| Slave to the Music | |
| Cover: | Twenty 4 Seven - Slave To The Music.jpg |
| Caption: | CD Maxi |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Twenty 4 Seven |
| Album: | Slave to the Music |
| Released: |
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| Recorded: | 1992 |
| Genre: | Eurodance |
| Length: | 4:01 |
| Label: | |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | It Could Have Been You |
| Prev Year: | 1992 |
| Next Title: | Is It Love |
| Next Year: | 1993 |
"Slave to the Music" is a song by Dutch Eurodance group Twenty 4 Seven, released on 13 August 1993 by Indisc, ZYX Music and Possum, as the third single and first song from their second studio album, Slave to the Music (1994). The song was written by the group with co-producer Ruud van Rijen and peaked within the top 10 in at least eight countries. It peaked at number two in Australia and Zimbabwe. The music video was directed by Fernando Garcia, Steve Walker and Leontine Willese.
Twenty 4 Seven formed in 1989 by Dutch producer Ruud van Rijen, consisting of singer Nancy "Nance" Coolen and rapper Ricardo Overman (a.k.a. MC Fixxit). Tony Dawson-Harrison (a.k.a. Captain Hollywood) shortly after took over as new front man and rapper of the project. They had success with the singles "I Can't Stand It" and "Are You Dreaming?". In 1993, after Harrison left the group and went solo, rapper/singer Stacey Seedorf (a.k.a. Stay-C) was recruited into the act. After releasing the single "It Could Have Been You", which was unsuccessful on the charts, Seedorf was unsatisfied with it and decided to introduce producer Ruud van Rijen to a song he had written, "Slave to the Music".[1] At first, van Rijen was unsure if Seedorf could write a song, but after hearing it the next day, he was amazed and thought it would be a hit.[1]
Stay-C was inspired by German project N.U.K.E. and their 1992 single "Nana", which he had played as a DJ. Van Ruud had made an instrumental and Stay-C's new lyrics fitted perfectly. They then went into studio with Nance and recorded "Slave to the Music". After it was recorded with Nance, Stay-C and van Rijen came up with the idea that they wanted some backing on the song. But since Nance by then had left the studio, van Rijen had to perform it by himself.[1] After the release of the single, it was a struggle to get it played on radio. After a few months, Stay-C started to loose his faith in that the song would be successful and started thinking about leaving Twenty 4 Seven. But then the song entered the Dutch tipparade, before climbing on the charts in Europe, Australia, Israel and South-Africa.
"Slave to the Music" was a massive hit on several continents, remaining one of the group's most successful songs. In Europe, it was a top-10 hit in Denmark (4),[2] Finland (7),[3] Germany (8), the Netherlands (5), Norway (5), and Sweden (4). Additionally, it was a top-20 hit in Switzerland (14) and a top-30 hit in Flemish Belgium (23). It didn't chart on the UK Singles Chart in the United Kingdom. The single debuted on the Eurochart Hot 100 at number 84 on 28 August 1993,[4] after charting in Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands. It peaked at number 20. Elsewhere, the single charted in Africa, Oceania and West Asia, peaking at number two in Australia and Zimbabwe,[5] and number 17 in Israel.[2] In Australia, it was held off reaching the top spot by Danish Cut 'N' Move's "Give It Up" and stayed within the ARIA Single Top 50 for 19 weeks, with two of them as number two.
"Slave to the Music" was awarded with a gold record in Germany and Poland, with a sale of 250,000 and 15,000 singles. In Australia, the song earned a platinum record, after a sale of 70,000 units.
The accompanying music video for "Slave to the Music" was released in September 1993 by Garcia Media Production, a studio company of Garcia Media based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It was directed by Fernando Garcia, Steve Walker and Leontine Willese,[6] featuring group members Stay-C & Nance Coolen performing in front of different coloured backgrounds. During the making, a green screen was used. The video also features scenes with a jumping toad and a dancing boy called Dion. "Slave to the Music" was later made available on YouTube in 2013, and by early 2024, the video had generated more than 3.5 million views.[7]
| Chart (1993–1994) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark (IFPI) | 4 | |
| Denmark (Tracklisten)[8] | 7 | |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) | 20 | |
| Europe (European Hot 100 Singles) | 50 | |
| France Dance (Top Dance) | 13 | |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) | 7 | |
| Israel (IBA) | 17 | |
| Zimbabwe (ZIMA) | 2 |
| Chart (1993/1994) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[9] | 12 |
| Europe (European Hot 100 Singles) | 88 |
| Germany (Official German Charts)[10] | 65 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[11] | 21 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] | 32 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] | 49 |
| Country | Certification | Date | Sales certified[14] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[15] | Platinum | 24 March 1994 | 70,000 |
| Germany (BVMI)[16] | Gold | 18 April 1994 | 250,000 |
| Poland (ZPAV) http://www.ruudvanrijen.com/awards.html | Gold | 1993 | 15,000 |