Rock the House (Gorillaz song)

"Rock the House"
Single by Gorillaz featuring Del tha Funkee Homosapien
from the album Gorillaz and G Sides
B-side "The Sounder"
"Faust"
"Ghost Train"
Released 22 October 2001 (UK)
20 November 2001 (U.S.)
Format CD, Cassette, 12"
Recorded 2000
Genre Alternative hip hop
Length 4:09 (Album Version)
3:02 (Radio Edit)
Label Parlophone
Writer(s) 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Del tha Funkee Homosapien
Producer(s) Gorillaz, Dan the Automator
Gorillaz singles chronology
"19-2000"
(2001)		 "Rock the House"
(2001)		 "Tomorrow Comes Today"
(2002)
Del the Funky Homosapien singles chronology
"Clint Eastwood"
(2001)		 "Rock the House"
(2001)


Alternative cover
CD2
Music video
"Rock The House" on YouTube

"Rock the House" is a song from Gorillaz' self-titled debut album Gorillaz. It was released as the third single from the album in October 2001. It peaked at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. The song features a horn section loop sampled from "Modesty Blaise", a piece by British jazz musician John Dankworth. The chorus also features a sample of "How Many People (Ready to Rock the House?)", an 1980s hip-hop track by American rapper John Forté. Rapper Del tha Funkee Homosapien is the only artist to provide vocals for the song, and it is the only song on the album that does not have an instrumental section for guitarist Noodle.

Background

In Gorillaz: Rise of the Ogre, 2-D claims to have "played some divvy panpipes" for "Rock the House" during a track-by-track of the Gorillaz album. Murdoc is stunned by this and repeats his disbelief briefly during the section on the video. Though the track was selected for a single and received generally good reactions, Rise of the Ogre claims that Gorillaz were never particularly satisfied with "Rock the House", with Murdoc expressing his opinions by claiming he "won this song in a raffle" and 2D thinking that the track should not have made it on the album at all. For the radio edit of the song, the line which features the words "Shake your ass-crack" is cut. Instead, the edit features the orchestral type sound, which features after the trumpet riff at the start of the song, so that the last two words are not heard.

Music video

The music video for "Rock the House" was directed by Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland. The inspiration for the video is said to have come from Hewlett's angst at the time, as the band was going through the process of being sued by another band named Doppelgangerz, who claimed that Gorillaz was a stolen idea. It starts with a shot of the gate of Kong Studios. The camera then follows Noodle on a tricycle through the hallways of the building, a reference to the horror film The Shining. It leads past a door to a room where Gorillaz are performing. A white mist appears among them and Russel passes out. Then we see the floor has turned into the ghost of Del, who rises up and throws the Gorillaz to the ground. Del is outfitted with protective gear including a helmet. In Rise of the Ogre it explains he is dressed as Mr. Freedom. Del takes a few steps when from behind him a series of spring-loaded guns shoot billiard balls at him, but he diverts them with his glove. A series of inflatable female gorillas appear and start to do cheerleading. 2-D is dodging the balls being shot at him by doing dance moves, but then he is hit by a few balls and knocked out. Murdoc then begins to divert the balls with a padded jockstrap he is wearing, hitting them away with his pelvic thrusts. He is successful a dozen times until a ball ricochets off the padded wall and hits his unprotected buttocks. The ball ricochets and hits Russel in the head, waking him up and making Del disappear. Russel looks around, noticing 2-D is unconscious, Murdoc is standing bowlegged, and Noodle is the only one in the original state. The final scene is a backwards shot of the first one.

In this music video, like many other music videos for Gorillaz, Murdoc can be seen wearing his inverted cross necklace, putting further emphasis on the fact that he is a Satanist.

Track listing

CD1
  1. "Rock the House" (radio edit) – 3:02
  2. "The Sounder" – 4:30
  3. "Faust" – 3:47
  4. "Rock the House Teaser Trailer" (video) - :29
CD2
  1. "Rock the House" – 4:09
  2. "Ghost Train" – 3:56
  3. "19-2000" – 3:29
  4. "19-2000 Geep Sim Trailer" - :10
  5. "19-2000" (video) - 3:56
Cassette single
  1. "Rock the House" (radio edit) - 3:02
  2. "The Sounder" – 4:31
  3. "Ghost Train" – 3:56
12-inch vinyl[1]
  1. "Rock the House" – 4:09
  2. "The Sounder" - 4:31
  3. "Faust" – 3:47
  4. "Ghost Train" – 3:56

References

  1. ↑ Gorillaz – Rock the House [12" Vinyl]
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