"Tetris" is a song arranged by English

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

and English record producer Nigel Wright, collaborating under the pseudonym

Doctor Spin Doctor Spin was a pseudonym used by Andrew Lloyd Webber and record producer Nigel Wright for their 1992 hit single "Tetris".Roberts, David (Managing Editor) (2005), ''British Hit Singles & Albums (Edition 18)'', Guinness World Records Limited ...

. The composition is based on the theme to the 1989 Game Boy game '' Tetris'', which itself is based on the Russian folk song " Korobeiniki". Doctor Spin released their version of "Tetris" on 21 September 1992 through Polydor and Carpet Records; it reached number six on the UK Singles Chart and also charted in Austria, Finland, and Ireland. This song, along with " Supermarioland" by Ambassadors of Funk, commenced a brief trend of recreated video game music entering mainstream popularity.

Origin and composition

The original composition that the main theme of '' Tetris'' is based on is the Russian folk song " Korobeiniki", which is a musical recreation of a poem by Russian poet

Nikolay Nekrasov Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov ( rus, Никола́й Алексе́евич Некра́сов, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈkrasəf, a=Ru-Nikolay_Alexeyevich_Nekrasov.ogg, – ) was a Russian poet, writer, critic and publi ...

. The song used in the Game Boy version of ''Tetris'' was composed by

Hirokazu Tanaka , also known as Chip Tanaka, is a Japanese musician, composer, sound designer, and executive who pioneered chiptune music. He is best known as one of Nintendo's in-house composers during the 8- and 16-bit era of video games. Tanaka also had a role ...

. In 1992,

and Nigel Wright collaborated under the name Doctor Spin to record and release a

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 ...

version of Tanka's arrangement. The track was officially licensed by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

Release and success

Doctor Spin released "Tetris" through Polydor Records and Lloyd Webber's sublabel of Polydor, Carpet Records, on 21 September 1992 in four formats: CD,

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

, 7-inch vinyl, and

12-inch vinyl The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

. The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 22 on 27 September 1992 and ascended to its peak of number six three weeks later; it spent a total of eight weeks in the top 50 and was the 75th-best-selling hit of 1992 in the UK. In Ireland, "Tetris" debuted on the chart dated 8 October 1992 and peaked at number seven for two weeks. In mainland Europe, the song charted in Austria and Finland. In the latter country, "Tetris" peaked at number four on the Finnish Singles Chart in November 1992, while in Austria, the single peaked at number 23 and spent three weeks on the chart, in December 1992 and January 1993. 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 ...

, the song achieved a peak of number 26 on 7 November 1992. On British music television programme '' Top of the Pops'', the song was played as several dancers dressed in outfits resembling the blocks from ''Tetris'' danced along. Along with " Supermarioland" by Ambassadors of Funk, which charted simultaneously with "Tetris", the success of the composition began a brief period of popularity for novelty rave music, which also included the charity single "Supersonic" by H.W.A. (based on the ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

'' franchise).

Track listings

UK and European CD single # "Tetris" (7-inch mix) # "Tetris" (12-inch mix) # "Tetris" (hardcore mix) # "Play Game Boy" UK 7-inch and cassette single # "Tetris" # "Play Game Boy" UK 12-inch single :A1. "Tetris" (12-inch mix) :A1. "Tetris" (hardcore mix) :B1. "Tetris" (7-inch mix) :B2. "Play Game Boy"

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the UK CD single liner notes. Studio * "Play Game Boy" recorded at Skratch Studios (

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England) Personnel * Andrew Lloyd Webber – traditional arrangement, executive production * Nigel Wright – traditional arrangement, production * Robin Sellars – engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Andrew Lloyd Webber Tetris 1992 singles Andrew Lloyd Webber Eurodance songs Polydor Records singles Song recordings produced by Nigel Wright (record producer) Songs about video games Songs based on poems