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Virtual Insanity

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"Virtual Insanity"
Single by Jamiroquai
from the album Travelling Without Moving
B-side
Released19 August 1996 (1996-08-19)
Genre
Length
  • 5:40 (album version)
  • 4:04 (single version)
  • 3:46 (radio edit)
LabelSony Soho Square
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Al Stone
Jamiroquai singles chronology
"Do You Know Where You're Coming From?"
(1996) 		"Virtual Insanity"
(1996) 		"Cosmic Girl"
(1996)
Audio sample
Music video
"Virtual Insanity" on YouTube

"Virtual Insanity" is a song by British funk band Jamiroquai. It was released as the second single from their third studio album, Travelling Without Moving (1996), on 19 August 1996. The song's award-winning music video was released in September 1996. "Virtual Insanity" was a number-one hit in Iceland and Italy and reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Peaking within the top 10 in Finland and Ireland, the song also peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart upon the single's release in the US in 1997. The sight of underground town in Sapporo, Northern Japan provided inspiration to this song.[1]

Single information

The first B-side of the single is the song "Do You Know Where You're Coming From", which features M-Beat. It was released as a single earlier in 1996.[citation needed] The second B-side of the single, "Bullet", is probably one of the most mysterious Jamiroquai tracks ever written. The song starts with a 3-second percussion intro, and switches into a longer, very claustrophobic introduction. During this part, very faint vocals can be heard in the background, while the melody progresses.

In the beginning of the song, a sound that is taken from the film Alien appears. It is the sound sequence when the S.O.S. signal appears on the screens of the spaceship Nostromo at the start of the film.

Music video

"Virtual Insanity" is Jamiroquai's best known music video. At the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards in September 1997, it earned 10 nominations, winning four awards, including "Breakthrough Video" and the "Best Video of the Year." In 2006, it was voted 9th by MTV viewers in a poll on music videos that 'broke the rules.' It was directed by Jonathan Glazer. The single was released in the U.S. in 1997. At the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, Jamiroquai performed the song, recreating the famous floor moving concept with two moving walkways on the stage floor, going in different directions, for Jay Kay to use to dance on.[2]

Video description

File:Virtualinsanityvideo.JPG
Jay Kay in a moving futuristic room in the "Virtual Insanity" music video. The video received critical acclaim from critics for its visual effects.

The video consists mainly of Jamiroquai's singer, Jay Kay, dancing and performing the song in a bright white room with a grey floor. Throughout the video, there are several combinations of couches and easy chair, which are the only pieces of furniture in the room. The video earned recognition from critics for its special effects: the floor appears to move while the rest of the room stays still. At some points, the camera tilts up or down to show the floor or ceiling for a few seconds, and when it returns to the central position, the scene has completely changed. Other scenes show a crow flying across the room, a cockroach on the floor, the couches bleeding and the other members of Jamiroquai in a corridor being blown away by wind. This became the second video released by Jamiroquai to be successfully done in one complete, albeit composited, shot; Space Cowboy being the first. In a short making-of documentary, director Jonathan Glazer describes how the walls move on a stationary grey floor with no detail, to give the illusion that objects on the floor are moving. In several shots, chairs or couches are fixed to the walls so that they appear to be standing still, when in fact they are moving. In other shots chairs remain stationary on the floor, but the illusion is such that they appear to be moving.[3] The moving walls were not completely rigid and can be seen in some shots to wiggle slightly.

Accolades

Year Organization Award Result
1997 MTV Video Music Award Video of the Year Won
Best New Artist Nominated
Breakthrough Video Won
Best Direction (Directors: Jonathan Glazer) Nominated
Best Choreography (Choreographers: Jason Kay) Nominated
Best Visual Effects (Visual Effects: Jonathan Glazer and Sean Broughton) Won
Best Art Direction (Art Director: John Bramble) Nominated
Best Editing (Editor: Jonathan Glazer and John McManus) Nominated
Best Cinematography (Cinematographer: Stephen Keith-Roach) Won
International Viewer's Choice Award for MTV Europe Nominated

"Virtual Insanity" was parodied in the music video for Austin Mahone and Pitbull's "Mmm Yeah" in 2014, the FIDLAR video "40oz. on Repeat" in 2015, and in the Family Guy episode "Scammed Yankees". A cover remix version of "Virtual Insanity" is featured in the 2006 music video game Beatmania. In American comedy series Silicon Valley, the song is alluded to when the character Jack Barker has Jamiroquai perform a parody of the song entitled "Virtual Reality" as part of a release event for his company's new virtual reality venture.

Track listing

UK CD No. 1 single (663613 2)
  1. "Virtual Insanity" – 4:04
  2. "Do You Know Where You're Coming From?" (Original Mix) – 4:59
  3. "Bullet" – 4:19
  4. "Virtual Insanity" (Album Version) – 5:40
UK CD No. 2 single (663613 5)
  1. "Virtual Insanity" – 4:04
  2. "Space Cowboy" (Classic Radio) – 4:01
  3. "Emergency On Planet Earth" (London Rican Mix) – 7:10
  4. "Do You Know Where You're Coming From" – 4:59
US CD promo No. 1 (OSK 0857)
  1. "Virtual Insanity" (Peace of Mind Edit)
  2. "Virtual Insanity" (Radio Edit)
  3. "Virtual Insanity" (Album Version) – 5:40
  4. "Virtual Insanity" (Peace of Mind Mix)
US CD promo No. 2 (OSK 9857)
  1. "Virtual Insanity" (Radio Edit)
Cassette (663613 4)
  1. "Virtual Insanity" – 4:04
  2. "Virtual Insanity" (Album Version) – 5:40
  3. "Virtual Insanity" (Unreality Mix) – 3:54

Charts and certifications

Sampling and covers

  • "Virtual Insanity" was also sampled in the song "Insanity" on the Hostyle Gospel's mixtape album The Calm which was released in 2012.[26]
  • "Virtual Insanity" was covered and performed live by Daichi Miura during his exTime Tour in 2012. The performance appears on his live album/DVD exTime Tour 2012.

References

  1. ^ "Jamiroquai - Live at Tokyo dome on Youtube , November 18,1999". Youtube. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Beck, Jamiroquai big winners at MTV Music Awards". CNN, September 5, 1997
  3. ^ Jonathan Glazer The Making of Jamiroquai's Virtual Insanity, YouTube, URL accessed 3 June 2018
  4. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  5. ^ "Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  6. ^ "Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 3288." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  8. ^ "Jamiroquai: Virtual Insanity" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  9. ^ "Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  10. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (03.10.1996 - 09.10.1996)" (PDF) (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir - Tónlist. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  11. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Virtual Insanity". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  12. ^ a b "I singoli più venduti del 1996" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  16. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  17. ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  18. ^ "Jamiroquai Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  19. ^ "Jamiroquai Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  20. ^ "Jamiroquai Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  21. ^ "Jamiroquai Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  22. ^ "Rapports annuels 1996" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  23. ^ "Classement Singles - année 1996" (in French). Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ "Top 100 Singles 1996". Music Week. 18 January 1997. p. 25.
  25. ^ "British single certifications – Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 11 October 2018. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Virtual Insanity in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  26. ^ "Insanity". Who Sampled. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
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