No Good (Start the Dance)

"No Good (Start the Dance)"
Single by The Prodigy
from the album Music for the Jilted Generation
Released	16 May 1994
Format	12 inch vinyl record Cassette CD single
Recorded	Essex, England
Genre	Oldskool jungle, breakbeat hardcore
Length	4:01 (Edit)
Label	XL Recordings
Writer(s)	Liam Howlett
Producer	Liam Howlett
The Prodigy singles chronology
"One Love" (1993) "No Good (Start the Dance)" (1994) "Voodoo People" (1994)

"No Good (Start the Dance)" is a song by The Prodigy, released as their seventh single on 16 May 1994. It was the second single from the album Music for the Jilted Generation. The single peaked at number four in the UK and number seven in Norway.

The original sample "You're no good for me, I don't need nobody" is by Kelly Charles and comes from the single "You're No Good For Me" (1987, London Records LONX153). Liam Howlett had doubts whether to use the sample because he thought it was too pop for his taste. It is possible the track was influenced by Hithouse's single "Jack to the Sound of the Underground" (1988), which itself was the first dance track to sample Kelly Charles.

Video

The video, directed by Walter Stern combines the humorous flavour of that for Out Of Space with the menace of Firestarter and Breathe videos to come. Filmed in an underground warehouse, the video features characters dancing to the song including a very manic Liam whilst other band members prowl around moodily. After Liam breaks down a plaster wall with a sledgehammer, Keith is seen in a straitjacket eventually being locked into a Plexiglas box-prison.

Remixes

There is also a Drum'n'Bass remix by DJ SS. Both Oxide & Neutrino and English rapper Plan B covered the Kelly Charles vocal for their songs "No Good 4 Me" from the album Execute and "No Good" from the album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words, respectively. Ultrabeat used the sample in their song "The Stalker", off of their 2009 album "The Weekend Has Landed". German Rapper Kollegah also sampled the track in his song "Hater".

In the summer of 2010 a new remix grew popular by being promoted by Swedish House Mafia among others, The Prodigy - No Good (Da Fresh Bootleg).

Lostprophets have incorporated the song into their cover of The Prodigy's Omen during their live shows.

Track listing

XL recordings

12" vinyl record

1. "No Good (Start the Dance)" (Original Mix) – 6:22
2. "No Good (Start the Dance)" (Bad for You Mix) – 6:52 (remixed by Liam Howlett)
3. "No Good (Start the Dance)" (CJ Bolland Museum Mix) – 5:14

CD single

1. "No Good (Start the Dance)" (Edit) – 4:01
2. "No Good (Start the Dance)" (Bad for You Mix) – 6:52 (remixed by Liam Howlett)
3. "No Good (Start the Dance)" (CJ Bolland Museum Mix) – 5:14
4. "No Good (Start the Dance)" (Original Mix) – 6:22

Sony/Dancepool

1. "No Good (Start the Dance)" (Edit) – 4:01
2. "No Good (Start the Dance)" (CJ Bolland's Mix) – 5:14
3. "One Love" (Jonny L Remix) – 5:10
4. "Jericho" (Genaside II Remix) – 5:45
5. "G-Force" (Energy Flow) – 5:18

Sales

The No Good single sold over 235 000 copies in the UK during 1994