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Woodpeckers from Space

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"Woodpeckers from Space"
Single by VideoKids
from the album The Invasion of the Spacepeckers
B-side"Rap and Sing Along"
ReleasedSeptember 4, 1984
Recorded1983–1984
Genre
Length5:54 (album version)
3:34 (single version)
LabelPolydor
Songwriter(s)Adams & Fleisner
Producer(s)Adams & Fleisner
VideoKids singles chronology
"Woodpeckers from Space"
(1984) 		"Do the Rap"
(1985)

"Woodpeckers from Space" is a song by the Dutch eurodisco duo VideoKids. A synth-pop cover of "The Woody Woodpecker Song", it was released in 1984 by Boni Records through their sublabel Break Records as the duo's debut single, as well as the sixth track from their debut studio album, The Invasion of the Spacepeckers (1984).[1][2]

Background

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The song was written and produced by Aart Mol, Cees Bergman, Elmer Veerhoff, Erwin van Prehn and Geertjan Hessing (under the pseudonym "Adams & Fleisner"), all of whom were former members of the Dutch glam rock band Catapult.[1][2]

The idea for the song began when Gert van den Bosch's (co-founder of Boni Records) children asked him if he could produce a record based on Woody Woodpecker, whom they were big fans of.[3][4] The song was recorded at Cat Music, which Mol, Bergman, Veerhoff, Van Prehn and Hessing had formed in 1979. The vocals were done by Bergman, Hessing and Anita and Sylvia Crooks of the vocal trio The Internationals.[1] The Woody laugh (provided by Hessing) used in the song was first heard in "Let's Break" by Master Genius in 1983, another Cat Music project.[5][4]

The album version of the song features sound effects from the Speak & Spell toy, sampled from "Home Computer" by Kraftwerk.

Music video

[edit]

The music video starred Peter Slaghuis and Bianca Bonelli, hired by Cat Music to be the members of the group.[1][2] Slaghuis had done remixes of Cat Music's other projects, such as the Special European Edit of "After The Rainbow" by Joanne Daniëls (along with Emile Noorhoek) and "Steppin' Out" by Digital Emotion, while Bonelli would later have a solo single called "Je Veux L'amour (Follow Me)", also written and produced by Cat Music.[1][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

In the video, the woodpecker plays one prank after another on the Slaghuis/Bonelli flight crew, messing with their spaceship and leaving the duo hardly any time to sing. The video was filmed in the Airplane Museum at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.[8][9][2] Peter, Bianca and the flight crew's pilots and scientists (played by Cat Music themselves, except Aart Mol and Geertjan Hessing[4]) lip-sync to Cees Bergman, Hessing and Anita and Sylvia Crooks' vocals during the video.[1] The former two's costumes were personally sewn by Peter's mother, Helen Slaghuis.[13] In order to avoid being sued by Universal Studios, a new character named Tico Tac was created as the group's mascot and used in place of Woody. Tico was named after the 1982 song of the same name by Polysix, another Cat Music project. He was designed by Dirk Arend, who was occasionally doing cover artwork designs for Boni Records and Break Records under the pseudonym "Fruut" at the time, and animated by Bjørn Frank Jensen and coloured by Frits Godhelp at Toonder Studio's.[14][15][16]

Cover versions

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The song was covered by the South African outfit Café Society in 1985, with their version holding the No. 1 position on the South African Top 20 for 7 weeks;[17] Doctor Pecker in 1986,[18] The Smurfs in 1995,[19] V-Kid in 1999,[20] Swedish singer Evelyn in 2001,[21] Norwegian bubblegum/trance/dance group SpritneyBears in 2003 (their cover laid in second place on the Norwegian chart, spending 8 weeks on that chart in total),[22] Cirez D in 2004,[23] and Kidz Hitz Party 2: Back To School in 2007.[24]

[edit]

The song was featured in the 1986 pilot episode of Pingu as well as the original version of the episode "Pingu Looks After the Egg", whereas the redubbed version of the latter has the Flemish Dutch cover of David Hasselhoff's "Pingu-Dance" by Chris Van Tongelen in its place.

Charts

[edit]
Chart (1984/1985) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[25] 15
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[26] 17
Denmark (Hitlisten)[27] 4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[28] 14
Norway (VG-lista)[29] 1
Spain (AFYVE)[30] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 8
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] 6
UK Singles (OCC)[33] 72
West Germany (GfK)[34] 4

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Сеанс массового диско-разоблачения" (in Russian). Звуки.Ру. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Early Sightings of Rap in 1980s Pop – The Netherlands & Belgium (Part 1)". RapReviews. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  3. ^ "The story behind "Hithouse - Jack To The Sound Of The Underground" by Jerry Beke". YouTube. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Radio Stad Den Haag - Sundaynight Live (Adams & Fleisner) (Nov. 05, 2023)". YouTube. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Master Genius - Let's Break". YouTube. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  6. ^ ""VideoKids" and the Aliens". Facebook. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Die "Video Kids" und die Außerirdischen". VK. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b "The VideoKids and their Space Woodpecker". Facebook. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Die Video Kids und ihr Weltraum-Specht". VK. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Joanne Daniëls – After The Rainbow (1984, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  11. ^ "Digital Emotion – Outside In The Dark (1985, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  12. ^ "Bianca Bonelli – Je Veux L'Amour (Follow Me) (1985, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  13. ^ "О Питере, Бьянке и их роли в Videokids. Теория Руслана Божка". VK. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Dirk Arend". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Bjørn Frank Jensen". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Frits Godhelp". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Café Society – Woodpeckers From Space (1985, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  18. ^ "Doctor Pecker – Woodpeckers From Space (1986, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  19. ^ "Die Schlümpfe – Klipp Klapp (1995, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  20. ^ "V-Kid – Woodpeckers From Space (1999, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  21. ^ "Evelyn – I Wanna Dance (2001, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  22. ^ "Spritneybears – Woodpeckers From Space (2003, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  23. ^ "Cirez D - Hoodpecker (Original Mix) [MOUSE001]". YouTube. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  24. ^ "Various – Kidz Hitz Party 2 - Back To School (2007, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  25. ^ "VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  26. ^ "VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  27. ^ "Danish Chart Archive - Singles 1979 - ____ (B.T./IFPI DK)".
  28. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – VideoKids" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  29. ^ "VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space". VG-lista.
  30. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  31. ^ "VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space". Singles Top 100.
  32. ^ "VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space". Swiss Singles Chart.
  33. ^ "VideoKids: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  34. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
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