Victoria (Dance Exponents song)

Last updated

"Victoria"
Single by The Dance Exponents
from the album Prayers Be Answered
ReleasedJune 1982
Genre Rock
Length3:26
Songwriter(s) Jordan Luck
The Dance Exponents singles chronology
"Victoria"
(1982)		"Airway Spies"
(1982)

"Victoria" is a song by New Zealand rock band The Exponents from their 1982 album Prayers Be Answered and their debut single. Released in June 1982 as the band's debut single, it reached Number 6 on the New Zealand singles chart. [1] The song was selected by a panel of New Zealand songwriters to have been the #8 top 100 New Zealand songs of all time.

Contents

Background

"Victoria" was inspired by Luck's landlady in Christchurch, with the name Victoria used as a pseudonym whilst her real name was Vicky. [2] She successfully ran an escort agency but lived with an abusive man: Luck questioned her relationship with the line "What do you see in him?".

Victoria was 23 and earned [sic] the whole apartment block. She was a hard worker. And yes, she read Alvin Toffler. But we'd wake up in the morning and she'd be bruised because her boyfriend was beating her up.

— Jordan Luck, New Zealand Herald [3]

The band moved to Auckland before the release of the song. After the single became a success, Luck visited 'Victoria' in Christchurch and was happy to find that she not only loved the song but had also split from her abusive boyfriend. [4]

Music video

The video was funded by the New Zealand Broadcasting Association but, unusually for the time, included a story rather than just a studio performance. Shot in the band's hometown of Christchurch, it features Jordan Luck as "Victoria's" taxi driver [5] and Al Park, [6] [7] a singer-songwriter sometimes credited as the father figure for the 'Lyttelton Sound' and the first guy to bring punk music to Christchurch. [8] In 2019, Luck would cover Park's "I Walked Away" for the covers collection Better Already - The Songs Of Al Park. [9]

Alternate Versions

The recording of "Victoria" on the Prayers Be Answered album differs from the original single. Another version was also included on the 1985 Amplifier album.

Charts

Chart (1982)Peak
position
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [10] 6

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References

  1. ↑ "Victoria: charts.nz". charts.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  2. ↑ Anderson, Vicki (28 May 2016). "Whatever happened to Victoria?". The Press . Christchurch. p. C5. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "The National Anthems". NZ Herald. 3 November 2001. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  4. ↑ "Through the Eyes of Love (documentary)". Documentary. NZ on Screen. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "Victoria: NZ On Screen". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Al Park - New Zealand Musicians & Bands".
  7. ↑ "Al Park Releases 1979 Single/Video ' California' | Artist News | NZ Music Commission".
  8. ↑ "Al Park Shares New Album 'Pony'".
  9. ↑ "Jordan Luck Announces National Tour + Covers al Park's 'I Walked Away'".
  10. ↑ "Dance Exponents – Victoria". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
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