Swamp Thing (song)

"Swamp Thing" is a song by British electronic music group the Grid, released on 23 May 1994 by Deconstruction as a single and is included on the group's third album, Evolver (1994). The song peaked at number three on the UK, Australian, and Danish singles charts and reached the top five in an additional seven countries, including Finland and Norway, where it reached number two. It was later sampled in "Banjo Thing" by Infernal and "Swamp Thing" by Pegboard Nerds. British magazine NME ranked it number 41 in their list of the 50 Best Songs of 1994.[2]

This article is about the Grid song. For other songs, see Swamp Thing (disambiguation).

"Swamp Thing"
Single by the Grid
from the album Evolver
Released23 May 1994 (1994-05-23)[1]
Length3:56
LabelDeconstruction
Songwriter(s)
  • Richard Norris
  • David Ball
Producer(s)The Grid
The Grid singles chronology
"Texas Cowboys"
(1993)		 "Swamp Thing"
(1994)		 "Rollercoaster"
(1994)
Music video
"Swamp Thing" on YouTube

Content

"Swamp Thing" is almost completely instrumental, consisting mainly of: drums, synthesizer sounds and banjo. The only vocals are Well alright, watch out, Feel alright and I just dig it, sampled from the 1973 reggae song "Papa Do It Sweet" by Lloyd & Patsy.[3] The banjo part was written and performed by Roger Dinsdale – a folk musician who also played the guitar and the mandolin. Dinsdale died in July 2009.[4]

Critical reception

Music writer and columnist James Masterton wrote, "I can detect a theme developing here over who can make the best dance record out of the silliest original idea. As if Doop wasn't bad enough we now have the Grid moving away from ambient dub and scoring their biggest hit ever with a dance track based on a banjo reel." He added that it "actually is quite inspired".[5] Holly Barringer from Melody Maker complimented "Swamp Thing" as "a cheeky little number" and "a kind of Deliverance with disco up its butt", concluding, "You can't help but squeal like a pig at the sheer foor-tappingness of the darn thing."[6] Maria Jimenez from Music & Media constated that the group "storms through Europe with their banjo-ignited stormer".[7] Andy Beevers from Music Week's RM Dance Update commented, "Part Two of the Grid's US travelogue takes us east from Texas [with their 1993 single "Texas Cowboys"] to the Deep South, where they successfully set frantic banjo picking against uptempo house beats to create a high energy hoe down."[8] He also declared it as "a mad banjo and house hybrid [that] works surprisingly well."[9]

Another editor, James Hamilton, described it as "a breezy progressive throbber."[10] Ben Willmott from NME named it Single of the Week, writing, "Bonkers cowpunk disco of the highest order from the vastly underrated Texas cowboys. No need for reams of descriptive prose here — "Swamp Thing" is the first and last word in banjo house and, more to the point, it's damn good fun too. Roll on the kazoo-gabber crossover."[11] The magazine's John Mulvey felt "Swamp Thing" "is veteran techno-esoterics the Grid's latest whimsical sonic journey; a long, fierce trip into Deliverance country that mixes square dance-friendly banjos with the kind of sleek trance disco perfected by Underworld and Fluke. A bit of a novelty — all that finger-picking nonsense gets royally on your tits after a while — but endearing enough in its own backwoods, inbred, rabble-rousing redneck way."[12]

Chart performance

"Swamp Thing" was very successful on the charts across several continents. In Europe, it soared to number two in Finland, Norway and Scotland. It was a top-10 hit also in Austria (4), Belgium (4), Denmark (3), Iceland (8), Ireland (4), the Netherlands (5), Spain (8), Sweden (4), Switzerland (6) and the United Kingdom. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it hit number four. In the UK, the single peaked at number three in its fifth week on the UK Singles Chart, on 26 June.[13] It also reached number-one on Music Week's Dance Singles chart. Additionally, it was a top-20 hit in Germany (13) and a top-50 hit in France (45). Outside Europe, "Swamp Thing" reached number three in Australia as well as on the RPM Dance/Urban chart in Canada. It also peaked at number 41 in New Zealand.

The single was awarded with a silver record in the UK with a sale of 200,000 copies and a platinum record in Australia, after 70,000 units were sold.

Music video

"Swamp Thing" was accompanied by a music video. The video switches back and forth between two scenes: computer-generated imagery of a group of robots dancing to a techno beat and a blank white landscape with a crawling baby and music synthesiser instruments. The scene with the baby and the instruments also inspired the Evolver album cover art. The video received heavy rotation on MTV Europe[14] and was A-listed on Germany's VIVA.[15] Later it was made available by Vevo on YouTube, and as of August 2023, the video had generated more than 2.5 million views.[16]

Track listings

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[40] Platinum 70,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[49] Silver 200,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Single Releases" (PDF). Music Week. 21 May 1994. p. 27. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  2. "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  3. "The Grid's Swamp Thing sample of Lloyd & Patsy's Papa Do It Sweet".
  4. "Roger Dinsdale - Banjo God - Discussion Forums - Banjo Hangout". www.banjohangout.org.
  5. Masterton, James (29 May 1994). "Week Ending June 4th 1994". Chart Watch UK. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  6. Barringer, Holly (21 May 1994). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 33. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  7. Jimenez, Maria (3 September 1994). "Groovemix: Short Grooves" (PDF). Music & Media. p. 10. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  8. Beevers, Andy (23 April 1994). "Hot Vinyl" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 6. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  9. Beevers, Andy (14 May 1994). "Market Preview: Dance" (PDF). Music Week. p. 18. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  10. Hamilton, James (28 May 1994). "Dj directory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 5. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  11. Willmott, Ben (23 April 1994). "Groove Check". NME. p. 15. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  12. Mulvey, John (7 May 1994). "Singles". NME. p. 43. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  13. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  14. "Station Reports > MTV Europe/London" (PDF). Music & Media. 17 September 1994. p. 22. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  15. "Station Reports > VIVA TV/Cologne" (PDF). Music & Media. 27 August 1994. p. 22. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  16. "The Grid - Swamp Thing (Official Music Video)". YouTube. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  17. "The Grid – Swamp Thing". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  18. "The Grid – Swamp Thing" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  19. "The Grid – Swamp Thing" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  20. "Top RPM Dance/Urban: Issue 2679." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  21. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 34. 20 August 1994. p. 21. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  22. "Eurochart Hot 100" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 36. 3 September 1994. p. 12. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  23. "European Dance Radio Top 25" (PDF). Music & Media. 6 August 1994. p. 14. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  24. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  25. "The Grid – Swamp Thing" (in French). Les classement single.
  26. "The Grid – Swamp Thing" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  27. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 15.09.1994 – 21.09.1994". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 15 September 1994. p. 16. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  28. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Swamp Thing". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  29. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 34, 1994" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  30. "The Grid – Swamp Thing" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  31. "The Grid – Swamp Thing". Top 40 Singles.
  32. "The Grid – Swamp Thing". VG-lista.
  33. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  34. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  35. "The Grid – Swamp Thing". Singles Top 100.
  36. "The Grid – Swamp Thing". Swiss Singles Chart.
  37. "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  38. "Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 4 June 1994. p. 22. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  39. "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). 21 May 1994. p. 4. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  40. "ARIA Top 50 Singles for 1994". ARIA. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  41. "Jaaroverzichten 1994" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  42. "1994 Year-End Sales Charts: Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 52. 24 December 1994. p. 12. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  43. "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1994" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  44. "Jaarlijsten 1994" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  45. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1994" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  46. "Årslista Singlar, 1994" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  47. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1994" (in German). Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  48. "Top 100 Singles 1994". Music Week. 14 January 1995. p. 9.
  49. "British single certifications – Grid – Swamp Thing". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
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