Stoned in Love
Encyclopedia
"Stoned in Love" is a dance track by Chicane
(Nick Bracegirdle), with vocals performed by famed pop
singer Tom Jones
. It was released as a single
on 24 April 2006.
The song followed a number of genre crossover
recordings for both musicians, Bracegirdle having recorded previous hits with Celtic
folk
singer Máire Brennan and rock
singer Bryan Adams
, and Jones having recorded the house music
hit "Sex Bomb" with producer
/DJ
Mousse T
.
It was included on Chicane's third studio album, Somersault
in 2007, as well as Tom Jones'
2006 compilation "Greatest Hits: The Platinum Edition".
in vocal range
, without having to resort to falsetto
. According to Bracegirdle, his initial candidates were Jones, James Dean Bradfield
and Kelly Jones
— all Welshmen
. Jones has stated that he had never heard of Chicane before being approached with the song, but soon took a liking to the material: "It's a very well written song with good lyrics. It's a proper song structurally and not just a moody record."
The single was first announced in March 2006 in a press release on the official Chicane website, following three years of minimal recording activity and little publicity from Bracegirdle. Soon after, audio and video samples were hosted on the official Chicane and Tom Jones websites.
The single received play from various DJs on BBC Radio 1
, including noted DJ Pete Tong
on 24 February and 10 March, and Dave Pearce
on 2 April.
Jones' knighthood
by Queen Elizabeth II
took place during this period of time, on 29 March 2006.
Two concert
s were announced with the release of the single: the Manchester Academy
on 22 April, and the Islington academy on 24 April. At the 22 April concert, a number of new songs from the upcoming album were played to the public for the first time, including the next single, "Come Tomorrow".
Jones has performed the song live with Chicane on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
on 21 April, on 24 April at the Islington Academy and The Paul O'Grady Show
, and on 30 April on Top of the Pops
.
While on Top of the Pops, Jones's performance of the song was mandated by his record label, requiring a second performance to be recorded in order to get the song "right".
at #42 on the week starting 24 April 2006, simultaneous to its release date (prior to this, only digital download
s were available). The next week, the song rose all the way to #8 and on its third week, it climbed to #7. The single received remix
es by Vertigo and The Young Punx
.
On 11 July 2006, "Stoned in Love" was released in Canada as a digital download single on the Universal Music Canada
imprint
label GLOW Digital. Billed as "Canada’s first digital dance/pop label", GLOW was launched with "Stoned in Love" as its first release.
, directed by Phil Griffin, was made available on the Top of the Pops website as of the 16 April 2006 show.
The video tells a caper story
, showing a woman (played by Jane Le) and a man driving through a desert and robbing gas stations, and two police officers in pursuit of them. The man is dubbed the "Tom Jones Bandit" on a wanted poster
because he is always seen wearing a rubber Tom Jones mask. Filming took place in the United States.
The video ends with the man being arrested and unmasked, revealing the real Tom Jones underneath.
Chicane (recording artist)
Chicane is a British electronic dance music act, and the guise of British musician, composer, songwriter and record producer, Nicholas Bracegirdle....
(Nick Bracegirdle), with vocals performed by famed pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
. It was released as a 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...
on 24 April 2006.
The song followed a number of genre crossover
Crossover (music)
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
recordings for both musicians, Bracegirdle having recorded previous hits with Celtic
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
singer Máire Brennan and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
singer Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
, and Jones having recorded the house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
hit "Sex Bomb" with producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
/DJ
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...
Mousse T
Mousse T.
Mousse T. is a German DJ and record producer of Turkish descent. He is best known for his collaboration with Tom Jones, "Sex Bomb", released on the album Reload.-Biography:...
.
It was included on Chicane's third studio album, Somersault
Somersault (Chicane album)
Somersault is Chicane's third official studio album, released on 23 July 2007. It is Chicane's first album self-released on producer and songwriter Nick Bracegirdle's independent record label, Modena Records.-History:...
in 2007, as well as Tom Jones'
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
2006 compilation "Greatest Hits: The Platinum Edition".
History
Having written the song, Bracegirdle was looking for a singer able to reach a high pitchPitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
in vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
, without having to resort to falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
. According to Bracegirdle, his initial candidates were Jones, James Dean Bradfield
James Dean Bradfield
James Dean Bradfield is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers.- Early life :...
and Kelly Jones
Kelly Jones
Kelly Jones is a Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist and the lead singer of the band Stereophonics. Influenced by classic rock bands such as The Who, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and the Sex Pistols, Jones is noted for his strong, gravelly voice, which has been described as "whisky" vocals...
— all Welshmen
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
. Jones has stated that he had never heard of Chicane before being approached with the song, but soon took a liking to the material: "It's a very well written song with good lyrics. It's a proper song structurally and not just a moody record."
The single was first announced in March 2006 in a press release on the official Chicane website, following three years of minimal recording activity and little publicity from Bracegirdle. Soon after, audio and video samples were hosted on the official Chicane and Tom Jones websites.
The single received play from various DJs on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, including noted DJ Pete Tong
Pete Tong
Peter "Pete" Tong is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is known worldwide by fans of electronic music for hosting programmes such as Essential Mix and Essential Selection on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for his record label FFRR Records, and for...
on 24 February and 10 March, and Dave Pearce
Dave Pearce
Dave Pearce is a British dance DJ and record producer, who has played gigs across the UK and the world, although he is perhaps best known for his work in radio. He currently works for the BBC 6 Music...
on 2 April.
Jones' knighthood
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
took place during this period of time, on 29 March 2006.
Two concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s were announced with the release of the single: the Manchester Academy
Manchester Academy
Manchester Academy is a brand name used by the University of Manchester Students' Union for its four concert venues in Manchester, England, which reside on Oxford Road both within and adjacent to the main Students' Union building....
on 22 April, and the Islington academy on 24 April. At the 22 April concert, a number of new songs from the upcoming album were played to the public for the first time, including the next single, "Come Tomorrow".
Jones has performed the song live with Chicane on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross was a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 November 2001. The programme featured Ross's take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...
on 21 April, on 24 April at the Islington Academy and The Paul O'Grady Show
The Paul O'Grady Show
The Paul O'Grady Show was a BAFTA award-winning British comedy chat show hosted by Birkenhead-born comedian Paul O'Grady. The format was originally devised by Granada Television and was broadcast on ITV before moving to Channel 4...
, and on 30 April on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
.
Vocal performance
Jones's singing in the song is noted for being "lighter" and quieter than usual during the verses, to the extent that listeners don't always recognize his voice at first listen. During the choruses, however, he switches to his traditional, high-register vocal style.While on Top of the Pops, Jones's performance of the song was mandated by his record label, requiring a second performance to be recorded in order to get the song "right".
Single release
"Stoned in Love" entered the UK Singles ChartUK 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 ...
at #42 on the week starting 24 April 2006, simultaneous to its release date (prior to this, only digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
s were available). The next week, the song rose all the way to #8 and on its third week, it climbed to #7. The single received remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es by Vertigo and The Young Punx
The Young Punx
The Young Punx are an English based electronic dance music act whose eclectic and energetic style encompasses french house, breakbeat and drum and bass, mashed up with elements as diverse as 1980s pop music, hard rock, disco and glam rock.-Personnel:...
.
On 11 July 2006, "Stoned in Love" was released in Canada as a digital download single on the Universal Music Canada
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
label GLOW Digital. Billed as "Canada’s first digital dance/pop label", GLOW was launched with "Stoned in Love" as its first release.
Music video
The music videoMusic 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 Phil Griffin, was made available on the Top of the Pops website as of the 16 April 2006 show.
The video tells a caper story
Caper story
The caper story is a subgenre of crime fiction. The typical caper story involves one or more crimes perpetrated by the main characters in full view of the reader...
, showing a woman (played by Jane Le) and a man driving through a desert and robbing gas stations, and two police officers in pursuit of them. The man is dubbed the "Tom Jones Bandit" on a wanted poster
Wanted poster
A wanted poster is a poster distributed to let the public know of an alleged criminal whom authorities wish to apprehend. They will generally include either a picture of the alleged criminal when a photograph is available, or of a facial composite image produced by a police artist...
because he is always seen wearing a rubber Tom Jones mask. Filming took place in the United States.
The video ends with the man being arrested and unmasked, revealing the real Tom Jones underneath.
UK enhanced CD single
- "Stoned in Love" (Radio Edit) 3:41
- "Stoned in Love" (Commercial 12" Mix) 5:01
- "Stoned in Love" (Vertigo Vocal Mix) 9:04
- "Stoned in Love" (The Young Punx Vocal Remix) 7:51
- "Stoned in Love" (Video)
Audio sample
External links
- Promotional site at Manifesto RecordsManifesto RecordsManifesto Records is the name of an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California that has released records by The Wedding Present, Dead Kennedys, Tom Waits, Tim Buckley, Lilys, Concrete Blonde, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and others. Manifesto released the entire catalogue of Dead Kennedys...