Boogie Wonderland

"Boogie Wonderland"
Single by Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions
from the album I Am
B-side	"Boogie Wonderland (Instrumental) (Vinyl)"
Released	March 20, 1979 (Vinyl) March 20, 2004 (CD)
Format	7" single 12" single CD single
Genre	Disco
Length	4:48
Label	ARC Columbia
Writer(s)	Allee Willis Jon Lind
Producer(s)	Maurice White Al McKay
Certification	Gold (RIAA 5/29/79)
Earth, Wind & Fire singles chronology
"September" (1978) "Boogie Wonderland" (1979) "After the Love Has Gone" (1979)

"Boogie Wonderland" is a song by American R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire, featuring The Emotions. Released as a single on March 20, 1979 by The American Record Company and Columbia Records, The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on May 29, 1979. "Boogie Wonderland" was written by Allee Willis and Jon Lind, and recorded by Earth, Wind & Fire. It was included on the album I Am. It is regarded as a classic of the disco era, peaking at number 14 on the disco chart.^[1] On other US charts, "Boogie Wonderland" peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.^[2]

Reception

"Boogie Wonderland" was written for The Emotions - cousins of Earth, Wind, & Fire's lead singer - and was commercially successful, selling over a million copies and being certified gold in the US (until the RIAA lowered sales levels required for certified singles in 1989, a gold certification was awarded for sales of one million units) and gold by the British Phonographic Industry for selling over 400,000 copies in the U.K.^[3][4][5]

Covers

• "Boogie Wonderland" was the basis for the dance song "I'm Alive" by Stretch & Vern Present "Maddog"; the song reached number 6 in the U.K. in September 1996.^[6]

• The song was also covered by U.K. jazz funk band Shakatak in their 1999 album Jazz in the Night. Maurice White's leading vocals are replaced by Bill Sharpe on the keyboard, while Roger Odell gives a techno-house drum beat to the tune. The Emotions' vocal parts as well as Philip Bailey's falsetto are rendered by Jill Saward.
• 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.^[7][8]

• 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 American films Roller Boogie, Madagascar, Happy Feet, Don't Look Under the Bed, Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure, The Mirror Has Two Faces, Caddyshack , Kronk's New Groove and The Nice Guys, as well as the French film The Intouchables.
• It was in the 23rd episode of Season 9 of U.S. TV series The Office.
• A remix of the song was used in the arcade game Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX, and the original version appeared later in Hottest Party 3.
• "Boogie Wonderland" has been made into different variations by The Ohio State University Marching Band, the Southern University Marching Band, Tennessee State University's Aristocrat of Bands, and the Marching 100.
• The song is used in the Australian play, Priscilla: the Musical.
• The song is used as the theme for The Steve Czaban Show on Yahoo! Sports Radio.

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1979) Peak position Australia KMR 5 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] 4 Canada 11 Netherlands 4 New Zealand[10] 7 UK Singles Chart 4 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 6 U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles 2 U.S. Billboard Disco Top 80 14 U.S. Cash Box Top 100[11] 5 Chart (2012) Peak position France[12] 39

Year-end charts Chart (1979) Rank Australia[13] 56 Canada[14] 114 New Zealand[15] 30 UK [16] 22 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[17] 57 U.S. Cash Box Top 100[18] 33

Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to "Boogie Wonderland" is adapted from AcclaimedMusic.net.^[19]

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. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 86.
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 179.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-05-10. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
4. "Rock Music, etc., Terms". spider.georgetowncollege.edu. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-09-24. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
6. "Chart Stats Stretch 'N' Vern Presents 'Maddog' - I'm Alive".
7. "American Idol: Not The Final Coundown!". TV.com. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
8. American Idol. Season 2. Episode 23. April 2, 2003. FOX.
9. "Ultratop.be – Earth Wind and Fire – Boogie Wonderland" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
10. "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1979-07-22. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
12. Steffen Hung. "Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions - Boogie Wonderland". Lescharts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
13. "Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
14. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
15. "Top Selling Singles of 1979 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1979-12-31. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
16. "Chart Archive – 1970s Singles". everyHit.com. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
17. "Top 100 Hits of 1979/Top 100 Songs of 1979". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
19. "Boogie Wonderland". Acclaimed Music. Retrieved 2016-10-14.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics