Boogie Wonderland

"Boogie Wonderland" is a 1979 hit single by Earth, Wind & Fire featuring The Emotions. Boogie Wonderland was written by Allee Willis and Jon Lind, and included on the album I Am. It is regarded as a classic of the disco age and peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Contents

Reception

"Boogie Wonderland", written for the lead singer of Earth, Wind, & Fire's cousins, was very successful commercially, selling over a million copies and being certified gold (up until the RIAA lowered the sales levels for certified singles in 1989, "gold" equaled 1 million units sold).[1][2]

Covers

"Boogie Wonderland" was the basis for the big beat dance song "I'm Alive" by Stretch & Vern Present "Maddog", the song reached #6 in the UK in September 1996.[3]

The rock band Girls Against Boys covered the song for the 1999 movie 200 Cigarettes.

A rendition of the song was featured on the reality television competition series American Idol, during the closing minutes of the April 2, 2003 episode. It was performed by the Top 8 finalists from Season 2: Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, Kimberley Locke, Josh Gracin, Trenyce, Carmen Rasmusen, Kimberly Caldwell and Rickey Smith.

It was covered by Brittany Murphy for the soundtrack to the 2006 movie Happy Feet.

Appearances in other media

"Boogie Wonderland" has been featured in the films Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure, Madagascar, Happy Feet ,as previously mentioned, and Caddyshack.[4]

A remix of the song was also used in the arcade game Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX, and the original version appeared later in Hottest Party 3. "Boogie Wonderland" has also been made into different variations by the Southern University Marching Band, Tennessee State University's Aristocrat of Bands, and the Marching 100. The song is also used in the Australian play, Priscilla: the Musical.

Remixes

  • "Boogie Wonderland" (Bimbo Jones Radio Edit) - 3:08
  • "Boogie Wonderland" (Bimbo Jones Club Mix) - 7:57

Chart positions

Chart (1979) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 4
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 6
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 2

Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to "Boogie Wonderland" is adapted from AcclaimedMusic.net.[5]

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Gary Mulholland U.K. This Is Uncool: The 500 Best Singles Since Punk Rock 2002 *
Dave Marsh U.S. The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made 1989 737
Bruce Pollock U.S. The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944-2000 2005 *
Panorama Norway The 30 Best Singles of the Year 1970-98 1999 13

(*) designates lists that are unordered.

References

  1. ↑ RIAA Certification for After the Love Has Gone
  2. ↑ . spider.georgetowncollege.edu. http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/music/burnette/Mus570d/terms.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-23. 
  3. ↑ http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=24485
  4. ↑ Earth, Wind & Fire on imdb.com
  5. ↑ Acclaimed Music - Boogie Wonderland