Children (song)

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"Children"
No cover available
Single by Robert Miles
from the album Dreamland
Released 1996
Format CD, 12"
Recorded 1994
Genre Dream house
Length 3:49 (radio edit)
7:21 (original version)
Label Arista (US), Deconstruction (UK), Motor Music (Germany), BMG (Japan)
Writer(s) Miles
Producer(s) Miles
Certification Platinum (BPI)
Platinum (Germany)
Chart positions
Robert Miles singles chronology
"Children"
(1996)		 "Fable"
(1996)

"Children" is a single by trance composer Robert Miles from his album Dreamland. "Children" is Miles' most successful single, being certified Gold and Platinum in several countries and it reaching #1 in more than 12 countries. Miles created several remixes himself with an additional remix by Tilt.

Miles has stated two motives for the writing of "Children". One was as a response to photographs of child war victims his father had brought home from a humanitarian mission in the former Yugoslavia;[1] the other, inspired by his career as a DJ, was to create a track to end DJ sets, intended to calm rave attendants prior to them driving home as a means to reduce car accident deaths.[2]

Billboard magazine attributes the song's widespread success to its melodic nature, characterized by an "instantly recognizable" piano riff (which, ironically, was not found in the track's original version). They identify this factor as making the song accessible to a broader audience beyond clubbers and fans of electronic dance music alone by means of radio airplay.[2] Synthmania.com, which identifies the song as being written on a Kurzweil K2000, calls this the "dream house piano" sound, consisting of "standard piano, syn bass and string/pad sounds bathed in delay and reverb".[3]

Contents

[edit] Background

"Children" is one of the pioneering tracks of dream house, a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fewer beats per minute than other house music styles, and melodies written to evoke emotion. The creation of dream house was a response to social pressures in Italy during the early 1990s: the growth of rave culture among young adults, and the ensuing popularity of nightclub attendance, had created a weekly trend of deaths due to car accidents as clubbers drove across the country overnight, falling asleep at the wheel from strenuous dancing as well as alcohol and drug use. In mid-1996, deaths due to this phenomenon, called strage del sabato sera (Saturday night slaughter) in Italy, were been estimated at around 2000 since the start of the decade. The move by DJs such as Miles to play slower, calming music to conclude a night's set, as a means to counteract the fast-paced, repetitive tracks that preceded, was met with approval by authorities and parents of car crash victims.[4]

[edit] Chart performance by country

"Children" was first released in Italy in January 1995 on Joe T. Vanelli's DBX imprint label, as part of the Soundtracks EP. Subsequently, following exposure at a gathering of DJs and record producers in Miami, the track was licensed by the UK-based Deconstruction Records; it was then licensed to more than a dozen additional record labels in Europe through DBX and Deconstruction.[2]

"Children" was a success worldwide peaking at #1 in more than 12 countries and holding that position for several weeks. "Children" reached #1 in the following countries: Austria (6 weeks), Belgium, Denmark, Finland (3 weeks), France (11 Weeks), Germany, Italy, Norway (5 Weeks), Spain, Sweden (7 weeks) and Switzerland (13 Weeks); beyond that, according to Billboard magazine, it reached the top five in "every European country that has a singles chart".[2] It reached #2 on the UK[5] staying 17 weeks on the chart, and it reached #21 in the U.S., holding that position for 4 weeks. Along with U2 members Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.'s reworking of the Mission: Impossible theme, it marked the first time since November 1985 that two instrumentals had simultaneously charted in the top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100.[6]

French nightlubs began playing the imported record from Italy in 1995, making France one of the first countries to popularize the track. Spreading through the underground from clubs to, eventually, the radio, it was licensed there by an independent record label in November 1995. Spain and Italy itself were the other early adopters that brought the track into clubs. Club charts in these countries signalled "Children"'s popularity to other countries: In Denmark, club and radio play followed the single's release, while in Belgium radio play only followed by crossing over from club play, and in the Netherlands radio play was the primary factor in the single's promotion. In Germany, a domestic release came after demand built up from club play through promotional releases from the UK and Italy.[2]

In the United Kingdom, BBC Radio 1 did not play the song on its daytime playlist at first,[1] though Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong did promote it through his Essential Selection program, including it as part of the show-opening "Essential Seven" several times at the start of 1996.[7] Meanwhile, Kiss FM was among the first to play the song, even using it in one of the station's minute-long television commercials.[2] Still, "Children" reached the number-three position on the UK Singles Chart prior to promotion and marketing.[8]

Austria Top 40
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Position
26
6
3
3
3
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
3
4
5
6
9
14
21
21
Finland Top 20
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Position
16
18
6
8
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
3
4
6
13
France Top 50
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Position
14
5
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
4
6
7
10
14
19
18
22
29
28
33
33
Norway Top 20
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Position
6
3
3
1
1
1
1
1
2
3
5
15
12
16
15
18
Sweden Top 60
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Position
51
10
17
3
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
3
5
8
10
13
21
35
Swiss Top 50
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Position
15
13
6
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
2
3
3
5
9
12
11
13
15
19
25
42
39
39
U.S. Hot Dance Club Play Top 50
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
Position
40
26
15
12
6
2
1
2
5
10
17
30
46
U.S. Top 40 Mainstream
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15
Position
33
29
29
25
25
21
20
18
17
19
22
25
30
36
38
U.S. The Billboard Hot 100
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Position
75
54
39
33
31
27
25
24
24
21
21
21
25
21
25
28
32
34
44
48

[edit] Certifications

Country Certification
Norway Platinum
Switzerland Platinum
UK Platinum

[edit] Music videos

Billboard ascribes the final stage of the song's promotion to the airing of its music video on music television networks such as MTV Europe and Germany's VIVA.[2] Two videos were produced, the first being the one Billboard discusses: black and white footage of a small girl riding in a car through a diverse range of landscape.

The second video, filmed in colour, alternates images of Miles DJing at a nightclub rave and images of children at play, thereby touching upon both of the themes of the song.

[edit] Court action

On August 20, 1997, New Age musician Patrick O'Hearn filed a federal court action in a New York court against Miles, claiming that "Children" was plagiarized from his 1985 composition "At First Light". The suit named Miles as well as many of the record labels that released "Children" as defendants, and sought over $10 million in compensatory and punitive damages.[9]

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Robert Miles - Biography. S:alt Records (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Pride, Dominic; John Crouch & Wolfgang Spahr et al. (May 4, 1996), "Miles' 'Children' gives birth to a European craze", Billboard 108(18): 11, ISSN 0006-2510
  3. ^ Famous Sounds. SynthMania (2004-2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-22.
  4. ^ Bellos, Alex & John Hooper (June 2, 1996), "Italy's ravers dance down road to death", The Observer: 19
  5. ^ Zywietz, Tobias (March 22, 2005). Chart Log UK: Mew - Monty Python. Chart Log UK. The Official Zobbel Website. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
  6. ^ Anonymous (June 14, 1996), "Entertainment briefs: Instrumentals crack top 100", St. Petersburg Times: 4G
  7. ^ Pete Tong's Essential Selection - 26.1.96, 2.2.96, 16.2.96. The Aimless Essential Selection Index. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
  8. ^ Sharkey, Alix (March 2, 1996), "Dream on", The Independent: 67
  9. ^ Lichtman, Irv (September 6, 1997), "O'Hearn charges artist credited for 'Children' with plagiarism", Billboard 109(36): 14, ISSN 0006-2510
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