Songoftheday 9/3/20 - I'm the self inflicted mind detonator, yeah I'm the one infected twisted animator...

 

 

"Firestarter" - The Prodigy

from the album The Fat Of The Land (1997)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #30 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 5

 

Today's song of the day comes from the British techno act the Prodigy, who came together in Essex, England, in the early 1990s. Created by keyboardist Liam Howlett, soon singer/dancers Keith Flint, Maxim Reality, and Sharkey, along with keyboard player Lee Thornhill were recruited into the band. They released their first EP, What Evil Lurks, in the beginning of 1991 on XL Records, which included a rough early mix of the song "Everybody In The Place".  That summer, they returned with their breakthrough single, "Charly", which sampled a British public service announcement, and landed them their first big hit, rising all the way to #3 on the British singles chart, and #9 in Ireland. It became the first single from their debut full-length, Experience, which hit #12 on the UK Albums Chart. They followed with a revamped version of "Everybody In The Place", which scored a second top ten British and Ireland hit at #2 in both countries, while eventually reaching American shores, where the song climbed to #21 on Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart in the summer of 1992. It was the first of four cuts from the album to make that American chart, including "Wind It Up", which was their biggest success there, peaking at #7. 

In the following year, the group (minus Sharkey) returned with their next effort, Music For A Jilted Generation. A landmark record in the rave music scene, the album spun off another four top-20 singles in the UK, including one, "No Good (Start The Dance)", which got to #4 and was the first of three tracks from the set to top the chart in Finland (where techno was having a boom). The album went to #1, and even slipped on to the American Billboard 200 sales chart at #198. That success created enough buzz to set the Prodigy up for their next record, which wouldn't emerge until 1997, during which time they added guitarist Graham "Gizz" Butt. The lead single from the record, "Firestarter" would come out a year ahead of the record. Written by Howlett and Flint with hefty enough samples from the Art Of Noise and the Breeders to give writing credits to, the aggressive sound and shouted vocals paired with Flint's menacing appearance made quite an impression on MTV, and with Madonna's label Maverick picking them up, the band found themselves with a crossover pop hit...

"Firestarter" became the Prodigy's first and only top-40 pop hit in March of 1997. The song also climbed to #24 on Billboard's Alternative Rock radio chart. Internationally, the single finally got the band a #1 in their native Britain, along with Finland, Hungary, Norway, and the Czech Republic. It also made the top ten in Ireland (#2), Sweden (#2), New Zealand (#3), Germany (#6), Denmark (#7), Austria (#8), and Iceland (#8). The Fat Of The Land album went to #1 in a truckload of countries, including the U.S. and the UK, with the former selling over two million copies of the record. At the Grammy Awards in 1998, the album was nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance, losing out to Radiohead for their critically heralded OK Computer. 

The second single from the Fat Of The Land would be "Breathe", which was tame compared to the "burn it down" attitude of the lead. As such, the song did a bit better on Alternative Rock radio, peaking at #18, but missing the sales, it failed to make the pop Hot 100. Internationally, that was no problem, going to #1 in the UK, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, and finally landing a minor hit in Canada at #65. That would change with the next release, "Smack My Bitch Up", which raised the ire of feminists and traditionalists alike, and the graphic video was night-listed by MTV. That buzz at least got them back on the Hot 100 at #89, while in the UK it stopped at #8 (it topped the lists in Spain and Finland though). It's still blocked from YouTube for the video's portrayal of drug use and female abuse. The Prodigy would go silent for years after, with both Gizz and Thornhill leaving for good. 

 

Howlett, Flint, and Maxim reunited with new guitarist Jim Davies in 2002 for the one-off single "Baby's Got A Temper", which went to #5 in the UK but went unnoticed in the States.  However, the not-so-good overall reaction to the track caused the delay of their next album for two years. The result, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, did score another #1 album in the UK, while in America it stopped at #62. However it did grab the act their second Grammy nomination for Best Electronic/Dance Album (the first year for that category at the Awards), which went to funkier ravers Basement Jaxx for their Kish Kash set. Lead single "Girls" got to #19 in the UK, but it was the only top-40 single from the set there. In 2008, dropping Davies, the trio returned with Invaders Must Die, which was well received,, landing at #1 again in the UK and spinning off two British top ten hits with "Omen" and "Warrior's Dance", both of which topped Billboard's Dance Singles Sales chart. A third release from the record, "Take Me To The Hospital", also made the top-40 at #38, their last to make that level. After another break, the band came back in 2015 with The Day Is My Enemy, which again went to #1 in the UK even though the sole single to chart, "Nasty", only nicked the British chart for a week at #98. 

The Prodigy's most recent album, No Tourists, came out in 2018, topping the British sales chart to make an even streak since their sophomore effort to all reach #1 in their native country. However tragedy struck when Flint was found dead during the tour behind the album, cutting it short. Howlett has said he will continue the act, but so far no new music has come. 

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Here's the band live in concert in 1996...

And finally, from their World's On Fire live album in 2011...

Up tomorrow: R&B singer is checking the TV listings, perhaps?