"Exterminate!" is a song by German

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

group

Snap! Snap! is a German Eurodance group formed in 1989 by Record producer, producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years, including American singers, songwriters and rappers Thea A ...

featuring American singer

Niki Haris Niki Haris (born April 17, 1962) is an American singer and dancer of pop, R&B, dance music and jazz, perhaps best known for having been one of Madonna's backing vocalists from 1987 to 2001, and as being the guest lead vocalist on various Snap! s ...

. It was released in December 1992 as the third single from their second studio album, '' The Madman's Return'' (1992), and features vocals by the group's new front woman, Haris. It is based on the track "Ex-Terminator" and was included in later editions of the album. Released first at the end of 1992, it was a hit in several countries, peaking at number-one in Finland and Spain, and number two in the United Kingdom, where it spent 15 weeks on the charts. A popular version of the song, came from a duet recorded by F. Michael Sky and Farmer Murray in 2003. Critics acclaimed the track as it climbed to the top five songs in Switzerland.

Chart performance

"Exterminate!" peaked at number one in Finland and Spain. It entered the top five in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands , Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as on the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, where it reached number two. In the UK, the song peaked at number two on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

for three weeks. "Exterminate!" also reached the top 10 in Austria, Norway and Portugal (10). Outside Europe, it peaked at number two on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Dance chart in Canada, number six in Zimbabwe, number 25 in New Zealand, number 29 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Dance Club Play, and number 50 in Australia. In Germany, the single was awarded with a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

after 250,000 units were shipped.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

'' wrote, "Former

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

backing singer steps into the spotlight as the German act's new (at least for the moment) front woman. Electronic hip hop beats are doused with

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

sound effects, while Haris offers an appropriately ominous and forceful vocal. Not as radio-friendly as the previous " Rhythm Is a Dancer", but a savvy club entry that should glide onto playlists." In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

said, "Its chart success so far is somewhat of a surprise being, aside from the one vocal line, almost an instrumental and certainly with little of the quirky appeal of the earlier singles." Sharon O'Connell from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' felt it's "full of latent power but just sitting on the launch pad." Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' wrote that it "might not be as accessible on first hearing, but it's actually a killer dance song which chokes you with its chorus with built-in snappy piano riff." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' stated, "The

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

-like tune builds and builds from a five note riff, while new vocalist Niki Harris manages to fill in some soulful wailing as well as the Dalek's catchphrase. The song hasn't got the same killer pop chorus as "Rhythm Is a Dancer", but its sheer simplicity will win the day." Barbara Ellen from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' commented, "After what seemed like an interminable long and shaky period post " The Power", Snap seem to have rediscovered their dancing feet recently, first with "Rhythm Is a Dancer" and now this upfront, arrestingly sterile

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

diversion." Mark Sutherland from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' gave the song three out of five in his review.

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Exterminate!" was directed by Angel, who had previously directed the video for " Colour of Love". This was the first video that Durron Butler (

Turbo B Durron Maurice Butler (born April 30, 1967), known as Turbo B, is an American musician, rapper and beatboxer. He was once the frontman of the German electronic music group Snap! After completing a period of service with the United States Army i ...

) does not appear. It received

heavy rotation In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely sh ...

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

Track listings

* 7-inch single # "Ex-terminator" (album version) – 5:21 # "Exterminate!" (Endzeit 7-inch mix) – 4:13 * 12-inch single # "Exterminate!" (Endzeit 12-inch) – 6:45 # "Exterminate!" (A.C.II 12-inch) – 7:44 * CD single # "Ex-terminator" (album version) – 5:21 # "Exterminate!" (Endzeit 7-inch mix) – 4:13 * CD maxi # "Exterminate!" (Endzeit 7-inch) – 4:13 # "Exterminate!" (A.C.II 12-inch) – 7:44 # "Ex-terminator" (album version) – 5:21

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1992 singles 1993 singles 1992 songs English-language German songs Logic Records singles Music videos directed by Angel (director) Music Week number-one dance singles Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Spain Snap! songs