Lucky Star (Basement Jaxx song)

Last updated

"Lucky Star"
Lucky Star (Basement Jaxx song).jpg
Single by Basement Jaxx featuring Dizzee Rascal
from the album Kish Kash
Released10 November 2003 (2003-11-10) [1]
Length
  • 3:12 (edit)
  • 3:54 (2005)
Label XL
Songwriter(s) Felix Buxton, Simon Ratcliffe, Dylan Mills
Producer(s) Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxxsingles chronology
"Do Your Thing"
(2002)
"Lucky Star"
(2003)
"Good Luck"
(2003)
Dizzee Rascal discographysingles chronology
"Fix Up, Look Sharp"
(2003)
"Lucky Star"
(2003)
"Jus' a Rascal"
(2003)

"Lucky Star" is a song by British electronic music duo Basement Jaxx. It was released as a single from their third studio album, Kish Kash . The song features grime artist Dizzee Rascal [2] and Mona Singh, [3] the daughter of Channi Singh. It was released under XL Recordings, the same label Dizzee Rascal himself was on at the time of release. It was released as a 12" single and reached number 23 on the UK Singles Chart.

Contents

A music video was produced to promote the single.

Development

"It's different from anything we've ever done before..." Felix from Basement Jaxx on the new single and album.
"They just said they wanted to work so we went there and it didn't take long about 20 minutes. I went back a couple of months later and finished it off. We connected well, it was amazing. I'd never heard myself on something that big before - it was two worlds colliding and the outcome was heavy." Dizzee Rascal on working with Basement Jaxx. [4]

Reception

AllMusic's John Bush stated: "Teenage garage-rap sensation Dizzee Rascal turns in a fabulous outré performance on "Lucky Star," but the Indian film sample driving the song displays Basement Jaxx in a light they've never been in before: behind the times." [5]

While comparing the album's sound to "the aural equivalent of Shiva's rainbow cumshot," Mark Pytlik from Pitchfork Media stated: "Oh well-- at least Felix and Simon had the good sense to dress Dizzee up in pretty colors while they had him." [6]

Music video

The video for "Lucky Star" was directed by Katie Dawson and shot at London-based Camden Studio, with a guest appearance by Rascal. Dawson was picked directly from the duo after they saw her directorial work for MTV and wanted to create something similar. [7]

Dawson stated the video was "the quickest turnaround job" she has ever worked on. "I was approached late in the day on a Thursday. The band wanted to see a treatment by Friday morning. They loved it and gave the go-ahead to shoot the following Wednesday," she said. Later on, the casting for a belly dancer, martial arts expert, gymnast, rocket girl, breakdancer with booking crew and studio were all finished within two days. [7]

A chroma key studio background from the Camden Studio was used. [8] After shooting the green screen shots, the duo needed the edit complete with all compositing and animations finished by the following week.

"Sticking Dizzee's head on a radioactive child's dancing body was never going to be straightforward, but I've always said directing is a group effort and with something this complicated having a great team around you made it enjoyable even though I didn't get much sleep that week," Dawson said. [7]

Charts

Chart (2003–2004)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [9] 76
Ireland Dance (IRMA) [10] 6
Scotland (OCC) [11] 36
UK Singles (OCC) [12] 23
UK Dance (OCC) [13] 1
UK Indie (OCC) [14] 2
US Dance Club Songs ( Billboard ) [15] 3

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basement Jaxx</span> British electronic music duo

Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe. The pair got their name from the regular club night they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first rose to popularity in the underground house scene of the mid-1990s, but would go on to find international chart success and win Best Dance Act at both the 2002 and 2004 BRIT Awards. Their most successful singles are "Red Alert", "Rendez-Vu", "Romeo", and "Where's Your Head At".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dizzee Rascal</span> British rapper (born 1984)

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<i>Kish Kash</i> 2003 studio album by Basement Jaxx

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romeo (Basement Jaxx song)</span> 2001 single by Basement Jaxx

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Do Your Thing (Basement Jaxx song)</span> 2003 single by Basement Jaxx

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References

  1. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week . 8 November 2003. p. 29.
  2. Morgan, Damien (2008). Hip Hop Had a Dream: Vol. 1 the Artful Movement. AuthorHouse. ISBN   978-1438902043.
  3. "Mona Singh Official Biography". Archived from the original on 20 June 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  4. Quotes regarding the making of "Lucky Star"
  5. Bush, John. "Kish Kash – Basement Jaxx". Allmusic . Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  6. Pytlik, Mark (7 February 2005). "The Top 100 Albums of 2000-04". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "Lucky Star - Basement Jaxx featuring Dizzee Rascal". Katie Dawson's official website. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  8. "Basement Jaxx feat. Dizzee Rascal 'Lucky Star': A Music Video Production". The Camden Studio's official website. Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  9. "Issue 724" ARIA Top 100 Singles. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  10. "Top 10 Dance Singles, Week Ending 20 November 2003". GfK Chart-Track . Retrieved 15 June 2019.[ permanent dead link ]
  11. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  12. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  13. "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  14. "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  15. "Basement Jaxc Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.