Do the Bartman

"Do the Bartman"
An animated image showing a yellow child (that is shown in eight duplicates) with a short sleeved red shirt and blue pants. The child is shown doing different movements such as jumping rope, making facial expressions, lifting an exercising weight and singing into a microphone with sitting on both his knees. Three fourths of the background are a deep purple color and the other one fourth is a medium green color background that cuts off the purple color with a triangle shaped border. On the green coloring there is the writing "Do the Bartman" in large capital letters and "the Simpsons" written sideways.
Single by The Simpsons
from the album The Simpsons Sing the Blues
Released November 20, 1990
Format CD single, 7" single, 12 single", Compact Cassette
Recorded September 1990
Genre Pop rap
Length 5:10 (album version)
3:59 (single version)
Label Geffen
Writer(s) Michael Jackson, Bryan Loren
Producer(s) Michael Jackson, Bryan Loren
Certification Gold (United Kingdom)
The Simpsons singles chronology
"Do the Bartman"
(1990)		 "Deep, Deep Trouble"
(1991)
Michael Jackson singles chronology
"Liberian Girl"
(1989)		 "Do the Bartman"
(1990)		 "Black or White"
(1991)

"Do the Bartman" is a pop rap song from the 1990 Simpsons album The Simpsons Sing the Blues. It was performed by The Simpsons cast member Nancy Cartwright and was released as a promotional single from the album on November 20, 1990. The song was written and produced by American recording artists Michael Jackson and Bryan Loren. Although Jackson did not receive any credit because he was under contract to another record label, he was a fan of The Simpsons—especially the character Bart—and had called the producers one night offering to write Bart a number-one single and do a guest spot on the show.

Even though it received a lot of radio airplay in the United States, "Do the Bartman" was never officially released as a single in the US. It topped the charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Additionally, it reached the top 10 in Sweden and the Netherlands, and was certified gold in the UK. A music video, which was directed by Brad Bird, was released for the song in 1991. The video became a hit on the American network MTV and received a nomination at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards.

Background

A mid-twenties African American man wearing a sequined military jacket and dark sunglasses. He is walking while waving his right hand, which is adorned with a white glove. His left hand is bare.
Michael Jackson co-wrote the song "Do the Bartman".

The album The Simpsons Sing the Blues was released in September 1990. The first single from it was the pop rap song "Do the Bartman", performed by Bart Simpson's voice actor Nancy Cartwright and released on November 20, 1990.[1] Rumors began spreading in the summer of 1990 that Michael Jackson would write a song for Bart on the album. This song was reported early on to be "Do the Bartman", but executive producer James L. Brooks issued a press release in September 1990 apologizing for the misunderstanding and stating that song was actually written by one of Jackson's friends, Bryan Loren.[2]

However, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening revealed during an appearance at the 1998 World Animation Celebration convention in Pasadena, California that "Do the Bartman" was actually co-written and co-produced by Jackson,[1][3] but he could not receive credit for it because he was under contract to another record label.[4] Groening told a crowd at the convention that had gathered for a "The Simpsons tribute" that it had "always [been] amazing to me that no one ever found out that Michael Jackson wrote that song. [...] He was a big fan of the show."[5]

Jackson was a fan of The Simpsons, especially Bart,[6] and had called the producers one night offering to write Bart a number one single and do a guest spot on the show, which is how "Do the Bartman" came about.[7] Jackson eventually guest-starred in the episode "Stark Raving Dad" (season three, 1991) under the pseudonym John Jay Smith.[8] He also wrote a song for that episode called "Happy Birthday Lisa", which was later included in the album Songs in the Key of Springfield.[9] It has been reported that Jackson also provided background vocals for "Do the Bartman".[10]

Critical reception

Critical reviews of the song were mostly positive. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly described it as "not bad", and commented that Bart's high voice "echoes the beats nicely".[11] The Daily Vault's Benny Balneg liked that the song disengaged itself from the album's "blues tag" and incorporated more "contemporary elements" into its sound.[12] He added that he thought the song had a "catchy beat" and an "infectious chorus".[12] The Long Beach Press-Telegram's Patricia Smith called "Do the Bartman" a "surprisingly funky tune".[13] Monika Bartyzel of Cinematical, however, thought the song was a "cheesy number".[14] "Do the Bartman" and its music video have become study material for sociology courses at the University of California Berkeley, where it is used to "examine issues of the production and reception of cultural objects, in this case, a satirical cartoon show", and to figure out what it is "trying to tell audiences about aspects primarily of American society, and, to a lesser extent, about other societies."[15]

Chart performance

While the song was never officially released as a single in the United States, it did top the charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, the song spent three weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart, and became Britain's seventh best-selling song of 1991.[16] "Do The Bartman" has shipped at least 400,000 units in the United Kingdom and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry on February 1, 1991.[17][18] The song's success in the United Kingdom was remarkable, given that at that time The Simpsons was airing only on British satellite television station Sky One. It would be five years before it was first on terrestrial television in Britain, airing on BBC One and later BBC Two.[19][20] In Ireland, "Do The Bartman" spent nine weeks at number one on the Irish Singles Chart from January 24, 1991 to March 24, 1991.[21] Only seven singles have ever managed a longer run at number one in that country.[22] The song also charted at number-one on New Zealands RIANZ Singles Chart on the issue date of January 25, 1991, and peaked at number-one on the chart again, for a total of two weeks, from February 8, 1991 to February 15, 1991.[23]

Music video

The music video features the typical plot of Bart rebelling against authority when he decides to put his own spin on a rigidly choreographed dance presentation at Springfield Elementary School. The music video for "Do the Bartman" was directed by Brad Bird, with dance choreography by Michael Chambers. Nobody from the staff of The Simpsons wanted to direct it because they were busy doing the show, but Bird finally agreed to do it after having been asked four times. He had a very short amount of time to finish the video because it was supposed to coincide with the release of The Simpsons Sing the Blues.[3]

The entire music video was storyboarded in only two days in the United States. Bird then got on a plane to Budapest, Hungary, where the video was animated by Varga Studio. They thought the video was going to be animated as simply as the original The Simpsons shorts, so when Bird told them that it was going to be done in full animation with no repeated scenes, they "went into deep shock".[3] The animators added the wraparound at the beginning to set Bart against the crowd and put the video in "some sort of context."[3]

The video was nominated for Best Special Effects at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards.[24][25] It was the number one music video on rotation on American MTV network between January and March 1991.[26] Following the death of Michael Jackson on June 25, 2009, the music video was broadcast by the Fox network on June 28, 2009—ahead of a rerun of the episode "Wedding for Disaster"—and featured a title card paying tribute to Jackson.[27]

Charts

Charts

Chart (1991) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[28] 17
Australia (ARIA)[29] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[30] 4
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[31] 5
Ireland (IRMA)[21] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[32] 3
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[33] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[34] 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 12
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[36] 3
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[16] 1
US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay[37] 11

Shipments and certifications

Country Certifications Shipments
United Kingdom Gold[17] 400,000+[18]

Track listing

  1. "Do the Bartman" (7" House Mix/Edit) – 3:54
  2. "Do the Bartman" (LP edit) – 3:59
  1. "Do the Bartman" (7" House Mix/Edit) – 3:54
  2. "Do the Bartman" (LP edit) – 3:59
  3. "Do the Bartman" (Bad Bart House Mix) – 4:49
  4. "Do the Bartman" (a cappella) – 3:44

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Michael Jackson Update: News From Korea, Poland And Groening". MTV.com. Viacom. 1998-02-23. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  2. ↑ Deborah Hastings (1990-09-26). "'Simpsons' head to recording studio". Tampabay.com. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Season 2 DVD commentary for the special feature "Do the Bartman".
  4. ↑ "Bart Simpson's secrets revealed". Enquirer.com. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
  5. ↑ Ray Richmond (1998-02-20). "Gloved one secret 'Simpsons' fan". Variety.com. Reed Elsevier Inc. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  6. ↑ Cartwright, Nancy (2000). My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy. New York City: Hyperion. pp. 115–117. ISBN 0-7868-8600-5.
  7. ↑ Brooks, James L. (2003). Commentary for "Stark Raving Dad", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  8. ↑ Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood (2000). "Stark Raving Dad". BBC News. BBC Online. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  9. ↑ Jean, Al. (2003). Commentary for "Stark Raving Dad", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  10. ↑ Michael Schneider and Andrew Stewart (2009-06-28). "Michael Jackson tributes across TV". Variety.com. Reed Elsevier Inc. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  11. ↑ Ken Tucker (1990-12-14). "The Simpsons Sing the Blues". Entertainment Weekly. Time Warner, Inc. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "The Daily Vault Music Reviews : The Simpsons Sing The Blues". Dailyvault.com. David Geffen Co. 2007-05-21. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  13. ↑ Patricia Smith (1990-12-11). "Funky Bart". Long Beach Press-Telegram. pp. D7.
  14. ↑ Monika Bartyzel (2007-08-10). "'Powder Blue' Adds The Swayze". Cinematical.com. Weblogs, Inc. Network. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  15. ↑ Thomas B. Gold (2008) "The Simpsons Global Mirror" University of California Berkeley.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "All the Number 1 Singles–1990s". TheOfficialCharts.com. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Certified awards". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on May 25, 2008. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
  19. ↑ "Simpsons celebrate 10 years". BBC News. BBC Online. 2000-01-13. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  20. ↑ Kate Whiting (2008-05-05). "Telly's first family". Manchester Evening News. M.E.N. Media. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "The Simpsons - Do The Bartman (song)". Irish-Charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  22. ↑ "Facts and Figures Most Weeks at No.1". IrishCharts.ie. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "The Simpsons - Do The Bartman (song)". Charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  24. ↑ "1991 Video Music Awards". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  25. ↑ Hastings, Deborah (1991-07-29). "R.E.M. leads nominations for Video Music Awards". The Deseret News.
  26. ↑ Chuck Barney (2007-07-23). "The evolution of 'The Simpsons'". Pop Matters. PopMatters Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  27. ↑ Dan Snierson (2009-06-27). "Michael Jackson: 'The Simpsons' to re-air 'Do the Fatman' video in tribute on Sunday". Entertainment Weekly. Time Warner Inc. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  28. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Simpsons – Do the Bartman" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  29. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – The Simpsons – Do the Bartman". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  30. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Simpsons – Do the Bartman" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  31. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  32. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Simpsons – Do the Bartman" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  33. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – The Simpsons – Do the Bartman". Top 40 Singles.
  34. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Simpsons – Do the Bartman". VG-lista.
  35. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Simpsons – Do the Bartman". Swiss Singles Chart.
  36. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Simpsons – Do the Bartman". Singles Top 60.
  37. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2009). Top Pop Singles (12th ed.). Menonomee Falls, WI:Record Research Books. ISBN 0-89820-180-2.

External links

Preceded by
"3 a.m. Eternal" by The KLF		 UK number-one single
16 February 1991
(three weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash