"Workaholic" is a song recorded by Belgian/Dutch
Eurodance band
2 Unlimited
2 Unlimited are a Belgian/Dutch dance music act, founded by Belgian producers/songwriters Jean-Paul De Coster and Phil Wilde in 1991 in Antwerp, Belgium. From 1991 to 1996, Dutch rapper Ray Slijngaard and Dutch vocalist Anita Doth fronted the ...
, released in April 1992 as the third single from their debut album, ''
Get Ready!''. The album version was an instrumental track but the released version featured a chorus from
Anita Doth
Anita Doth (born 28 December 1971) is a Dutch singer and songwriter best known as the former singer of the duo 2 Unlimited, along with rapper Ray Slijngaard.
Personal life
Anita Daniëlle Dels was born in Amsterdam to a Surinamese father, Rolf ...
and, outside the UK, verses from
Ray Slijngaard
Raymond Lothar Slijngaard (born 28 June 1971) is a Dutch rapper and musician best known as one half of the Eurodance duo 2 Unlimited.
Music career 2 Unlimited (1991–1996)
2 Unlimited is an electronic music project founded in 1991 by Belgian ...
. The single scored chart success in many countries, with its highest peaks coming in Finland, the Republic of Ireland, the UK and Zimbabwe, where it hit number-one in August 1992.
Content
The opening segment of the song features bells ringing in descending followed by ascending order (replicating the
Westminster chime
The Westminster Quarters, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, is a melody used by a set of four quarter bells to mark each quarter-hour. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, Cambridge Quarters or Cambridge Chimes from its place of ...
effect). It is the same segment that is played at
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
whenever
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
's
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
score a run and at multiple
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
arenas, such as the
Staples Center's
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
, when a penalty is called against the visiting team. It is also used when the
Los Angeles Lakers score a 3 Point Basket.
Controversially, on the album version of the song, there was a quote: "Who the fuck are you?" at the beginning of the track. However, in the radio edit and the music video, the entire quote is omitted. A version also included in the album, labelled as an "instrumental" version (although it is not such, it retains all of Ray and Anita's vocals) removes the quote and surrounding lines, moving the first "The workaholic" to before the bell intro.
The opening phrase in the song, "Ok, let's go to work" comes from the 1987 film ''
Wall Street''.
Critical reception
Bevan Hannah from ''
The Canberra Times
''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times.
History
''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...
'' described the song as a "faster version" of "
Get Ready for This
"Get Ready for This" is a song recorded by Belgian/Dutch music group 2 Unlimited. It was released in 1991 as the lead single from their debut album, ''Get Ready!'' (1992). Originally, the single was produced as an instrumental, titled the "Orche ...
". Andy Kastanas from ''
The Charlotte Observer
''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...
'' wrote, "These guys make a strong showing, following up their No. 1 single "
Twilight Zone" with another monstrous
rave song." Irish newspaper ''
Evening Herald
''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Even ...
'' commented, "Expect 2 Unlimited's next single Workaholic, to be massive".
James Hamilton 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 ...
s ''RM'' Dance Update called it a "galloping commercial raver", like "an updated
Boney M
Boney M. was a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's o ...
for the Nineties". Johnny Dee from ''
Smash Hits'' rated the track four out of five, stating that it is a "zippy, loopy, stormtrooper overdrive that is guaranteed to cause twisted ankles and sislocated shoulders should you decide on a spot of aerobicising during its lightning fast four minutes."
Chart performance
"Workaholic" was successful on the charts on several continents. In Europe, it reached its highest peaks in Finland and the Republic of Ireland as number two. In the UK, it peaked at number four in its third week at 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 ...
, on May 10, 1992. Additionally, it was a Top 10 hit also in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain, while reaching the Top 30 in Sweden and the Top 40 in Switzerland. On the
Eurochart Hot 100, "Workaholic" reached number 14, and on
MTV's
European Top 20
''European Top 20'' was a disk magazine and scene chart for the Commodore Amiga published by the demo scene group Equinox
A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above ...
, it peaked at number 11. Outside Europe, it was a number-one hit in Zimbabwe in August 1992, and peaked at number six 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 and number 26 on the ''
Billboard''
Hot Dance Club Play
Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...
in the US. In Australia, the single reached number 35.
Music video
A
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
was produced to promote the single, directed by British director David Betteridge. He had previously directed the videos for "
Get Ready for This
"Get Ready for This" is a song recorded by Belgian/Dutch music group 2 Unlimited. It was released in 1991 as the lead single from their debut album, ''Get Ready!'' (1992). Originally, the single was produced as an instrumental, titled the "Orche ...
" and "
Twilight Zone". "Workaholic" was later published on
2 Unlimited
2 Unlimited are a Belgian/Dutch dance music act, founded by Belgian producers/songwriters Jean-Paul De Coster and Phil Wilde in 1991 in Antwerp, Belgium. From 1991 to 1996, Dutch rapper Ray Slijngaard and Dutch vocalist Anita Doth fronted the ...
's official
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel in January 2014. The video has amassed more than 252,000 views as of September 2021.
Track listings
* 7" single
# "Workaholic" (Vocal Edit) — 3:34
# "Workaholic" (Instrumental Edit) — 3:34
* 12" maxi
# "Workaholic" (Extended Mix)
# "Workaholic" (Rio & Le Jean Mix)
# "
Get Ready for This
"Get Ready for This" is a song recorded by Belgian/Dutch music group 2 Unlimited. It was released in 1991 as the lead single from their debut album, ''Get Ready!'' (1992). Originally, the single was produced as an instrumental, titled the "Orche ...
" (Rio & Le Jean '92 Remix)
* CD single, Germany
# "Workaholic" (7" Vocal Edit) — 3:34
# "Workaholic" (Extended Mix) — 5:51
# "Workaholic" (Rio & Le Jean Remix) — 5:07
# "Workaholic" (Hardcore Remix) — 4:15
* CD single, Netherlands
# "Workaholic" (Extended Mix) — 5:51
# "Workaholic" (Rio & Le Jean Remix) — 5:07
# "Workaholic" (Hardcore Remix) — 4:15
# "Workaholic" (Vocal Edit) — 3:34
# "Get Ready for This" (Rio & Le Jean Remix '92) — 4:11
* CD single, UK
# "Workaholic" (7" Mix) — 3:07
# "Workaholic" (Extended Mix) — 5:22
# "Get Ready for This" (Rio & Le Jean Remix '92) — 4:10
* CD maxi, Benelux
# "Workaholic" (Extended Mix) — 5:51
# "Workaholic" (Rio & Le Jean Remix) — 5:07
# "Workaholic" (Hardcore Remix) — 4:15
# "Workaholic" (Vocal Edit) — 3:34
# "Get Ready For This" (Rio & Le Jean Remix '92) — 4:11
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Authority control
1992 singles
2 Unlimited songs
1991 songs
Songs written by Ray Slijngaard
Songs written by Phil Wilde
Byte Records singles
ZYX Music singles
Songs written by Jean-Paul De Coster
Music videos directed by David Betteridge
Number-one singles in Zimbabwe