Woodpeckers from Space

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"Woodpeckers from Space"
Single by VideoKids
from the album The Invasion of the Spacepeckers
B-side"Rap and Sing Along"
ReleasedSeptember 4, 1984
Recorded1983–1984
Genre
Length5:54 (album version)
3:34 (single version)
LabelPolydor
Songwriter(s)Adams & Fleisner
Producer(s)Adams & Fleisner
VideoKids singles chronology
"Woodpeckers from Space"
(1984) 		"Do the Rap"
(1985)

"Woodpeckers from Space" is a song by the

studio album, The Invasion of the Spacepeckers (1984).[1]

Background

The song was written and produced by Aart Mol, Cees Bergman, Elmer Veerhoff, Erwin van Prehn and Geertjan Hessing (under the pseudonym "Adams & Fleisner"), all of whom were former members of the Dutch glam rock band Catapult.[1]

The idea for the song began when Gert van den Bosch's (co-founder of Boni Records) children asked him if he could produce a record based on Woody Woodpecker, whom they were big fans of.[2][3] The song was recorded at Cat Music, which Mol, Bergman, Veerhoff, Van Prehn and Hessing had formed in 1979. The vocals were done by Bergman, Hessing and Anita and Sylvia Crooks of the vocal trio The Internationals.[1] The Woody laugh (provided by Hessing) used in the song was first heard in "Let's Break" by Master Genius in 1983, another Cat Music project.[4][3]

The album version of the song features sound effects from the Speak & Spell toy, sampled from "Home Computer" by Kraftwerk.

Music video

The music video starred Peter Slaghuis and Bianca Bonelli, hired by Cat Music to be the members of the group.[1] Slaghuis had done remixes of Cat Music's other projects, such as the Special European Edit of "After The Rainbow" by Joanne Daniëls (along with Emile Noorhoek) and "Steppin' Out" by Digital Emotion, while Bonelli would later have a solo single called "Je Veux L'amour (Follow Me)", also written and produced by Cat Music.[1][5][6][7][8][9]

In the video, the woodpecker plays one prank after another on the Slaghuis/Bonelli flight crew, messing with their spaceship and leaving the duo hardly any time to sing. The video was filmed in the Airplane Museum at

Universal Studios, a new character named Tico Tac was created as the group's mascot and used in place of Woody. Tico was named after the 1982 song of the same name by Polysix, another Cat Music project. He was designed by Dirk Arend, who was occasionally doing cover artwork designs for Boni Records and Break Records under the pseudonym "Fruut" at the time, and animated by Bjørn Frank Jensen and coloured by Frits Godhelp at Toonder Studio's.[10][11][12]

Cover versions

The song was covered by the South African outfit

Cirez D in 2004,[19] and Kidz Hitz Party 2: Back To School in 2007.[20]

In popular culture

The song was featured in the 1986 pilot episode of Pingu as well as the original version of the episode "Pingu Looks After the Egg", whereas the redubbed version of the latter has David Hasselhoff's "Pingu-Dance" in its place.

Charts

Chart (1984/1985) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[21] 15
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[22] 17
Denmark (Hitlisten)[23] 4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[24] 14
Norway (VG-lista)[25] 1
Spain (AFYVE)[26] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[27] 8
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[28] 6
UK Singles (OCC)[29]
 72
West Germany (Official German Charts)[30] 4

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Сеанс массового диско-разоблачения" (in Russian). Звуки.Ру. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  2. ^ "The story behind "Hithouse - Jack To The Sound Of The Underground" by Jerry Beke". YouTube. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Radio Stad Den Haag - Sundaynight Live (Adams & Fleisner) (Nov. 05, 2023)". YouTube. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Master Genius - Let's Break". YouTube. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  5. ^ ""VideoKids" and the Aliens". Facebook. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  6. ^ a b "The VideoKids and their Space Woodpecker". Facebook. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Joanne Daniëls – After The Rainbow (1984, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  8. ^ "Digital Emotion – Outside In The Dark (1985, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  9. ^ "Bianca Bonelli – Je Veux L'Amour (Follow Me) (1985, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  10. ^ "Dirk Arend". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Bjørn Frank Jensen". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Frits Godhelp". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Café Society – Woodpeckers From Space (1985, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  14. ^ "Doctor Pecker – Woodpeckers From Space (1986, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  15. ^ "Die Schlümpfe – Klipp Klapp (1995, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  16. ^ "V-Kid – Woodpeckers From Space (1999, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  17. ^ "Evelyn – I Wanna Dance (2001, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  18. ^ "Spritneybears – Woodpeckers From Space (2003, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  19. ^ "Cirez D - Hoodpecker (Original Mix) [MOUSE001]". YouTube. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Various – Kidz Hitz Party 2 - Back To School (2007, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  21. ^ "VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  22. ^ "VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  23. ^ "Danish Chart Archive - Singles 1979 - ____ (B.T./IFPI DK)".
  24. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – VideoKids" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  25. ^ "VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space". VG-lista.
  26. ISBN 84-8048-639-2
    .
  27. ^ "VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space". Singles Top 100.
  28. ^ "VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space". Swiss Singles Chart.
  29. ^ "VideoKids: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  30. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – VideoKids – Woodpeckers from Space" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
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