It is hard to imagine that Praise You and Caravan of Love share a common artist but the great Fatboy Slim's (Norman Cook) humble beginnings started with the Housemartins. Praise You was released as the third single from the album You've come a long way, Baby, in 1999. It reached number one on the UK single chart.
Featuring 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, this song rocketed the charts at the end of the 1990s. Whenever I hear this track, it takes me back to my changing life as a student about to graduate into the publishing world. It was a world before before the technological revolution brought about by Apple and Amazon that would change the book and music industry forever. We didn't know what an iPod was or second screening meant. We have gone through an immense technological change in the last 20 years and in a way it had brought the world closer together. Who knows who might be reading this?
Anyway, back to the song, one of the most iconic elements of the songs was the video that went with it. The video was directed by Spike Jonze and Roman Coppolla. Jonze starred in the film under the pseudonym Richard Koufey, along with a fictional dance group The Torrance Community Group. The video was shot guerrilla-style in front of puzzled onlookers ouside a movie theatre in Westwood, California. Jonze and the dance group dance to Praise you much to the chagrin of a theatre employee who turns off their portable stereo. The 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, it became the official one for Praise You. The end result was the video was voted the best video ever by MTV.
To watch the classic video and listen to the talented Fat Boy Slim
Written by Fat Boy Slim
Album: You've come a long way baby
Released: 1999
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