"Ooh La La" is a song by English

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

duo

Goldfrapp Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo from London, formed in 1999. The duo consists of Alison Goldfrapp (vocals, synthesiser) and Will Gregory (synthesiser). Despite favourable reviews and a short-listing for the Mercury Prize, their ...

from their third studio album, '' Supernature'' (2005). Written and produced by

Alison Goldfrapp Alison Elizabeth Margaret Goldfrapp (born 13 May 1966) is an English musician and record producer, known as the vocalist of English electronic music duo Goldfrapp. Early life Goldfrapp was born on 13 May 1966, in Enfield, London, the youngest o ...

and

Will Gregory William Owen Gregory (born 17 September 1959) is an English musician and record producer. He is best known as the lead keyboardist, producer, and composer of the electronic music duo Goldfrapp. Early life Gregory was born in Bristol, the son ...

, the song consists largely of a synthesiser and guitar arrangement, and has been described as "a dirty, decadent homage to

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

".van den Boogert, Kate
"Ooh La La!"
GoGo - Paris in English. 6 July 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2008. It features a sample from the 1969 song "

Spirit in the Sky "Spirit in the Sky" is a song by American singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum, originally written and recorded by Greenbaum and released in late 1969 from the album of the same name. The single became a gold record, selling two million copies f ...

" by

Norman Greenbaum Norman Joel Greenbaum (born November 20, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter. He is primarily known for his 1969 song "Spirit in the Sky". Early life Greenbaum was born in Malden, Massachusetts. He was raised in an Orthodox Jewish household ...

.NME News Desk

'Spirit In The Sky' songwriter Norman Greenbaum critically injured in car crash. 30 March 2015. The song was released as the album's lead single in August 2005 to positive reviews from music critics. It was a commercial success, reaching the top 40 on the majority of the charts it appeared, and topped the United States dance chart. The song has been remixed a number of times and was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording, Best Dance Recording at the

49th Grammy Awards The 49th Annual Grammy Awards was a ceremony honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2005 and ending September 30, 2006 in the United States. The awards were handed out on Sunday, February 11, 2007 at the Staples Ce ...

in 2007."2007 Grammy Award Nominations"
.

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. Retrieved 15 July 2007.

Background and writing

Goldfrapp began work on "Ooh La La" in late 2004 in a small rented house in the countryside of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, England."Goldfrapp Unleash ''Supernature''"
''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''. 7 March 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2007. The song was composed as a collaborative effort between

and

while jamming in the recording studio, bouncing song ideas off each other.Gallant, Michael
"Retro Disco Ooh La La"
''

Keyboard Magazine ''Keyboard'' is a magazine that originally covered electronic keyboard instruments and keyboardists, though with the advent of computer-based recording and audio technology, they have added digital music technology to their regular coverage, inc ...

'', volume 32, issue 2. February 2006. Retrieved 27 January 2010. Goldfrapp contributed the song's

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

, and has described the song as being "sulky, sexual and a bit ambiguous"."Goldfrapp - Ooh La La"
.

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

. Retrieved 15 July 2007. In "Ooh La La", she confesses to wanting only a sexual relationship without romance. "Ooh La La" was Goldfrapp's first song to feature the

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

, an instrument that they had avoided due to its overly recognisable rhythm. When they recorded the song, Gregory played the

keyboard bass Keyboard bass (shortened to keybass and sometimes referred as a synth-bass) is the use of a smaller, low-pitched keyboard with fewer notes than a regular keyboard or pedal keyboard to substitute for the deep notes of a bass guitar or double bass ...

as Goldfrapp sang. Her microphone picked up the "clattering" of Gregory's pressing the keys, which they added to the chorus; Gregory described the sound as "like horses galloping". The song is written in the common verse-chorus form and features additional instrumentation from

synthesiser A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

s and a

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

.''Supernature'' (CD liner notes).

. August 2005. The song has been compared to

's 1969 song "

Juana Molina Juana Rosario Molina (; born 1 October 1961) is an Argentine singer, songwriter and actress, based in Buenos Aires. She is known for her distinctive sound, considered an exponent of folktronica, although it has also been described as ambient, exp ...

's 2003 song "Sonamos" and

Rachel Stevens Rachel Lauren Stevens (born 9 April 1978) is an English singer, television personality, actress and businesswoman. She was a member of the pop group S Club 7 between 1999 and 2003. She released her solo debut studio album ''Funky Dory'' in Sep ...

' 2004 song "

Some Girls ''Some Girls'' is the 14th UK and 16th US album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 9 June 1978 by Rolling Stones Records. It was recorded in sessions held between October 1977 and February 1978 at Pathé Marconi Studios in ...

" (itself heavily influenced by Goldfrapp's own "

Strict Machine "Strict Machine" is an electronic dance song written by British electronic music duo Goldfrapp and Nick Batt for Goldfrapp's second studio album, ''Black Cherry (Goldfrapp album), Black Cherry'' (2003). It was produced by Goldfrapp and describes ...

"). Gregory noted that comparisons to Greenbaum were made when the duo released the song "

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

" in 2003, adding that the two tracks share the same glam swing. Goldfrapp rejected comparisons to Stevens, stating that "Some Girls" was "very bland".

Critical reception

"Ooh La La" received positive reviews from music critics. MusicOMH.com reviewer Michael Hubbard described the song as "sensational", writing that "Ooh La La" "will spawn a million remixes, and deservedly so". Heather Phares of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

named "Ooh La La" as the best song from ''Supernature''. Jessica Suarez of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' magazine compared "Ooh La La" with ''Black Cherrys "

", saying that the song sounds "so simplistic that tsminimalist repetition occasionally teeters over into redundancy".

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

also compared the two songs, but wrote that the "gimmick remains something they do incredibly well, and when the chorus kicks in, Alison lala-ing away, it's impossible not to give in". ''

'' magazine included the song in its list of the top hundred songs of 2006, ranking it at number ten. At the

2007 Grammy Awards The 49th Annual Grammy Awards was a ceremony honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2005 and ending September 30, 2006 in the United States. The awards were handed out on Sunday, February 11, 2007 at the Staples Ce ...

, the song was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording, Best Dance Recording, losing out to

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

's "

SexyBack "SexyBack" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake for his second studio album, ''FutureSex/LoveSounds'' (2006). It was released on July 18, 2006, to US mainstream and rhythmic radio stationsRadio single releases . FMQ ...

Release and commercial performance

"Ooh La La" was chosen as the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

"because it was up and in your face and it carried on the theme of the glammy, discoey beat from the last album". The song was released on various formats throughout the world. While most territories received a CD and

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...

release, in the UK the single was additionally released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and limited edition

12" vinyl The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

. Ooh La La"">"Release locator > Ooh La La"
.

. Retrieved 2 December 2008. The DVD single included the music video for "Ooh La La" and a short documentary titled "Little Pictures". "Ooh La La" entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 14 August 2005 at number 4, remaining on the chart for 13 weeks. It finished as the 91st best-selling single of 2005 in the United Kingdom. Elsewhere, the single reached number one in Spain, number 16 in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and number 36 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. In North America, "Ooh La La" was released as the album's second single in February 2006. In the United States, the song became Goldfrapp's third consecutive release to reach the top of the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart. The song also reached number three on the

Hot Dance Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. History The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic d ...

chart.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Ooh La La" was directed by

Dawn Shadforth Dawn Shadforth is a British director of music videos, TV, and film and a visual artist. She was originally a fine artist making work with objects, light, video and sound. She won the Whitworth Young Contemporaries Award for the installation "Swe ...

. Inspired by "glam rock '70s TV", the video features Goldfrapp and a backing band (not portrayed by her regular live musicians) performing in a large green room. Scenes of Alison Goldfrapp riding on a digital sparkling horse are intercut toward the end of the video. Alison Goldfrapp has described the video as "harking back to

Eno Eno may refer to: Music * English National Opera, London * ''Eno'', an album by Japanese band Polysics * "Eno", a song by X-Wife from '' Rockin' Rio EP'' Organisations and businesses * Eno (company), a Chinese clothing and accessories busine ...

-era

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

and old

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

". The complete version of "Ooh La La" featured in the music video has been released commercially through

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

s and digital downloads, and some include remixes by

Benny Benassi Marco "Benny" Benassi (; born 13 July 1967) is an Italian DJ, record producer and remixer. He is widely seen as a pioneer of electro house, a genre brought into the mainstream by his 2002 summer club hit " Satisfaction". He started his career ...

Tiefschwarz Tiefschwarz () are a German house group consisting of brothers, Alexander "Ali" (June 7, 1967-) and Sebastian "Basti" (December 28, 1969-) Schwarz, which formed in Stuttgart in 1996.IMO Records"Tiefschwarz Biography", ''IMO Records''. Retrieved ...

, and Andy Bell.

Track listings

* CD single 1 (UK) # "Ooh La La" (Single Version) – 3:00 # "All Night Operator (Part 1)" – 4:00 * CD single 2 (UK) # "Ooh La La" (

Remix) (Extended) – 6:53 # "Ooh La La" (

Phones A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into ele ...

Re-Edit) – 6:31 # "Ooh La La" (

Dub) – 6:39 * DVD single (UK) # "Ooh La La" (Video) – 3:20 # "Ooh La La" (Little Pictures) – 2:43 # "Ooh La La" (When Andy Bell Met

Manhattan Clique Manhattan Clique is a group composed of producers, remixers and songwriters Philip Larsen and Chris Smith, also known as "MHC". Their successes have been reflected in the ''Music Week'' Club and Pop charts in the UK, plus the Billboard dance chart ...

Mix) (Audio) – 6:20 * 12-inch single 1 (UK) # "Ooh La La" (Original Extended Mix) – 5:12 # "Ooh La La" (Phones Re-Edit) – 6:29 * 12-inch single 2 (UK) # "Ooh La La" (Benny Benassi Remix) (Extended) – 6:50 # "Ooh La La" (Benny Benassi Dub) – 6:28 # "Ooh La La" (Tiefschwarz Dub) – 6:36 * Digital single # "Ooh La La" (Single Version) – 2:57 # "All Night Operator (Pt. 1)" – 3:59 # "Ooh La La" (Extended Mix) – 5:14 # "Ooh La La" (Benny Benassi Remix) (Extended) – 6:52 # "Ooh La La" (Benny Benassi Dub) – 6:30 # "Ooh La La" (Phones Re-edit) – 6:31 # "Ooh La La" (Tiefschwarz Dub) – 6:38 # "Ooh La La" (When Andy Bell Met Manhattan Clique Remix) – 6:20 # "Ooh La La" (

Peter Rauhofer Peter Rauhofer (29 April 1965 – 7 May 2013) was an Austrian-American disc jockey (DJ), remixer and producer who formerly worked under the moniker Club 69 as well as Size Queen. A native of Vienna, Austria, he was famous for a variety of his re ...

Reconstruction Mix) – 9:13

Personnel

The following people contributed to "Ooh La La": *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

* Nick Batt – synthesizer, programming * Will Gregory – synthesizer *

Adrian Utley Adrian Francis Utley (born 27 April 1957) is an English musician and producer, and a member of the band Portishead.Jurek, ThomAdrian Utley Biography, Allmusic. Retrieved 31 December 2016 Career Born in Northampton,Mejia, Paula (2015)In Search ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Charlie Jones Charles, Charlie, Charley or Chuck Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Chuck Jones (1912–2002), American animator, director, and producer * Charles Jones (c. 1889–1942), American actor better known as Buck Jones * Charles Jones (pho ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran ...

– mixing * Ted Jensen – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Goldfrapp.com
{{Authority control 2005 singles Goldfrapp songs Number-one singles in Spain Songs written by Alison Goldfrapp Songs written by Will Gregory Mute Records singles Synth-pop songs