles had sold exactly the same number of copies. Because both parties could not share the #1 spot, it was decided that because The Joker (at #6 the previous week) had climbed more places up the chart than Groove Is In The Heart (previously at #4) in the week, The Joker was given the #1 position with Deee-Lite's song at #2. Deee-Lite, although reasonably successful in their native U.S., went on to have only one further UK Top 40 hit. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|