| "Walk the Dinosaur" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Was (Not Was) | ||||
| from the album What Up, Dog? | ||||
| B-side | "11 Miles An Hour (Abe Zapp Ruder Version)" (Europe) "Wedding Vows In Vegas" (US) | |||
| Released | 1987 (Europe) 1989 (US) | |||
| Genre | Funk | |||
| Length | 4:22 (album version) 3:40 (single edit) | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| Was (Not Was) singles chronology | ||||
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"Walk the Dinosaur" is a song by Was (Not Was), released in 1987, from their album What Up, Dog?
The tune features a tight, funky sound, punctuated by horns and a cowbell. [1]
When released in the UK in 1987, the song reached No. 10 on the singles chart, becoming the group's first UK top 10 hit. The music video features four scantily clad 'cavewomen' dancing while a Flintstones -style TV plays clips from Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur . Towards the end of the video, a group of modern-day humans dance to the song's chorus. The video received heavy rotation on MTV. The song reached No. 7 on the US chart in 1989, two years after its UK success and became the band's biggest hit single in their home country.
According to an interview with co-writer Randy Jacobs, it "was an infectious sing-along with a Flintstonesque video that probably got played on MTV way too much. But even that seemingly good-time anthem had a dark side. [...] The song's about nuclear Armageddon. It became a dance (anthem) because of the video. They connected it with the girls in the little Pebbles and Bam-Bam outfits. All the sudden it became, like, 'do the mashed potato' or 'the twist.'" [2]
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The original recording of "Walk the Dinosaur" appears on the soundtrack of the 1994 film The Flintstones . [21]
A version performed by George Clinton appears on the Super Mario Bros. soundtrack in 1993, and is also featured in the credits. [22]
The song is one of the songs that can be heard playing at DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney's Animal Kingdom . It is one of sing-along songs with only a few of the lyrics that have been changed for Flik's Musical Adventure at Disney's Animal Kingdom (1999) from the Disney Sing-Along Songs series. It can also be heard during the Electrical Water Pageant.
In the movie Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs a version of the song by Queen Latifah (who also voices Ellie in the Ice Age franchise) is featured during the film and the credits. [23] This version featured minor lyrical changes to make the song more family-friendly, notably substituting the word "slave" with "friend". [24]
"Stand by Me" is a song originally performed in 1961 by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King and written by him, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who together used the pseudonym Elmo Glick. According to King, the title is derived from, and was inspired by, a spiritual written by Sam Cooke and J. W. Alexander called "Stand by Me Father," recorded by the Soul Stirrers with Johnnie Taylor singing lead.
"Cruel Summer" is a song by Anglo-Irish girl group Bananarama. It was written by Bananarama and Steve Jolley, Tony Swain, and produced by Jolley and Swain. Released in 1983, it was initially a stand-alone single but was subsequently included on their self-titled second album a year later. The song reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart in 1983, and after its inclusion in the 1984 film The Karate Kid, it reached number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Life Is a Highway" is a song by Canadian musician Tom Cochrane from his second studio album, Mad Mad World (1991). The song became a number-one hit in Canada in late 1991. "Life Is a Highway" also peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in August 1992 and reached the top three in Australia and New Zealand the same year. The song was covered by Chris LeDoux for his 1998 album One Road Man and Rascal Flatts for the Cars soundtrack.
"The Great Beyond" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., written for the 1999 film Man on the Moon. It was released as a single the same year for support of the film's soundtrack album. On the soundtrack, there is some dialogue from the movie at the end of the track; meanwhile, the single version is a radio edit, with the bridge omitted.
"She's Like the Wind" is a 1987 song by American actor and singer Patrick Swayze from the soundtrack to the film Dirty Dancing. The song features additional vocals from singer Wendy Fraser. The ballad reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.
American rock musician Bruce Springsteen has released 21 studio albums, 23 live albums, 77 singles, and 66 music videos. Widely referred as "The Boss" by the media, Springsteen has sold over 150 million records worldwide, listing him among the best-selling music artists in history. Billboard ranked him as the 24th Greatest Artist of all time. According to Recording Industry Association of America, he has sold 65.5 million albums in the United States, making him the 7th best-selling male soloist of all time. Born in the U.S.A. remains the best-selling album of his career, selling more than 30 million copies around the world.
"California Love" is a song by American rapper 2Pac featuring fellow American rapper-producer Dr. Dre and American singer Roger Troutman of the funk group, Zapp. The song was released as 2Pac's comeback single after his release from prison in 1995 and was his first single as the newest artist of Death Row Records. The original version is featured on the UK version of his fourth album, All Eyez on Me (1996), and is one of 2Pac's most widely known and most successful singles. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and also topped the charts of Italy, New Zealand, and Sweden. The song was posthumously nominated Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1997.
"Tears on My Pillow" is a doo-wop song written by Sylvester Bradford and Al Lewis in 1958. The composition was first recorded by Little Anthony and the Imperials on End Records and was that group's debut recording under that name. Their original recording of the song became a Billboard top-10 hit, peaking at No. 4, No. 3 in Canada, and was the Imperials' first million-seller. It was also a two-sided hit, with its flip side, "Two People in the World," also becoming a major hit. Although it remains one of the Imperials' signature songs, "Tears on My Pillow" has been extensively covered, including a No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart version by Kylie Minogue in January 1990.
"Pour Some Sugar on Me" is a song by the English rock band Def Leppard from their 1987 album Hysteria. It reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 23 July 1988, behind "Hold On to the Nights" by Richard Marx. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is considered the band's signature song, and was ranked #2 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s" in 2006.
"Invisible Touch" is the title track and first single from the 1986 album of the same name by the English rock band Genesis. The song is a group composition which featured lyrics written by drummer and singer Phil Collins.
"In the Still of the Nite", also subsequently titled "In the Still of the Night", is a song written by Fred Parris and recorded by his band the Five Satins. Originally the song was titled "(I'll Remember) In the Still of the Nite" to distinguish itself from Cole Porter's "In the Still of the Night". Later the title was changed to "In the Still of the Night".
"Ghostbusters" is a song written by Ray Parker Jr. as the theme to the film of the same name, and included on the film's soundtrack. Debuting at number 68 on June 16, 1984, the song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11, staying there for three weeks, and at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart on September 16, staying there for three weeks. The song reentered the UK Top 75 on November 2, 2008 at No. 49 and again on November 5, 2021, at No. 38.
"Streets of Philadelphia" is a song written and performed by American rock musician Bruce Springsteen for the 1993 film Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks, an early mainstream film dealing with HIV/AIDS. Released as a single by Columbia in 1994, the song was a hit in many countries, including Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, and Norway, where it topped the singles charts. In the United States, the single peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Springsteen's 12th and final top-10 hit.
"How Deep Is Your Love" is an R&B single by group Dru Hill. It is the first single from the group's second album, Enter the Dru. The song was released on September 22, 1998. It spent three weeks at number-one on the US R&B chart, and peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song, in its single version with rapper Redman, was also used in the end credits and is featured on the soundtrack to the 1998 film Rush Hour. To date, this is Dru Hill's highest-charting hit.
"Turtle Power!" is a song by American hip hop duo Partners in Kryme. The song was released by SBK Records and was from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soundtrack. An early unfinished version without Shane Faber's production was featured in the film's closing credits, and it is this version which is now commonly found on retro 90s compilations and on streaming sites, despite the fact the film mix was not officially released in the 1990s. In the UK, the film mix heard in the end credits featured the words "ninja" replaced with "hero", even though the film was not retitled the UK, unlike the 1987 cartoon series. The track was also used in the 2013 Activision's video game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
"Freak" is a 1997 song by Australian rock band Silverchair, released as the first single from their second album, Freak Show (1997). The song reached number one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, Silverchair's second single to do so after "Tomorrow" in 1994. The band would not have another number-one hit until "Straight Lines" in 2007. One of the B-sides of the single is a cover of "New Race" by Australian band Radio Birdman.
"Shame" is a 1977 single recorded by American singer Evelyn "Champagne" King, written by John H. Fitch Jr. and Reuben Cross, and released by RCA Records. It was released by RCA Records as part of King's debut album, Smooth Talk. The extended remix was produced for the twelve-inch vinyl single and would later replace the album version of the song in late-1970s reprints of the album. "Shame" was successful on Billboard music charts and would become one of King's signature songs, though it varied on international music charts. The song was covered by Zhané for the 1994 film A Low Down Dirty Shame and Kim Wilde in 1996.
"Invisible Man" is the debut single by American boy band 98 Degrees, released on June 24, 1997 as the first single from their debut album 98 Degrees (1997). It was their breakthrough hit, peaking at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song is featured as a bonus track on the European version of 98 Degrees and Rising. An acoustic version of the song is the closing track on their 2013 studio album 2.0.
"Can We" is a song by American R&B trio SWV featuring guest vocals from Missy Elliott and production by Timbaland and Elliott. The song was eventually included on SWV's third album, Release Some Tension (1997), but was originally a hit earlier in the year when it was included on the soundtrack to the 1997 film, Booty Call.
"Meet the Flintstones", also worded as "(Meet) The Flintstones", is the theme song of the American 1960s animated television series The Flintstones. Composed in 1961 by Hoyt Curtin, Joseph Barbera and William Hanna, it is one of the most popular and best known of all theme songs, with its catchy lyrics "Flintstones, meet the Flintstones, they're the modern Stone Age family".
[Was (Not Was)] international breakthrough came several years later with the sublime funk of the US/UK Top 10 hit 'Walk the Dinosaur'.
