"Fantasy Island" is a song by Dutch pop group The Millionaires, released as a single in March 1982. It was a top-40 hit in the Netherlands; however, the song is better known for the version released a month later by

Tight Fit Tight Fit is an English pop group which had several hits in the early 1980s, including a UK No.1 for three weeks with their cover version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in 1982. History In 1981, record producer Ken Gold came up with the idea ...

Background

The Millionaires participated with "Fantasy Island" (in Dutch "Fantasie eiland") at the 1982

Nationaal Songfestival (; ) was an annual music competition, which was originally organised by the Dutch public broadcaster (NTS), and later by the (NOS) and (TROS). It was staged almost every year between 1956 and 2012 to determine the country's entry for the Eu ...

, which decided who was going to represent the Netherlands at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. The song came second in the festival, with the winner being "

Jij en ik The Netherlands was represented by Bill van Dijk, with the song "Jij en ik", at the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Harrogate, England on 24 April. The song and performer were chosen independently of each other at the Dutch nati ...

", performed by

Bill van Dijk Willem Edsger "Bill" van Dijk (born 22 December 1947) is a Dutch singer and musical performer. He is best known for his rendition of the '' Wilhelmus'' (the national anthem of the Netherlands), which he performed on countless occasions in footb ...

Charts

Tight Fit version

English pop band

released their cover as the second single from their album ''

''. It peaked at number 5 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 ...

Reception

Reviewing the song in ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'', Sunie Fletcher described the song as an "

Abba ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

impersonation that serves only to show '

Wimoweh "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube" for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in isiZulu, while the English version's lyrics were wri ...

' in a relatively good light. Reviewing for ''

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 ...

'',

Martin Fry Martin David Fry (born 9 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, composer, musician, and record producer. Fry's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of the pop band ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

described it as "diluted Abba, but undoubtedly a hit" and that "the song goes around and around and beats you into submission".

Track listings

7": Jive / JIVE 13 (UK) # "Fantasy Island" – 3:23 # "Saturday Heartbreak" – 3:10 7": Jive / 6.13 463 (Germany) # "Fantasy Island" – 3:23 # "Like Wildlife" – 3:31 12": Jive / JIVE T13 (UK) # "Fantasy Island" # "Saturday Heartbreak" 12": Jive / 6.20 149 (Germany) # "Fantasy Island" – 5:09 # "Like Wildlife" – 3:31

Charts

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* {{Authority control 1982 singles 1982 songs Jive Records singles Songs written by Piet Souer Song recordings produced by Tim Friese-Greene