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Where's Your Head At

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"Where's Your Head At"
Single by Basement Jaxx
from the album Rooty
Released26 November 2001
Recorded2001
Genre
Length
  • 4:43 (album version)
  • 3:57 (single edit)
LabelXL
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx singles chronology
"Jus 1 Kiss"
(2001) 		"Where's Your Head At"
(2001) 		"Get Me Off"
(2002)

"Where's Your Head At" is a song by British electronic music duo Basement Jaxx. It was released as the third single from their second album, Rooty, in 2001. The song was recorded in early 2001 and is based on samples from Gary Numan's songs "M.E." and "This Wreckage". The song peaked at number nine in Canada and the United Kingdom, number 16 in Australia, and number 39 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, the band's only charting single on a non-dance music chart in the United States.

The song ranked at number 83 in Pitchfork Media's list of the Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s.[1]

Music video

The music video, directed by Traktor,[2] starts out with a man (played by Damien Samuels) entering an undisclosed location ("the armpit of nowhere" as he calls it) to meet up with a man who claims to have "the latest thing in pop music". Meanwhile, a guitarist is shown being wheeled away in a hospital gurney, with the song starting when he lifts his head.

The man then meets up with a scientist (played by Czech actor Petr Janiš), who then shows him his idea – monkeys playing music – with the help of several props. The protagonist seems unconvinced by the presentation. The scientists secretary suggestes that the scientist should demonstrate the idea instead. He is then led into another room and sat behind a protective screen, with a view of a chamber containing instruments and DJing equipment. Three monkeys are brought into the chamber and start to play the instruments – it's revealed that their faces are actually those of humans (two of the monkeys have the faces of band members Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe). After playing for a while, the monkeys suddenly start destroying the equipment, a behavior which inexplicably carries over into the scientist observing the performance. They then surround the main character, who promptly flees.

During his escape, the protagonist stumbles upon a room containing a monkey and an unconscious human both hooked up to a machine. The monkey's face then becomes more human in appearance. The protagonist, now horrified, sees a diagram on the wall showcasing pictures of a human brain pointing towards several monkey brains. It turns out the "latest thing in pop music" is actually an experiment where musicians' brains are being transferred to monkeys, and he's planned to be the next victim. The video ends with him escaping down a laundry chute to a room with men who have monkey-like faces, only to be cornered by the scientist and a dog, who also has the face of the scientist.

The video won two awards at the 11th Annual Music Video Production Awards for Best Electronica Video and Best Directorial Debut.[3] Pitchfork Media ranked the video at number 24 in their list of The Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s.[4]

Remix

In 2011, DJ Chuckie created a mashup of the song with Cold Blank's remix of "Cal State Anthem" and played it at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, as well as several other festivals and events around the world.[5]

Track listing

  1. "Where's Your Head At"
  2. "Where's Your Head At (Stanton Warriors Mix)"
  3. "Romeo (Acoustic Mix)"

Charts

Chart (2001–2002) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[6] 16
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7] 44
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[8] 8
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[9] 9
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[10] 44
Ireland (IRMA)[11] 19
Ireland Dance (IRMA)[12] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 63
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 38
Scotland (OCC)[15] 14
UK Singles (OCC)[16] 9
UK Dance (OCC)[17] 3
UK Indie (OCC)[18] 2
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[19] 39
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[20] 3
US Hot Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[21] 2

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[22] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7691-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-100-51/2/
  2. ^ "Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At ( Official Video ) Rooty". Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  3. ^ Basement Jaxx at AstralWerks Archived 22 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7695-the-top-50-music-videos-of-the-2000s/3/
  5. ^ "DJ Chuckie Set at Electric Daisy Carnival". IENLIVE. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  7. ^ "Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  8. ^ "Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At" (in French). Ultratip.
  9. ^ "Basement Jaxx Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 19, no. 51. 15 December 2001. p. 11. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  11. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Where's Your Head At". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Top 10 Dance Singles, Week Ending 29 November 2001". GfK Chart-Track. Retrieved 2 June 2019.[dead link‍]
  13. ^ "Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  14. ^ "Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At". Top 40 Singles.
  15. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  16. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  17. ^ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  18. ^ "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  19. ^ "Basement Jaxx Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  20. ^ "Basement Jaxx Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  21. ^ "Basement Jaxx Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  22. ^ "British single certifications – Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 21 June 2019. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Where's Your Head At in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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