Get the Party Started

"Get the Party Started"
Single by Pink
from the album Missundaztood
B-side	"Get the Party Started (Sweet Dreams)"
Released	October 9, 2001
Format	CD single, maxi single
Recorded	June 2001
Genre	Dance-pop pop
Length	3:11
Label	Arista
Writer(s)	Linda Perry
Producer(s)	Linda Perry
Certification	Platinum (Norway, Australia) Gold (Austria, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland)
Pink singles chronology
"Lady Marmalade" (2001) "Get the Party Started" (2001) "Don't Let Me Get Me" (2002) Alternative cover UK cover
Music sample " Get the Party Started"

"Get the Party Started" is a song performed by Pink, and was the first single from her second album titled Missundaztood (2001). It became an international hit and reached the top ten in many countries. The song was Pink's biggest-selling song at that time. The track was released on October 9, 2001 to positive reviews from critics and after the release of the single it was confirmed that Pink would be releasing Missundaztood.

Writing

The song was composed by former 4 Non Blondes frontwoman, Linda Perry. She said that the process of making the song was "so unlike me"; according to her, she was going through a "weird phase" during which she wanted to learn how to program drums.^[1] She programmed her first beat, picked up a bass guitar, and, in her words, "did what the beat was asking me to do." She decided to put "every wrong instrument" in the song, and consequently acquired a horn sample. "I was doing the music, the melody was already coming to me in what I wanted the song to be," she said.^[1] She finished the song by including in the song "every catch phrase you possibly could imagine", before laughing at the realization that she had written a potential hit single and her first dance song. "You create something in your bedroom or your house, and it's just a fun thing that you're doing," she said. "Then all of a sudden, you hear that song that you started in your house, and it's on the radio. And people are now acknowledging it. It's just trippy."^[1]

Reception

It reached number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on December 29, 2001, becoming one of Pink's biggest solo hits in the U.S. with "Most Girls" also reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2000 and "So What", "Raise Your Glass", and "Just Give Me a Reason" reaching number one in 2008, 2010, and 2013 respectively, and "Fuckin' Perfect" that reached number two in America. It peaked at number two in the UK, where it was narrowly denied the top spot by the posthumous release of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord". It reached number-one in Australia and number-two in many European countries most notably Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, being held off from the top position by Shakira's smash hit "Whenever, Wherever". "Get the Party Started" was certified gold in Australia, Austria, Germany, France Sweden and Switzerland, and in Norway it received a platinum certification. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2003 in the category of "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance", which it lost to Norah Jones's "Don't Know Why". It won the award for "Favorite Song" at the Kids' Choice Awards of 2002, and at the MTV Europe Music Awards of 2002 it won the award for "Best Song". "Get the Party Started" is often considered one of Pink's signature songs as she tends to finish her shows with this song in her encore section along with a ballad song such as "Nobody Knows" and "Glitter In The Air". In December, the song was listed as number 81 on Rolling Stone's Top Songs of the 2000s.

Critical response

Allmusic highlighted the song and added: "This record bubbles over with imagination, as hooky pop songs like the title track rub shoulders with glitzy dancefloor anthems like "Get the Party Started."^[2] Jim Farber was favorable: "The single "Get the Party Started" has the tricky synth hook of a perfect new-wave hit from the '80s."^[3] NME magazine was less positive: "displays the kind of clod-hopping attention-seeking on single 'Get The Party Started' that makes you assume you're listening to a Geri Halliwell record."^[4] Jason Thompson described this song and praised: "the dance inducing “Get the Party Started”. Again, even this isn’t really in the mold of current dance tracks. Instead, it feels more like the kinds of grooves that were coming out in the early Nineties, when alt-rock was influencing the discos as well as the college charts. In fact, it sounds a little like Apollo Smile who had an album out back in ‘91 or so. “Get The Party Started” also echoes the good time vibe that other hits like Deee-Lite’s “Groove Is In the Heart” had that won over many fans. This track should do just the same thing. It did for me, anyway."^[5] Slant Magazine called this song "retro-dipped dance-pop."^[6] Sputnik music marked it as a highlight and added: "It is not all slow and serious going though, as 1st single ‘Get The Party Started’ proves. As the song title suggests, this is the dance-oriented party-starter that the artist’s debut album lacked."^[7] Stylus Magazine called this song "near perfection."^[8]

Music video

The music video was shot by director Dave Meyers in Los Angeles in late September 2001. At 1 minute and 46 seconds into the video, an American Flag is shown, a nod to the September 11 attacks just days earlier. The video uses an abbreviated version of the song, cutting out the last chorus, and also cutting out the instrumentals. The song's composer, Linda Perry, is seen as a bartender.

In the video Pink is getting ready to go out, trying on different outfits. One of her friends picks her up, and they drive in a car bobbing their heads to the music. However, the car runs out of fuel, so they get out and steal two skateboards from two boys. Pink falls off her skateboard because men in a car are whistling at her. The women arrive at the club but are refused entry, so to get in they use a scaffold to reach the top of the building. Inside the club Pink changes her clothes and starts to party; in the end Pink dances with two other dancers (Kevin Federline and Georvohn Lambert).

The video was nominated at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards for "Best Pop Video" and won the awards for "Best Female Video" and "Best Dance Video".

Remixes

Pink teamed up with Redman and Rockwilder for a remix of "Get the Party Started", using elements of the Eurythmics song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)". The remix was released as a single only in France, where it reached number four and was certified gold. Pink performed the remix during her I'm Not Dead Tour in 2006 and 2007. The remix was also featured on the 9th installment of the U.S. version of the Now That's What I Call Music! series.

Track listing

• UK CD1 and Cassette^[9]

1. "Get the Party Started" (Radio Mix) – 3:12
2. "Get the Party Started (Sweet Dreams)" (featuring Redman) – 4:05
3. "Get the Party Started" (Instrumental) – 3:12

• UK CD2 and German CD single^[10]

1. "Get the Party Started" (Radio Mix) – 3:12
2. "Get the Party Started" (K5 Werk Kraft Mix) (featuring Spoonface) – 7:02
3. "Get the Party Started" (Pink Noise Disco Mix) – 3:44
4. "Get the Party Started" (Video) – 3:21

• American CD single ^[11]

1. "Get the Party Started (Sweet Dreams)" (featuring Redman) – 4:05
2. "Get the Party Started" (Lady May Remix) - 3:50
3. "Get the Party Started" (Ernie's All Night Party Anthem) - 3:23
4. "Get the Party Started" (Pink Noise Disco Mix) – 3:44
5. "Get the Party Started" (Radio Mix) – 3:12

• European CD single^[12]

1. "Get the Party Started" (Radio Mix) – 3:12
2. "Get the Party Started (Sweet Dreams)" (featuring Redman) – 4:05

• Australian CD single^[13]

1. "Get the Party Started" (Radio Mix) – 3:12
2. "Get the Party Started (Sweet Dreams)" (featuring Redman) – 4:05
3. "Get the Party Started" (Pink Noise Disco Mix - Radio Edit) – 3:46
4. "Get the Party Started" (Instrumental) – 3:12

Charts and certifications

Charts

Shirley Bassey version

"Get the Party Started"
Single by Shirley Bassey
from the album Get the Party Started
Released	July 23, 2007
Format	CD single, digital download
Recorded	2006
Genre	Pop, vocal
Length	4:02
Label	Lock Stock and Barrel
Writer(s)	Linda Perry
Producer(s)	Catherine Feeney, Nikki Lamborn, Chuck Norman, Bob Kraushaar
Shirley Bassey singles chronology
"The Living Tree" (2007) "Get the Party Started" (2007) "Big Spender" (2007)

Shirley Bassey recorded a cover for a spy-themed 2006 Marks & Spencer Christmas television advertising campaign.^[59] Her version became a cult hit^[60] and was included on her 2007 album, also titled Get the Party Started. The Guardian wrote, "Bassey is the only singer alive who could take the bouncing, enthusiastic R&B of the original Get the Party Started and turn it into a grand, imperious swoop worthy of a Bond theme; it's a terrific cover version, even if it perhaps didn't quite merit the album attached to it."^[60] On 13 January 2008, Bassey's version was used in the opening sequence to the ITV1 series Dancing on Ice. It was also used in the promo for Cycle 4 of Australia's Next Top Model, and Bassey's version charted at number 47 in the UK^[61] and ended at the Billboard Year-End Charts at number forty-three in the Hot Dance Club Plays Tracks of the year.^[62] The track was used again in 2010 for the opening credits of the spy-spoof movie Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.

Track listings and formats

UK CD single

1. "Get The Party Started" (Radio edit) – 3:44
2. "Get The Party Started" – 4:02
3. "Get The Party Started" (NorthXNorthWest Club mix) – 7:21
4. "Get The Party Started" (Fugitives Coming Up mix) – 5:34
5. "Get The Party Started" (Flip & Fill remix) – 5:58
6. "Get The Party Started" (Music video) – 4:00

US Digital single

1. "Get The Party Started" (Chris Cox Club mix) – 8:45
2. "Get The Party Started" (Chris Cox Dub mix) – 8:05
3. "Get The Party Started" (Chris Cox Radio mix) – 3:49

Cover versions

• A cover by Stretch Arm Strong was recorded for the 2002 compilation album Punk Goes Pop.
• A fast, remixed eurodance version by Nancy And The Boys was recorded for the 2002 dance compilation Dancemania Speed 10.^[63]
• Irish artist Damien Rice recorded a cover version with Lisa Hannigan for the 2003 compilation Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1.
• German singer Sascha Schmitz covered the song (as Dick Brave & The Backbeats) for his 2003 album Dick This.
• David Brent sings a couple of lines from the chorus of this song during The Office Christmas Special, also making a joke about one of the lines.
• A recent cover version of this song was produced by Dan Winter, a German Hard dance producer.
• The Chinese pop singer Jolin Tsai recorded a cover for her English album Love Exercise.
• David Cassidy performed the song as fictional Vegas performer Boone Vincent in the "Vegas" episode of the TV series Malcolm in the Middle.^[64]
• Zebrahead covered the song on their all-covers album Panty Raid.
• Opera singer Rhydian Roberts sang Bassey's version of the song during his tenure on The X Factor.
• The Crash covered it on their demo album Crash!
• Russian girl group Serebro covered it as a live performance for a possible on their upcoming album.
• John Barrowman covered the song live in his 2010 concert tour. His performance at the Royal Albert Hall was filmed for DVD.

Appearances in other media

• In early 2002, Pink teamed up with Bally Total Fitness to promote Bally Total Fitness memberships. The title of the advertising campaign was "Get This Body Started", and in early 2002 there were several Bally Total Fitness commercials in the United States that used the Pink song.
• The track was used extensively by the NBA during the 2002–2003 season. For the Finals, ABC used the song as the introduction music in 2003.
• In the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in the episode Lies My Parents Told Me, Buffy quotes the lyrics, describing it as having a 'catchy hook'.
• Use on The Ellen DeGeneres Show when Paris Hilton appeared on the show once.
• Used in Pump it Up: The PREX 3, a rhythm dancing arcade game.
• The Shirley Bassey version of the song is also considered the official anthem for the 2010 sequel, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.
• The song was made available to download on April 17, 2012 for play in Rock Band 3 Basic and PRO mode utilizing real guitar / bass guitar, and MIDI compatible electronic drum kits / keyboards plus vocal harmonies.
• The song appeared in the second Daria TV movie and series finale Is It College Yet? during Lindy's party.
• The song appeared in South Park season 18 episode 2 in Gluten Free Ebola.
• The song appeared in the pilot episode of The Middle.

References

External links

• "Get the Party Started" music video on YouTube