Put the Needle on It
Encyclopedia
"Put the Needle on It" is a dance-pop
song performed by Australian singer Dannii Minogue
. The song was written by Minogue, Henrik Korpi, Mathias Johansson and Karen Poole
for Minogue's fourth album Neon Nights
(2003). It is the album's opening track, and was released as its first single
in November 2002. The single reached the top twenty in multiple countries, and topped the club
charts in the United Kingdom
, selling in excess of 60,000 copies. In February 2003, it was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association
.
"Put the Needle on It" received mixed reviews from music critics, and its musical style was compared to American
pop singer Madonna
. Its music video
, directed by Mikka Lomm, features Minogue in a studio surrounded with colorful neon lights and spinning on a human-sized record player
.
in Stockholm
, Sweden
. During one of their sessions, they penned "Put the Needle on It", a song about sex
. Minogue was determined to compose a dance music
song to thank the British DJs
who had accepted her into the dance genre following the success of her single "Who Do You Love Now?
" the previous year. In the United Kingdom, it is difficult for artists to be accepted into the dance music scene because DJs are not "interested in pop artists calling themselves dance artists because they've done one remix of their song."
"Put the Needle on It" is a mid-tempo 1980s inspired disco
song "about sex disguised as a pop ditty about a record player". The song was composed as a collaborative effort between Korpi, Johansson, Poole and Minogue, although Minogue contributed most of the lyrics. The song is written in the common verse-chorus form
and features instrumentation from keyboard
s and synthesizer
s.
, while Amazon.com
's David Trueman wrote that the song "utilises the funkier end of 1980s disco, with a contemporary edge that removes the cheese and dispels any notion that [Minogue] may be hanging on the coattails of her big sister (Kylie Minogue
)". MusicOMH.com called the track a "slow but inevitable grower" which "shows that Dannii's dark song-writing powers can compete right at the top of the charts".
"Put the Needle on It" featured a futuristic music video
that was directed by Miikka Lommi in 2002. The video features Minogue in a studio surrounded with colorful neon lights and spinning on a human-sized record player
. The video begins with a close-up on a television screen showing only Minogue's lips, singing the opening lines to the song. A large, human-sized record player is then shown, surrounded by large video screens repeating the opening scene of the video. Minogue, wearing a short black dress and a cropped hair cut, is then shown in a digital room, surrounded by many lights and occasionally four digital dancers. The final sequence of the video features Minogue in a purple dress, spinning on the large record player introduced at the beginning of the video. As the video concludes, all of the scenes are intercut and gradually fade.
A remix version of the music video was also created using the Jason Nevins
"Club Creation Edit" of the song. The remix video used only the scenes of Minogue in the digital room and spinning around on the record player, but they are arranged in a different order than how they appear in the original video. The music video was released commercially on The Hits & Beyond
special edition companion DVD
(2006) and Dannii Minogue: The Video Collection (2007).
female singer Mercan released a cover version in Turkish language called “Sana değil kardeşine”.
on 4 November 2002. It reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart
and number one on the Upfront Club Chart, becoming Minogue's fifth song to do so. Across Europe
, the track performed moderately well, reaching the top twenty in the Netherlands
and Ireland. It also reached number 4 on the Irish Dance Charts
In Australia, "Put the Needle on It" peaked at number eleven on the singles chart
. In February 2003, the song was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association
. On the ARIA end of year chart for 2003, the track charted at number eleven on the Dance Singles chart and at number eighteen on the Top Australian Singles chart.
European CD single
(5050466191625; Released 4 November 2002)
European 12-inch single
(5050466196309; Released 4 November 2002)
Cassette single
(Released 4 November 2002)
Official remixes
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
song performed by Australian singer Dannii Minogue
Dannii Minogue
Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
. The song was written by Minogue, Henrik Korpi, Mathias Johansson and Karen Poole
Karen Poole
Karen Poole is an English songwriter and singer, who gained initial fame with her younger sister, Shelly Poole, as the duo / band, Alisha's Attic.-List of compositions:...
for Minogue's fourth album Neon Nights
Neon Nights
Neon Nights is the fourth studio album by Australian dance-pop singer Dannii Minogue. It was released by London Records on 17 March 2003 and was primarily produced by Ian Masterson, Korpi & Blackcell, Neïmo and Terry Ronald...
(2003). It is the album's opening track, and was released as its first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in November 2002. The single reached the top twenty in multiple countries, and topped the club
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
charts in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, selling in excess of 60,000 copies. In February 2003, it was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
.
"Put the Needle on It" received mixed reviews from music critics, and its musical style was compared to American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pop singer Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
. Its music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, directed by Mikka Lomm, features Minogue in a studio surrounded with colorful neon lights and spinning on a human-sized record player
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
.
Background and writing
In 2002, Minogue began writing and recording material with Henrik Korpi, Mathias Johansson and previous collaborator Karen PooleKaren Poole
Karen Poole is an English songwriter and singer, who gained initial fame with her younger sister, Shelly Poole, as the duo / band, Alisha's Attic.-List of compositions:...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. During one of their sessions, they penned "Put the Needle on It", a song about sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
. Minogue was determined to compose a dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
song to thank the British DJs
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
who had accepted her into the dance genre following the success of her single "Who Do You Love Now?
Who Do You Love Now?
"Who Do You Love Now?" is a trance song performed by Australian singer Dannii Minogue and Dutch dance DJs Zki & Dobri, performing under the group name Riva.Originally released only as a single, it was later included on Minogue's album Neon Nights...
" the previous year. In the United Kingdom, it is difficult for artists to be accepted into the dance music scene because DJs are not "interested in pop artists calling themselves dance artists because they've done one remix of their song."
"Put the Needle on It" is a mid-tempo 1980s inspired disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
song "about sex disguised as a pop ditty about a record player". The song was composed as a collaborative effort between Korpi, Johansson, Poole and Minogue, although Minogue contributed most of the lyrics. The song is written in the common verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form is a musical form common in popular music and predominant in rock since the 1960s. In contrast to AABA form, which is focused on the verse , in verse-chorus form the chorus is highlighted...
and features instrumentation from keyboard
Electronic keyboard
An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
s and synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s.
Critical reception
"Put the Needle on It" received mixed reviews from contemporary pop music critics. Cristín Leach of RTÉ Entertainment compared the song's musical style to American pop singer MadonnaMadonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, while Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
's David Trueman wrote that the song "utilises the funkier end of 1980s disco, with a contemporary edge that removes the cheese and dispels any notion that [Minogue] may be hanging on the coattails of her big sister (Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
)". MusicOMH.com called the track a "slow but inevitable grower" which "shows that Dannii's dark song-writing powers can compete right at the top of the charts".
Music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
that was directed by Miikka Lommi in 2002. The video features Minogue in a studio surrounded with colorful neon lights and spinning on a human-sized record player
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
. The video begins with a close-up on a television screen showing only Minogue's lips, singing the opening lines to the song. A large, human-sized record player is then shown, surrounded by large video screens repeating the opening scene of the video. Minogue, wearing a short black dress and a cropped hair cut, is then shown in a digital room, surrounded by many lights and occasionally four digital dancers. The final sequence of the video features Minogue in a purple dress, spinning on the large record player introduced at the beginning of the video. As the video concludes, all of the scenes are intercut and gradually fade.
A remix version of the music video was also created using the Jason Nevins
Jason Nevins
Jason Nevins is an American DJ, producer and remixer, who is most widely known for his pop dance productions.-Career:In the early 1990s, Nevins began releasing singles under various monikers through various dance labels, but achieved global recognition in 1998 with his production of Run-DMC's...
"Club Creation Edit" of the song. The remix video used only the scenes of Minogue in the digital room and spinning around on the record player, but they are arranged in a different order than how they appear in the original video. The music video was released commercially on The Hits & Beyond
The Hits & Beyond
The Hits & Beyond is a compilation album by Australian pop–dance singer Dannii Minogue, released by All Around the World Records on 19 June 2006. It was a compilation of greatest hits and new tracks...
special edition companion DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
(2006) and Dannii Minogue: The Video Collection (2007).
Cover versions
In 2010 TurkishTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
female singer Mercan released a cover version in Turkish language called “Sana değil kardeşine”.
Chart performance
"Put the Needle on It" was released in the United Kingdom and IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
on 4 November 2002. It reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
and number one on the Upfront Club Chart, becoming Minogue's fifth song to do so. Across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, the track performed moderately well, reaching the top twenty in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Ireland. It also reached number 4 on the Irish Dance Charts
In Australia, "Put the Needle on It" peaked at number eleven on the singles chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
. In February 2003, the song was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
. On the ARIA end of year chart for 2003, the track charted at number eleven on the Dance Singles chart and at number eighteen on the Top Australian Singles chart.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Put the Needle on It".European CD single
(5050466191625; Released 4 November 2002)
- "Put the Needle on It" (Radio Version) – 3:24
- "Put the Needle on It" (NevinsJason NevinsJason Nevins is an American DJ, producer and remixer, who is most widely known for his pop dance productions.-Career:In the early 1990s, Nevins began releasing singles under various monikers through various dance labels, but achieved global recognition in 1998 with his production of Run-DMC's...
Club Creation edit) - "Put the Needle on It" (Cicada Vocal mix edit) – 4:07
- "Put the Needle on It" (Extended original) – 7:22
- "Put the Needle on It" (TigaTiga (musician)Tiga is the stage name of Montreal-born DJ/producer Tiga James Sontag . His album Sexor won the 2007 Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year.-Career:He graduated from Selwyn House School, a prestigious school in Westmount...
's Cookies dub edit) – 4:49 - "Put the Needle on It" (Laid's Zoo Brazil edit) – 5:41
European 12-inch single
(5050466196309; Released 4 November 2002)
- "Put the Needle on It" (Extended original) – 7:22
- "Put the Needle on It" (Tiga's Cookies dub edit) – 4:49
- "Put the Needle on It" (Nevins Club Creation) – 8:21
- "Put the Needle on It" (Cicada Vocal mix edit) – 4:07
Cassette single
(Released 4 November 2002)
- "Put the Needle on It" (Radio Version) – 3:24
- "Put the Needle on It" (Mute8 Vocal edit) – 4:04
Official remixes
- "Put the Needle on It" (Original Extended) – 8:05
- "Put the Needle on It" (Cicada Vocal mix) – 7:56
Charts
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
11 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
30 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
20 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
7 |
| UK Upfront Club Chart | 1 |
Personnel
The following people contributed to "Put the Needle on It":- Dannii Minogue – lead vocals
- Karen PooleKaren PooleKaren Poole is an English songwriter and singer, who gained initial fame with her younger sister, Shelly Poole, as the duo / band, Alisha's Attic.-List of compositions:...
– backing vocals - Korpi & Blackcell – productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, arrangement - Jonas Östman – engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Niklas Flyckt – mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...