"Astounded" is a song by Canadian

musical collective Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared.Liisa Ladouceur"Collegjthk ctive Souls" ''This Magazine'', November/December 2004. The concept is distinct from th ...

Bran Van 3000 Bran Van 3000 (also known as BV3) is a Canadian alternative rock and hip hop collective from Montreal, Quebec. Founded by James Di Salvio and E.P. Bergen, they collaborated on a number of songs with Stéphane Moraille, Sara Johnston, Steve "Liqui ...

featuring vocals from American artist

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

. The song contains interpolations from Mayfield's song "

Move On Up "Move On Up" is a song by Curtis Mayfield from his 1970 debut album ''Curtis''. Nearly nine minutes long on the album version, it was released as a single in the United States (Curtom 1974), but failed to chart. An edited version of the song spent ...

" and also contains a sample and an interpolated melody of

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

' "

Rockin' Down the Highway "Rockin' Down the Highway" is a song written by Tom Johnston that was first released by the American rock band the Doobie Brothers on their second studio album ''Toulouse Street'' (1972). It was also released as the B-side to the album's second ...

". The song was first released for download on Bran Van 3000's website in January 2001. It was then officially released on May 7 of the same year as the lead single from their second studio album, ''

Discosis ''Discosis'' is the second album by Canadian group Bran Van 3000, released in 2001. The album features several collaborators, including Curtis Mayfield, Youssou N'Dour, Jean Leloup and reggae artist Eek-a-Mouse. The album cover was derived from an ...

'' (2001). "Astounded" was successful in Canada, receiving heavy airplay on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

and reaching number three on the

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart was a chart compiled by the American-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan, which began publication in November 1996. It was published every Wednesday and also published on Thursday by '' Jam!''/Canoe. I ...

. Outside Canada, the song reached the top 40 in Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom; in the latter country, it peaked at number two on the

UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record ...

. The song was among Canada's 40 most played radio tracks in 2001 and

Background

member James Di Salvio approached

with the idea of collaborating months before his death in 1999. Mayfield was too ill to contribute a vocal, but weeks before his death, he gave Di Salvio permission to pull through his archives, which is where he discovered an unused vocal Mayfield recorded in the 1980s. With Mayfield's permission, that vocal was incorporated into "Astounded."

Music video

The music video was directed by Paul Street and premiered in May 2001. The entire video focuses on a couple

french kiss A French kiss, also known as cataglottism or a tongue kiss, is an amorous kiss in which the participants' tongues extend to touch each other's lips or tongue. A kiss with the tongue stimulates the partner's lips, tongue and mouth, which are sens ...

ing and features shots of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

with the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

in the background. The video features a cameo by

Benicio Del Toro Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor and producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen A ...

Track listings

Canadian and European maxi-CD single # "Astounded" (long radio edit) – 3:54 # "Astounded" (album version) – 5:57 # "Astounded" (

MJ Cole Matthew James Firth Coleman, better known by his stage name MJ Cole, is an English garage DJ, record producer and remixer. Career Born in London, England, in his youth, Cole was classically trained on the oboe and piano, and won scholarships ...

radio edit) – 3:47 # "Astounded" (

Eric Kupper Eric Kupper is an American keyboardist, arranger, songwriter, remix artist, DJ, and record producer of French descent. Biography Eric Kupper began playing in bands in his formative years, and got his real start in the mid-1980s working as a keybo ...

radio mix) – 3:42 UK CD single # "Astounded" (long radio edit) – 3:54 # "Astounded" (album version) – 5:56 # "Astounded" (MJ Cole Master Mix) – 6:21 European CD single # "Astounded" (long radio edit) – 3:54 # "Astounded" (album version) – 5:57 European 12-inch vinyl :A1. "Astounded" (album version) – 5:57 :B1. "Astounded" (MJ Cole Master Mix) – 6:21 :B2. "Astounded" (Eric Kupper club mix) – 7:25

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the maxi-CD single liner notes and the ''

'' album booklet. Studio * Mixed at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...

(London, England) Personnel * James Di Salvio – writing, production * Gary McKenzie – writing * Curtis Mayfield – writing, vocals * Dominique Grand – writing, production, engineering, string arrangement * Sylvain Grand – writing, production, engineering, string arrangement *

Ric Ocasek Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the primary co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the rock ...

– production *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran ...

– mixing * Rod Shearer – engineering * Martin Rouillard – engineering * Craig Aaronson – executive production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

In popular culture

The song is featured on the soundtrack of the

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

video game ''

FIFA Street 2 ''FIFA Street 2'' is the 2006 sequel to the EA Sports video game '' FIFA Street''. A new "trick stick beat" system was introduced and new authentic tricks were also introduced. The game was released for the GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, ...

''.

References

{{Authority control 2001 singles 2001 songs Bran Van 3000 songs Grand Royal singles Song recordings produced by Ric Ocasek Songs written by Curtis Mayfield Virgin Records singles