Saturday Night (Whigfield song)
| "Saturday Night" | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Whigfield | ||||||||
| from the album Whigfield | ||||||||
| B-side | Remix | |||||||
| Released | January 24, 1994 | |||||||
| Format | CD single, CD maxi | |||||||
| Recorded | 1992[1] | |||||||
| Genre | Eurodance | |||||||
| Length | 3:40 | |||||||
| Label | Systematic (UK) Curb/Atlantic Records (U.S.) |
|||||||
| Writer(s) | Larry Pignagnoli Davide Riva |
|||||||
| Producer | Larry Pignagnoli | |||||||
| Whigfield singles chronology | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
"Saturday Night" is the title of a song written by Larry Pignagnoli and Davide Riva, and recorded by Danish singer Whigfield. It was released in January 1994 as the lead single from the album, Whigfield and experienced worldwide success.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Italian producer Larry Pignagnoli had already had success with Spagna in the late 1980s and early 1990s before he produced "Saturday Night" with Danish former model Sannie Carlson aka Whigfield. The track was first released in Italy 1992[1] and then became a huge hit with UK holidaymakers on the Continent over the summer of 1994, leading to a huge demand for the track back in the UK.
[edit] Dance moves
The song famously had its own dance routine:[2]
- Both arms bent at 90 degrees, elbows held at waist, both pushing to the right then to the left
- Left arm stationary, supporting right elbow, right upper arm twiddles. Then reversed.
- Bend over forwards rolling arms around each other
- Hands on waist, step forwards then backwards
- Four jumps, whilst rotating body gradually by 90 degrees.
The end of the cycle is marked by a clap, and leaves the body facing 90 degrees from the beginning.
Often, the fourth step is missed out. This is because people realise that the song is in 4/4 time and therefore believe that the dance should only have four steps.
[edit] Chart performances
It was released in the UK on September 5, 1994 and the pent-up demand saw the track sail straight in at number one - dethroning Wet Wet Wet's 15 week chart-topper "Love Is All Around", despite that single increasing its sales from 65,000 the previous week to 104,000, when Saturday Night entered at number 1 with sales of 150,000. Whigfield was the first act to debut at number one in the UK charts with their debut single.[3]
It stayed at number one for a total of four weeks selling 680,000 in the process, sold a total of 1,092,250 copies and is currently the 65th best selling single in UK chart history.[4]
[edit] Controversy
Two claims of plagiarism were made. It was alleged that the track ripped off both "Rub A Dub Dub" by the Equals and "Fog on the Tyne" by Lindisfarne. Both claims were dismissed.[3]
[edit] Track listings
|
|
[edit] Sampling in other songs
Black Duck samples this extensively for his December 1994 #33 hit "Whiggle in Line" to the point of which the only new elements were added vocals. Coincidentally, Black Duck and Whigfield both used the same producer.
[edit] Charts and sales
[edit] Peak positions
|
[edit] Year-end charts
[edit] Certifications
|
[edit] Chart successions
| Preceded by "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet |
UK Singles Chart number-one single September 17, 1994 - October 8, 1994 |
Succeeded by "Sure" by Take That |
| Preceded by "Guaglione" by Perez Prado |
Irish (IRMA) number-one single September 23, 1994 - October 14, 1994 |
Succeeded by "Love Me for a Reason" by Boyzone |
| Preceded by "Eins, Zwei, Polizei" by Mo-Do |
German number-one single October 21, 1994 - October 28, 1994 |
Succeeded by "Cotton-Eyed Joe" by Rednex |
| Preceded by "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet |
Eurochart Hot 100 number-one single October 22, 1994 - October 29, 1994 |
Succeeded by "Always" by Bon Jovi |
| Preceded by "Let the Dream Come True" by DJ Bobo |
Swiss number-one single November 6, 1994 |
Succeeded by "Always" by Bon Jovi |
| Preceded by "Sweet Dreams" by La Bouche |
Canadian RPM Dance/Urban number-one single November 14, 1994 - November 21, 1994 |
Succeeded by "18 Strings" by Tinman |
[edit] References
- ^ a b [1]
- ^ Top of the Pops
- ^ a b 1000 UK Number One Singles by Jon Kutner & Spencer Leigh, page 400
- ^ NME Top 100 Singles by Martin Roach, page 204
- ^ a b c d e "Saturday Night", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ Belgian peak
- ^ Canada Dance peak position
- ^ Canada peak position
- ^ Billboard October 29, 1994. Billboard. http://books.google.com/books?id=YQgEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA59&dq=Billboard%20%22denmark%22%20%22ifpi%2Fnielsen%22%201994&hl=da&pg=PA59#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
- ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ Italian Single Chart Hit parade Italia (Retrieved May 30, 2008)
- ^ a b "Single top 100 over 1994" (in Dutch) (pdf). Top40. http://www.top40.nl/pdf/Top%20100/top%20100%20-%201994.pdf. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ Billboard: Hits of the World, January 15, 1994
- ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved September 10, 2008)
- ^ Canada Top 50 Dance Tracks of 1994
- ^ 1994 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved January 30, 2009)
- ^ 1994 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved September 10, 2008)
- ^ UK Top 40 Singles of 1994 Wikipedia.org (Retrieved July 12, 2010)
- ^ Canada Top 50 Dance Tracks of 1995
- ^ 1995 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved January 30, 2009)
- ^ French certifications Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved January 17, 2009)
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Whigfield; 'Saturday+Night')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=Saturday%2BNight&strInterpret=Whigfield&strTtArt=alle&strAwards=checked. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
- ^ Norwegian certifications Ifpi.no (Retrieved January 17, 2009)
- ^ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved January 17, 2009)
- 1994 singles
- Number-one debut singles
- European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
- Number-one singles in Germany
- Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
- Number-one singles in Italy
- Number-one singles in Switzerland
- UK Singles Chart number-one singles
- Novelty and fad dances
- Whigfield songs
- Singles certified platinum by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie