"Sandstorm" | ||||
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Single by Darude | ||||
from the album Before the Storm | ||||
Released | 26 October 1999 | |||
Recorded | Late 1999 | |||
Studio | JS16 (Finland) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label |
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Songwriter(s) | Ville Virtanen | |||
Producer(s) |
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Darude singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
"Sandstorm" | ||||
Music video | ||||
"Sandstorm" (music video) on YouTube |
"Sandstorm" is an instrumental by Finnish DJ and record producer Darude. It was released as the lead single from his debut studio album, Before the Storm . It was initially released in Finland on 26 October 1999 by 16 Inch Records and was later re-released in many other countries in 2000. The track was uploaded to MP3.com where it gained global recognition. It has also gained recognition for its usage in sports and popularity in internet meme culture.
On 1 March 2010,over ten years after its original release,"Sandstorm" was certified Gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 500,000 copies. In January 2020,it was certified Platinum for sales over one million. [4] On the centenary of Finland's independence in 2017,celebrations in Helsinki included Darude as one of the main performers with his "Sandstorm". [5]
Darude first started making happy hardcore with a music tracker program on his computer,playing gigs as "Rudeboy". [7] He then performed with Wille "Weirdness" Heikkiläas "Position 1",making light Eurodance tunes,and he paired with other DJs on other projects. In September and October 1999, [7] as Darude,he began collaborating with Jaakko "JS16" Salovaara,known as the producer of the Bomfunk MC's. [2] "Sandstorm" was the first product of the collaboration,ready after about a week of work. JS16 signed Darude as the first artist on JS16's new label 16 Inch Records. [7]
Darude had been uploading various pieces of his trance experimentation on the website MP3.com,where he was building a following,and he also uploaded the full-length demo of "Sandstorm". This exposure was responsible for worldwide interest in "Sandstorm". [8] In 2000,Darude reported on his mp3.com artist's page that he had "removed the full-length tracks" of "Sandstorm" at the request of his record company. [9]
The title of the instrumental originates from the Roland JP-8080 synthesizer used in the song,which displays the text "sand storm" on startup. [6]
"Sandstorm" is an instrumental trance composition. [2] [10] According to Darude,the hardware and software used to make the track are as follows:P2,Cubase VST 32,FastTracker 2,ReBirth,Korg TR-Rack. Then with JS16 in his studio:Cubase on Atari 1040ST,Ensoniq ASR-10 sampler,Roland JP8080,NordLead2,Roland JV2080,Ensoniq DP4,Mackie 24/8,Behringer rack compressor. [11] [12]
The video for "Sandstorm" features Darude with headphones viewing two armed security guards (a man and a woman) chasing a woman with a case. Darude seems to appear at every place where the pursuers and the pursued go. Near the end,the woman with the case stumbles and one of her pursuers (the other woman) betrays her partner,knocking him out. The two women take the case onto a boat with Darude. As of January 2023,the music video uploaded on YouTube via an official channel has garnered over 243 million views,while one unofficial upload has 53 million views. [13] [14]
The video was directed by Juuso Syrjä,a.k.a. Uzi, [15] and was shot in various places in Helsinki,including the Helsinki Cathedral and the Senate Square. [16] It became the first Finnish music video shown on MTV in the US and it received several awards in Finland and on MTV. [15]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Sandstorm" (radio edit) | 3:45 |
2. | "Sandstorm" (original mix) | 7:21 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Sandstorm" (radio edit) | 3:45 |
2. | "Sandstorm" (original mix) | 7:21 |
3. | "Sandstorm" (JS16 Remix) | 7:24 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Sandstorm" (radio edit) | 3:45 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Sandstorm" (radio edit) | 3:46 |
2. | "Sandstorm" (original mix) | 7:24 |
3. | "Sandstorm" (JS16 Remix) | 7:19 |
4. | "Sandstorm" (Ariel Remix) | 6:43 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Sandstorm" (original mix) | 7:24 |
2. | "Sandstorm" (JS16 Remix) | 7:19 |
3. | "Sandstorm" (Ariel Remix) | 6:43 |
4. | "Sandstorm" (Terpsichord Remix) | 7:01 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Sandstorm" (radio edit) | 2:55 |
2. | "Sandstorm" (original mix) | 7:24 |
3. | "Sandstorm" (JS16 Remix) | 7:21 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Sandstorm" (radio edit) | 3:49 |
2. | "Sandstorm" (extended) | 7:26 |
3. | "Sandstorm" (Dallas Superstars Remix) | 8:24 |
4. | "Sandstorm" (Komytea radio remix) | 3:54 |
5. | "Sandstorm" (Komytea Remix) | 7:40 |
6. | "Sandstorm" (DJ Ray Aka Tom Hafman Remix) | 7:13 |
7. | "Sandstorm" (Superchumbo's Sandy Storm) | 8:38 |
8. | "Sandstorm" (Jan Driver Remix) | 6:16 |
Soon after release, "Sandstorm" became popular on pop radio stations, reaching number one in Norway. [25] Its sales worldwide eventually reached 2 million, and it was featured on 200 compilations. [8]
Weekly charts | Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [65] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) [66] | Platinum | 13,025 [66] |
Germany (BVMI) [67] | Gold | 250,000^ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [68] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
Sweden (GLF) [69] | Gold | 15,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [70] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [4] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Finland | 26 October 1999 | CD | 16 Inch | [71] |
Sweden | 7 April 2000 | [72] | ||
United Kingdom | 5 June 2000 |
| Neo | [73] |
Spain | 23 June 2000 | 12-inch vinyl | Insolent | [74] |
United States | 2000 |
| Groovilicious | [75] |
"Sandstorm" appeared on the pilot episode of popular Showtime series Queer as Folk , which first aired on 3 December 2000. [76] "Sandstorm" was also used in the 2001 Finnish film Tango Cabaret (Tango Kabaree). [77] In the third part of the Johnny English film series, Johnny English Strikes Again , the title character played by Rowan Atkinson dances to the beat of "Sandstorm" in a dance club scene. [78]
In the late 2000s, a marketing executive for the University of South Carolina added "Sandstorm" to the playlist of music at Williams-Brice Stadium during a Gamecocks football game. In a 2021 ESPN story, the executive recalled that he had tried using the track when he was employed at Vanderbilt University, but the Vanderbilt fanbase did not react strongly to it. After moving to South Carolina, he played the track at one football game, and received a fan reaction good enough that he decided to save it for a key moment in a later game. That moment would come in the last two minutes of a 2009 game against Ole Miss, when "Sandstorm" was played before back-to-back Gamecocks defensive plays that sealed an upset win over Ole Miss. Since that game, it has become a rallying anthem for South Carolina fans. [79] [80] The track is not only used at football games, but at many other South Carolina sports events, and has become so iconic among Gamecocks fans that some have even used it at their weddings. [81] On November 18, 2023, Darude made an appearance at a Gamecocks football game against Kentucky, performing a set during pre-game festivities as well as manning a booth during the game itself. South Carolina won 17-14. [82]
Professional wrestlers Toru Owashi [83] and Session Moth Martina as well as mixed martial artist Wanderlei Silva, and baseball pitcher Koji Uehara use "Sandstorm" as entrance music. It was also played at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and during the Ice Hockey World Championships. Nike used the composition in an advertisement series featuring the basketball opponents Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. [8] Kansas State University briefly used "Sandstorm" at men's basketball games, but banned it after the school's student section punctuated the track with chants of "Fuck KU!" during games against archrival Kansas; the school has more recently[ when? ] tried reintroducing it. [81]
Premier League football club Nottingham Forest plays the song before the start of second half during home games at the City Ground. [84]
The song was also used as the main theme song for the 2024 Copa América football tournament, with it playing before the start of every match. [85]
Sandstorm was played during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Angry Birds , a Finnish video game, made a remix of the game's theme, mashing it with "Sandstorm" in 2016. On May 5, 2022, "Sandstorm" was included in the popular VR game Beat Saber, through their "Electronic Mixtape" DLC. Because of this, Darude became the first "Eurovision Song Contest" participant to feature one of their songs in the game.
In April 2024, the song was featured in a trailer for the videogame adaptation of Sand Land.
The popularity of "Sandstorm" as background music for those who stream their video gaming on the Twitch platform led to a meme that any question asking for the name of any song was replied to with the comment "Darude – Sandstorm." [86]
As an April Fools' Day joke on 1 April 2015, YouTube displayed the message "Did you mean: Darude – Sandstorm by Darude" for all video search queries that involve music, in addition to adding a button which played the song during a video. [87] [88]
Toni-Ville Henrik Virtanen, better known by his stage name Darude, is a Finnish DJ and record producer from Eura, Satakunta. His music is characterised by its progressive/uplifting style. He started making music in 1995 and released the platinum-selling hit single "Sandstorm" in late 1999. His debut studio album, Before the Storm, was released on 18 September 2000, and sold 800,000 copies worldwide, earning Darude three Finnish Grammy Awards. It peaked at number one on Finland's Official List and number 6 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart in the United States. Darude's second studio album, Rush, reached number 11 on the Billboard dance chart in 2003 and number 4 on weekly album chart in Finland.
Jaakko Sakari Salovaara, better known by his stage name JS16, is a Finnish musician, DJ and record producer. He is best known for his work with Finnish hip hop group Bomfunk MC's, producing their most successful song "Freestyler", and for his work with Finnish DJ and producer Darude, as well as other solo productions and remixes. He released his debut studio album, Stomping System in 1998. He is part of the DJ duo Dallas Superstars with Heikki L, and owns the dance music record label 16 Inch Records.
"Wicked Game" is a song by American rock musician Chris Isaak, released from his third album, Heart Shaped World (1989). Released as a single in July 1989, it became a sleeper hit after being featured in the 1990 David Lynch film Wild at Heart, starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern. Lee Chesnut, an Atlanta radio station music director who loved David Lynch films, began playing the song, and it quickly became an American top-10 hit in March 1991, reaching number six on the Billboard Hot 100. Internationally, the single became a number-one hit in Belgium and reached the top 10 in several other nations.
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"Freestyler" is a song by Finnish hip hop group Bomfunk MC's. It was released in Finland on 30 October 1999 as the third single from their debut studio album, In Stereo (1999), and was released internationally in February 2000. "Freestyler" peaked at number four on the Finnish Singles Chart and topped the charts in more than 10 countries, including Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Sweden. The song also peaked within the top 10 of the charts in Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
"Firestarter" is a song by British electronic dance music band the Prodigy, released on 18 March 1996 by XL Recordings as the first single from their third album, The Fat of the Land (1997). It was co-written and produced by Liam Howlett and features vocals by Keith Flint. It also was the group's first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, staying on top for three weeks, and their first big international hit, topping the charts in the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, and Norway. The music video was directed by Walter Stern and filmed in the London Underground, in black-and-white. Melody Maker ranked the song number two in their list of "Singles of the Year" in 1996. 24 years later, The Guardian ranked it number eight in their list of "The 100 Greatest UK No 1 Singles".
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"Flat Beat" is an instrumental by French musician Mr. Oizo. It was released on 22 March 1999 through F Communications and was included as a bonus track on his debut studio album, Analog Worms Attack. An accompanying music video was released on VHS. The music video features Flat Eric, a puppet, head banging to the track.
"Sex Bomb" is a song by Welsh singer Tom Jones. Performed in collaboration with German DJ and record producer Mousse T., the song was released in 1999 in several European countries; in January of the following year, it was issued across the rest of Europe except the United Kingdom, where it was not released until May 2000. Outside the UK, the track served as the second single from Jones' 34th album, Reload, while in the UK, it served as the fourth single.
"Feel the Beat" is a song by Finnish DJ and record producer Darude. It was released as the second single from his debut studio album Before the Storm. It shares many similar musical elements to the first single, "Sandstorm", and achieved success throughout Europe, Oceania, and North America. It topped the singles charts in Finland and was a top ten hit in the UK, Ireland, Canada, and on the US.
The discography of Finnish DJ and music producer Darude consists of four studio albums, fourteen singles, and a multitude of remixes and other productions. His debut single, "Sandstorm", was an international breakthrough hit, peaking within the top ten in several countries. It has also gained recognition for its significant amount of usage in sporting events and popularity within internet meme culture. His second single, "Feel the Beat", was also a commercial success, peaking in the top twenty in multiple countries. Darude's debut studio album, Before the Storm, was released on 5 September 2000 and was a commercial success, as well. Darude released three studio albums following Before the Storm: Rush (2003), Label This! (2007), Moments (2015), and Together (2023).
Darude's 1999 Eurodance track turned inescapable meme 'Sandstorm' is set to become to alarm sound of an actual sandstorm detector.
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