"Rock DJ" is a song by English singer and songwriter
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
, featured on his third
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...
It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me
"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" is a hit song by American singer Barry White. The song was written by Ekundayo Paris and Nelson Pigford, and arranged by Barry White.
Chart performance
Released from his album '' Barry White Sings for ...
", "
Can I Kick It?
"Can I Kick It?" is a 1990 song by American hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released as the third single from their debut album, ''People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm'' (1990). The song, which has a call and response chorus, ...
" by
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip and has a quote from " La Di Da Di" by Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh.
"Rock DJ" reached number one in Costa Rica, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom whilst reaching the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland. It was the fourth-best-selling song of 2000 in the UK. The music video features Williams trying to impress a female DJ by stripping naked and eventually resorting to removing his skin and muscles, ending up as a skeleton. The song won
British Single of the Year
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
2001 Brit Awards
Brit Awards 2001 was the 21st edition of the annual pop music Brit Awards awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are run by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 26 February 2001 at Earls Court in London.
Performances
Wi ...
.
Chart performance
The song became
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
' third number-one solo single in the United Kingdom, going on to sell over 600,000 copies and being certified Platinum by the BPI. The song also became a smash hit around Europe, charting inside the top ten in most countries and becoming his first number-one single in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
and
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
. The song also became a top five hit in Australia, where it went on to sell over 70,000 copies, being certified Platinum by the
ARIA
In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...
. However, success in the United States was limited, reaching number 24 on ''Billboard's''Hot Dance Club Play but failing to chart inside the
Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
. "Rock DJ" went on to sell almost 4 million copies worldwide. The song was named the Best Song of 2000 at the MTV Europe Music Awards and Best Single and Best Video at the Brits 2001.
Music videos
The accompanying
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 devic ...
for "Rock DJ" was directed by
Vaughan Arnell
Vaughan Arnell (born 31 May 1961, in Chertsey, Surrey) is a British music video and television commercial director. Although having done films for high-profile clients in the TV commercial field, including Nestlé and Levi's, he is best known for ...
. It was released on 6 July. It begins with Williams dancing on a roller disco with women skating around him. He wants to get the attention of the female DJ (played by
Lauren Gold
Lauren Gold (born 9 January 1981) is an English model and actress. Gold is most recognised as the DJ in Robbie Williams's "Rock DJ" music video as well as her recurring appearance in La Senza ad campaigns. Gold's best known acting role is Scarle ...
) standing above the stage, so he begins taking off his clothes. After he finally gets her attention, he proceeds with stripping off his skin, muscles and organs, until the only thing left of him are his bones, which is performed by special effects. In the end, the DJ dances with his skeleton. The video ends with the note, "No Robbies were Harmed During the Making of this Video", a jocular take on the " No animals were harmed" note. The skinless Robbie also appears on the single's cover art, as well as on the cover of the DVD release of '' In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010'' in 2010.
The video's ending (beginning with Williams taking off his skin) was cut by most music channels around Europe, including
VIVA
Viva may refer to:
Companies and organisations
* Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator
* Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia
* Viva Air Dominicana
* VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company
* V ...
VH1 Europe
VH1 (referred as VH1 Europe) was a European music television channel owned by ViacomCBS Networks EMEAA. It played a wide variety of music programs on a daily or weekly basis, and various VH1 original series.
The channel focused on current mu ...
. However, in the recent years, some of the music channels in Europe (including MTV Classic and
VH1 Europe
VH1 (referred as VH1 Europe) was a European music television channel owned by ViacomCBS Networks EMEAA. It played a wide variety of music programs on a daily or weekly basis, and various VH1 original series.
The channel focused on current mu ...
) airs the "studio recording" version of the music video, even on late night, which made the edited version of the music video fall into obscurity. Examples of TV stations that still play the full video are Bulgarian channel MM, former German located channel B.TV (often in daytime) and Canadian channel
MusiquePlus
Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women.
It was first established in 1986 as the mu ...
, some channels ran the edited video during the day and the unedited one overnight, while The Hits played a version which cut from Williams dancing in his underwear to dancing as a skeleton, filling the gap by repeating previous footage. This is the version that is currently played on channels owned by The Box Plus Network. In 2001, "Rock DJ" won the
MTV Video Music Award for Best Special Effects
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Visual Effects is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the visual effects artists and/or visual effects company of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the award's full name was Best Specia ...
. In 2006, it was voted by viewers as the seventh Most Groundbreaking Video Ever on MTV and in 2007 it was ranked at number 48 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, ...
's 50 Most Controversial Videos. The video was banned in
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
due to allegations of
Satanism
Satanism is a group of Ideology, ideological and Philosophy, philosophical beliefs based on Satan. Contemporary religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the atheistic Church of Satan by Anton LaVey in the United States in 19 ...
.
The video has been shown numerous times on
Fuse
Fuse or FUSE may refer to:
Devices
* Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current
** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles
* Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protect ...
's '' Pants-Off Dance-Off'', despite its gory content. Toward the end of the dancer's dancing/stripping to it when the video is shown in the background like any other, they only show Williams, briefly, ripping and throwing his skin, and dancing in muscle form before cutting to the hostess of the show. The video appears as an instance of the re-use of the motif of "dancing with the dead" in a book about medieval images of death and dying in art and literature.
A second video shows Williams in a studio while recording the song.
Track listings
UK CD and cassette single, Australian CD single
# "Rock DJ" – 4:15
# "Talk to Me" – 3:28
# "Rock DJ" (Player One remix) – 5:34
UK DVD single
# "Rock DJ" (full length video)
# "Rock DJ" (a short documentary feature)
European CD single
# "Rock DJ" – 4:15
# "Talk to Me" – 3:28
European maxi-CD single
# "Rock DJ" – 4:15
# "Talk to Me" – 3:28
# "Rock DJ" (Player One remix) – 5:34
# "Rock DJ" (video)
Credits and personnel
Credits are taken from the '' Sing When You're Winning'' album booklet.
Studios
* Recorded at Master Rock Studios (North London, England) and Sarm Hook End (
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...
, England)
* Mixed at Battery Studios (London, England)
* Mastered at Metropolis Mastering (London, England)
Personnel
* Robbie Williams – writing, lead vocals
* Guy Chambers – writing, all keyboards, production, arrangement
* Kelvin Andrews – writing
* Nelson Pigford – writing
* Ekundayo Paris – writing
* Andy Caine – backing vocals
* Derek Green – backing vocals
*
Katie Kissoon
Mac and Katie Kissoon are a pop soul duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon (born Gerald Farthing, November 11, 1943, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) and Katie Kissoon (born Katherine Farthing, March 11, 1951, Port of Spain).
E ...
– backing vocals
*
Sylvia Mason-James
Sylvia Mason-James (born 8 December 1958) is a British singer who has worked extensively as a backing vocalist and solo artist.
Early life and career
Mason-James was born on 8 December 1958 in south London, United Kingdom to immigrants from J ...
– backing vocals
* Tessa Niles – backing vocals
* Paul "Tubbs" Williams – backing vocals
*
Steve Power
Steve Power (born in Liverpool) is an English record producer best known for his work with Robbie Williams. He has produced and mixed a wide variety of artists over the years, including Blur, Busted, Andrea Bocelli, Feeder, Joe Cocker,Perciv ...
–
vocoder
A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation.
The vocoder ...
, production, mixing
* Neil Taylor – electric guitar
* Winston Blissett – bass guitar
* Andy Duncan – drum programming
* Dave Bishop – brass
* Neil Sidwell – brass
* Steve Sidwell – brass
*
London Session Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphon ...
– orchestra
*
Gavyn Wright
Gavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London Session Orchestra and Penguin Cafe Orchestra.
He is best known for his orchestral arrangements on pop productions (including Elton John, Simply Red, Bush, Mecano, Oasis ...
– concertmaster
* Nick Ingman – orchestration
* Isobel Griffiths – orchestral contractor
* Steve Price – orchestral engineering
* Richard Flack – Pro Tools
* Tony Cousins – mastering