Bonkers

Album: Tongue 'n' Cheek (2009)
Charted: 1
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • On this thumping dance floor number, rapper Dizzee Rascal collaborates with the American record producer Armand Van Helden, whose re-mix of Tori Amos' "Professional Widow" and his own "You Don't Know Me" both reached #1 in the UK in the 1990s. Rascal told MTV: "Armand approached me and sent me an email saying he wanted to work together. As soon as I heard the name I was on to it."
  • This debuted at #1 in the UK on the chart for week ending May 24, 2009. In its first seven days the song shifted over 114,000 copies thus becoming the first single in 2009 to break the 100,000 weekly sales barrier.
  • Rascal told The Sun August 28, 2009: "For all my other albums, I did a thing where the first track was to ease people into the album. This time, I literally want people to party, so bang, straight away you know what it's about. The song came with the 'bonkers' bit on it so it was almost a no-brainer for me. The song needed to be about being bonkers."
  • Mojo magazine named this as their Track Of The Year for 2009. Rascal responded: "That means so much to me, man. To be honest, Armand Van Helden just put that track in my lap, man. I get it! It's party music, man. I knew it wasn't a lyrical assault."
  • Rascal performed the song during the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. As a result, it returned to the UK singles chart in the week after the event.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And Scandals

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And ScandalsSong Writing

Surprise exits, a catfight and some very memorable performances make our list of the most memorable Idol moments.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys

Mike Scott of The WaterboysSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Lip-Synch Rebels

Lip-Synch RebelsSong Writing

What happens when Kurt Cobain, Iron Maiden and Johnny Lydon are told to lip-synch? Some hilarious "performances."

Michael Bolton

Michael BoltonSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete BlondeSongwriter Interviews

The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."