Recorded 1998 | ||
Released 4 January 1999 (1999-01-04) (UK)
16 February 1999 (1999-02-16) (US) Genre House
big beat
alternative dance Length 5:23 (album version)
3:48 (radio edit) Label Skint (UK)
Astralwerks (US) Writer(s) Norman Cook
Camille Yarbrough | ||
"Praise You" is a song by British big beat musician Fatboy Slim. It was released as the third single from his second studio album, You've Come a Long Way, Baby, in 1999. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, number four in Canada, number six in the Republic of Ireland and number thirty six in the United States.
Contents
Samples
The song features a prominent vocal sample from the opening of "Take Yo' Praise" by Camille Yarbrough, as well as a prominent piano sample from the track "Balance and Rehearsal" from a test album entitled Sessions released by audio electronics company JBL. The song also features a guitar sample from the opening of "It's a Small World" from the Disneyland Records-released album Mickey Mouse Disco and the theme from the cartoon series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
Music video
The accompanying video for "Praise You" was directed by Spike Jonze with Roman Coppola. Jonze starred in the film under the pseudonym Richard Koufey, along with a fictional dance group: The Torrance Community Dance Group. The video intro described it as "A Torrance Public Film Production".
The video was shot guerrilla-style (that is, on location without obtaining permission from the owners of the property) in front of puzzled onlookers outside a movie theatre in Westwood, California. In the video, Jonze and the dance group dance to "Praise You", much to the chagrin of a theatre employee who turns off their portable stereo. One of the actor-dancers in the fictional dance group, Michael Gier, documents the making of the "Praise You" video on his website.
The "Praise You" video was made only because Jonze, unable to work with Fatboy Slim on the video for "The Rockafeller Skank", recorded and sent his own solo dance video to "Skank" as a gift; Jonze's 'alternate' music video was so well received by Slim that Jonze's fictional Torrance Community Dance Group was green-lighted for the official video for "Praise You".
Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) is briefly seen in the video as one of the many onlookers, with the clearest view shown at the conclusion of the video, while Jonze claims his "b-boy moves" was from living in New York. Cook curiously peers over Jonze to catch a glimpse of the camera before walking off to the right.
The video reportedly cost only US$800 to produce, with most of that money going towards a replacement boombox and food for the cast and crew.
The video won three major awards at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards: Breakthrough Video, Best Direction (awarded to "Torrance Community Dance Group"), and Best Choreography (awarded to "Richard Koufey & Michael Rooney"). It was also nominated for, but did not win, Best Dance Video. The group also put on a dance performance to the song at the awards. In 2001, it was voted number one of the 100 best videos of all time, in a poll to mark the 20th anniversary of MTV.
Use in media
The radio edit was featured on the 1999 compilation album Now That's What I Call Music! 2.
The first episode of Jeremy Clarkson: Meets the Neighbours during the make-over sequence in Paris. It was also used in an episode of The Story of Tracy Beaker called "The Break-In".
The radio edit was featured in the original motion picture soundtrack of the 1999 film, Cruel Intentions.
The song was also featured in the films Anatomy, Michael Jordan to the Max, Ultimate X: The Movie, Love & Other Drugs, One Day, and 10 Years and in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Daria, and 20 to 1.
The song was used in a trailer for the 2015 video game compilation Rare Replay.
The song was featured in the episode of Suddenly Susan paying tribute to David Strickland. Strickland had just committed suicide, and "Praise You" was apparently a favorite song of his.
The song is played after the final whistle at Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club matches, due to Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) being a fan of the club.