Allee Willis - Boogie Wonderland (Earth, Wind & Fire) | The Story Behind The Song | Top 2000 a gogo
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 27 май 2018
- Songwriter Allee Willis (1947 - 2019) on how she wrote 'Boogie Wonderland' for Earth, Wind & Fire and her impressive collection. A short documentary by Top 2000 a gogo (Dutch Public TV) from 2011.
Видеоклипы
![MAF Teeski - Whole Thing (feat. VonOff1700) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SHWEj-ndz6g/mqdefault.jpg)
I hate myself for finding this Top 2000 a gogo series, this means days of binge watching.
You're not kidding
ME TOO! EXCELLENT SERIES! LOVE IT! x
Yes, that’s what my last 2 days have been like too...
Same here but when I catch up I'll be sad and waiting for the next one to come out.
@@robis40 At our age you can just start again from the begining!
Wow all these fucking years I'm just finding out some psychedelic chic that looks like she dived in a Skittles factory, penned and composed one of the most prolific dance songs in music history RESPECT....
If anyone told me "This lady Allee, she wrote Boogie Wonderland." I'd say "Are you out of your mind? That song is the work of a genius!" So, Allee, that's what you are, a genius. God bless you and Thanks for the music.
She passed in Dec. 2019 sadly
Lets not forgot the contributing vocals of The Emotions...that made the song.
God, yes. They killed it. I loved them so much.
Fun fact. EWF ripped off the Emotions on sales and proper credit for their participation. They all kindof fell out over it. I saw an interview with two members of the Emotions. Too bad. They all looked like they were having a great time together.
Springboard 19 , that is a disturbing fact. I had no idea. Thanks for sharing.
.... better yet MAURICE WHITE MADE THAT SONG!!!!!
Listening to the original demo, it is very obvious that they made significant contributions to the song. Their harmonies are unparalleled and so iconic! My favorite song of all time is "Don't Ask My Neighbor".
Rest in Peace miss Willis and continue to boogie up in that great wonderland up in the sky.
R.I.P. Allee Willis (11-10-1947 - 12-24-2019)
Son of a bitch. I just found this video and discovered who she was.
Oh no! That is sad... she had an amazing house filled with cool kitschy stuff. Thanks for this wonderful song! How lucky that you interviewed her about this hit song. Thanks. Love this series about these great songs. :)
Fortunate that they interviewed her in time.
@@RandyWaage That house should be a museum. I hope all that memorabilia isn't just locked up somewhere or thrown away.
She died on Christmas Eve?
Fuxsake
Sorry to hear that :(
I love the demo version. This was great. Rest in Peace.
Loved it when I first heard it and 40 years later, still blasting out my car radio!
RIP to a lady that wrote my all time favorite disco song! This will never grow old!
I think BOOGIE WONDERLAND is my all-time favorite disco song. I remember when it came out in 1979 I would turn it up full blast. I still turn it up full blast when it comes on!
Same here!
The best souvenir from my first vacation in the US back in '79 was the 12 inch version on vinyl. I still have it and it still makes me happy! :)
This song is so precious to me. It takes me straight back to my childhood, to my family and I playing music, singing and dancing together, having fun and feeling free.
May this sweet lady Rest in Power.
Thank you for the beautiful music.🎼 Musical Genius, Icon & loved Disco.💎 RIP❤🇺🇸🕊
Damn !!!!, I just found this video and the amazing, crazy and beautiful lady has passed.
She wrote "September" also , i so sorry she has passed. RIP BRILLIANT LADY
Actually, Maurice White had intended to cut “Boogie Wonderland” on another act on his Columbia-distributed ARC label, but it wasn’t coming together for them, so the track was shelved. But his brother Verdine felt that too much work had been put into the track to let it just sit there, and that maybe Earth, Wind & Fire should do it. Maurice balked at the suggestion because while EW&F’s music was danceable, he, like Parliament/Funkadelic’s George Clinton, was not a fan of disco. Maurice finally said, “Okay, but we’ll do it our way. We’ll bring in the Emotions for vocal backup.” He also felt that Allee’s lyric about people using the dance floor as an opiate reflected his feelings about the disco culture. Maurice said he wanted "Let Your Feelings Show" to be the first track to be released from the "I Am" album, but Columbia smelled money when they heard "Boogie Wonderland". RIP Allee Willis (1947-2019). We’ll miss you.
RIP Allie and Maurice.
I love Allie, and her fingerprints are all over I Am album, but if her demo was released it would have never charted.
Mauruce turned it into a # 1 hit and forever classic with his genius production and arrangement skills. Allie also was questioning Maurice during the September recording as she was a co writter. She could not understand why Maurice was leaving Ba de ya in the song and not putting words in its place. She kept saying to him WHAT THE F IS BA DE YA MEAN?
His response was, it dosent matter, it SOUNDS GOOD. NEVER LET THE WORDS GET ON THE WAY OF A GOOD GROOVE!
She said it was an important lesson for her.
Maurice was a mentor to her and gave hrr her first big break !
She definitely looks like someone it would have been fun to know, she just radiate good energy.
she or he?
@@adaspaker8404 what does it matter? Good energy is good energy.
@@adaspaker8404 Common, dude. You can tell she's a woman right off.
If I'd written a song and EWF had covered in their style and made it a massive hit, I'm sure I would have cried all the way to the bank.
Maurice White of Earth Wind and Fire made that jumpsuit look absolutely gorgeous
I love disco and danced my ass off and still will if I can find a club with a disco night. I never understand why dance clubs don't have disco nights. I never knew the lyrics, but I know when this song came on everybody had to be dancing. I will always love disco and the freedom it brought to my life. Ty Allee Willis
I love this woman - so sad to hear she passed recently.
I still wish they released the demo too... That sounded great
I have the demo if you want it
The demo is bangin'...but the demo doesn't sound like Earth Wind. I'd envision The Bee Gees doing the song in the demo style.
Thanks for that fabulous deconstruction of boogie wonderland. Disco domination forever
I really like her version. And I like her. 🙂
I met genius song writer and lyricist Allee Willis in North Hollywood many years ago. I had been visiting her regarding some project I was working on at the time and she was forthcoming with sound advice and knowledge. As I was leaving I had the fortune of meeting Verdine White and a few others as they were coming over to see her for a writing session or meeting of the minds of sorts.
I'll never forget a funny yet enlightening story she told me about the meaning of the lyrics she wrote for the classic song September. I only saw her a few more times after that. Without her knowing it, just my meeting her taught me an important lasting lesson in life. I will always remember her as an honest, down to earth and a very cool, soulful lady. Sorry she has passed (as we all do sooner or later but of course we wish and pray that dark phantom of old comes later, that silent but inevitable undertaker, the toll taker of the esoteric ferry that carries us across this realm and beyond the breech of this life to the other side). Her greatest work was/is with Earth Wind & Fire (the Elements). But ohhh, oh man what a legacy of music she has left behind for us to enjoy. In the lyrics of those great songs your talent enhanced, you will live for a very, very, very, very, very long time Allee! Love you for that Allee!
RIP you force of love!!! 🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇❤
I would love to get my hands on the original demo so I can hear it properly, it sounded fantastic!
A very interesting and talented individual. R.I.P.
For the most part, it's the eccentric, the outcasts, the ridiculous, the unique, who when they show true genius, is rarely appreciated at the time, and are later praised as pioneers when the monotony of mainstream develops an appreciation for the very things they were ostracized for.
"Disco is the best music ever!!" She ain't wrong!
Both versions sound good though.
EWF's made your song BETTER, honey. It's 2020 and people are STILL GROOVING to it. And you got PAID because of it. Your version would have died with disco.
@@robertsettle2590 I don't care if she's dead or alive. She was complaining about someone improving her song, a song revision that got her PAID. Boo hooo. The fact that she's dead doesn't change THAT TRUTH. But too bad she's not alive to see this comment because it's BIG FACTS! I said had it not been for EWF, her song would have died with disco. But, since you are super sensitive about my comment, I change my mind. Had it not been for EWF, her song would be dead JUST LIKE HER! Now, does that make you feel better?
WOW! I had no idea that the song was not written by the band. What a shock. It has so much soul to it that I would never thought it was written by a white woman. This shows music transcends all races!
Allee Willis was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home but she lived so close to Motown’s headquarters and would plant herself outside of their small residential-like building and absorb all of the sounds. She was a Hebraic Soul Sistah! 🤸🏽♂️
So unexpected "Rest In Boogie Wonderland Allee Willis - 10 november 1947 - 24 december 2019,"
Don't ever stop releasing this content! never ever forget the history. NEVER!
Emotions owned it.
Boogie Wonderland is just perfect disco 🤩 If your foots not tapping, check your pulse 👍
EW&F are brilliant at making original songs their own. ‘You can’t hide love’ being a good example.
those songwriters are overlooked cause everybody talks about the hits and the bands not the songwriters ..i honestly never heard of her till i randomly searched earth wind and fire credits
Maurice White absolutely did the original song a favor with the way he arranged it.
great song to skate to at United states in 1979!! disco and roller skating good times!!
I love that film looking for Mr good bar I see it 1 time on the telly stuck in my head all this time xxx
Nobody ever paid attention to the lyric of any EW&F song. The music was so amazing they could have all been instrumentals and have been just as huge.
Know it all white male Alert
You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.
Their lyrics are what set them part..
That was very cool! 🎼
I watched the music video of Boogie Wonderland EWF and the Emotions were looking cool. but I knew the lyrics were dark cause it was based on individuals who are struggling with their lives on a daily basis and when they stepped into a Disco or a Rave Party ever night of the week they find themselves in a Boogie Wonderland Nexus.
this is one of the greatest songs ever recorded
Yep
Seriously? It's the worst EW&F song. The Emotions vocals are the best thing about it.
GREAT SONGWRITER...
BE MY MUSIC ANGEL
These series are so amazing. I can't thank you enough.
RIP Allee Willis
Great info!!!! Wow. Things ya never know. The emotions sang on it!!!!!
Thanks for the song disco Stu.
RIP Maurice White 1941 - 2016
I used to enjoy this song, and now I feel sad now listening to this song.
Dee Snider has really let himself go
That is hilarious.
Dee Rules !!
HAHAHAHAHHAHAAAA does she or it identify as male or female or Dee?
That was Funny
I wish I could give you more than just one thumbs up for that.
EW&F made it way better than the demo. They knew what they were doing. They made it more “Black”. Gave it more soul.
EW&F did it A LOT Faster!!!! The original demo was almost a ballad !!!
I think the demo suits feeling of the lyrics more. But not as much of a catchy dance tune as what the band made it into.
demo is better. less" black"
@@SeamHead33 you're going to always be delusional
“Black” has nothing to do with it. That’s the EWF sound! More Soul? Amongst other things... But that was the genius of their sound... transcended “Black” culture while being rooted in it. It’s a both/and thing, not an either/or.
I am more intrested in her pop memorabilia collection Wow 👌👌
Love this song. Who else thought the thumbnail was of Bruce Vilanch?
Killer Groove!
Happy Feet did not bring me here, but I love that movie.
"Hey Ringo, play something hot, will ya? And you guys, take some more lessons." Cue: Boogie Wonderland
Caddyshack...lol...and the song is played at a higher pitch
I love Disco myself.
the dudes got a cape!
Does anyone know where we can listen to the demo heard at 4:30? The backup vocals are awesome!
Disco IS THE GREATEST MUSIC EVERRRRRRRR YESSSSSSS ABSOLUTELY !!! ....
Her name is Allie Willis not “Williams”
Alta Sherral Willis
I thought James Brown also had a show in the 70s too - like when he introduced Marilyn Chambers miming her 1977 disco single "Benihana".
RIP Allee
💖 Maurice
The fire of EWF.
Thank you
I had this album and used to dance in disco's.
I agree..Disco is the best. I love Boogie wonderland
interesting musical history!!
One of the happiest songs ever !
Melibu x Melmont : Have you actually listened to the lyrics?
She is in a better place now, in DISCO heaven
RIP 🕊 🕊 🕊
Wow the demo version is so good
Leo Blokhuis is briljant.. dit soort filmpjes zijn goud. Ik verbaas me dat er relatief zo weinig views zijn.
She wrote the Theme song for Friends.. I´ll be there for you...
Oh, that's too bad.
She said it was the whitest song she ever wrote.
Deze persoon doet me enorm denken aan een Amerikaanse actrice die bekend is uit diverse tv series.. Margo Martindale ! De stem, het gezicht.. het zouden wel zussen van elkaar kunnen zijn...
uit The Americans oa.....
ja en the good wife heeft ze een of twee seizoenen meegespeeld...
What? An artist changed the songwriter's song? Say it isn't so!
;-)
@macsnafu_ yes, the artist Maurice White did change that rendition as well as EWF's version of; You can't hide love, which was originally sung by a group named, Creative Source...Maurice slowed down his version to that song however...Maurice was quite gifted and talented in his renditions of a song.
EWF brightened it up a bit. Because the original has a very sinister melancholy feel to it that actually goes with the lyrics. I remember years ago listening to it and even though it is groovy the lyrics were kind of sad. Now i know why. They sped it up and turned it into shouting music. Wonder how it would have been received if they stayed closer to the original. Or if MJ would have did it for off the wall or something. Either way great song!!!
Wow !
That songwriter is really eccentric.
Most geniuses are.
@@fivestring65ify ...Genius??...lol Love Ms. Willis, but Genius is a stretch
I always thought many disco songs conveyed great emotion thanks to great lyrics. Great woman. My opinion the original structure was much better but EWF prod and PB angel voice were better
Was that pat ?
EWF were into funk, but disco came along and they were forced to put out a disco song. Their great grooves now got dumbed down to shitty 4 on the floor bass drum. Its a good song, but realize it really wasnt who they were.. Maurice is a genius so he could pull off anything. politics aside - Disco killed funk.
it was all good...no labels....
Well said. Paul.
They are interchangable
Yep disco blows but the bass lines are funky.
Bullshit. It was a natural progression.
80'S MUSIK Rules
This song is from 1978
♥️💯
Debbie Harry's video for French Kissing In The USA was shot in Allees home and garden
Well there you go. Good way to make some extra cash out of her place.
This gal is a character, a sweetheart, and - obviously - very talented......BUT: Earth Wind and Fire did not ruin "Boogie Wonderland".... EWF couldn't do anything make a song better.
Disco may have "died" in the '80s but there's no doubt that the haters failed to erase it out of our history. As a matter of fact, some disco musics are still being played and danced today.
@Funk O'Matic Their ancestors
@Funk O'Matic nice stereotyping
disco became house music. It's still a big thing, but just not the same aesthetic
She passed away just last year.
That house is in the Mid Century Modern book. Before it was cluttered.
Did it survive the Hollywood Hills fires?
@@markfryer9880
I dont think its in the hills, could be wrong. There are several videos on RUclips about the house. Search her name and "Willis Wonderland".
Mark Fryer - as she said, it’s in the San Fernando Valley; so, not in the Hollywood Hills, fortunately.
Detroit 💗 Rest in Peace 🕊️
R.I.P.
She’s right about Disco. the best!
RIP Allee Willis 🙏🙏
2:44 So you're sayin Boogie Wonderland is the 70s Hakuna Matata?
so what's the story behind this song?
This is a guy, right?
I love Disco myself.
No, just an old Jewish woman.
@Michael L ....actually, that was from Aliens...jokingly, to an obvious female
"Disco's the best music ever....fight me on this"
Shes right, Disco was the first to bring all races together socially. But, Hip Hop is a movement it brought the world together...
Fascinating story of the origins of the song, great stuff.....
"I use to work with James Brown" What? They made a whole movie about James Brown and never mentioned her once. Why? That's unfair.
Disco rules