''The Invasion of the Spacepeckers'' is the debut album of the Dutch
Euro disco
Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is a genre of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the middle 1970s, incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco compositions featur ...
/
Italo disco
Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, ...
duo
Video Kids
Video Kids were a Dutch Euro disco duo consisting of Peter Slaghuis (1961–1991, later replaced with René Portegies) and Bianca Bonelli (1964–1995), best known for their single " Woodpeckers from Space". The band's members also had solo care ...
. It was released by Break Records on
vinyl
Vinyl may refer to:
Chemistry
* Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer
* Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation
* Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry
* Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
and
tape in December 1984,
by
Polydor Records
Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...
in 1985, and unofficially by First Town Records on
CD in 1995.
The album also contained a large "Happy Birthday" calendar, in which children could write birthday wishes to their friends.
In 1985, the album was released at the
Midem music festival, and went on to sell 1.1 million copies.
Video Kids received the
RIAA Gold Record Award and
Conamus Export Award for their international success with the album.
Two music videos for "
Woodpeckers from Space" and "Do the Rap" were produced and released, both of which feature
Peter Slaghuis
Peter Slaghuis (; 21 August 1961 – 5 September 1991) was a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer, whose work was mostly released under the name Hithouse (a literal translation of his last name — ''slag'', a hit, a beat; and ''huis'', house).
...
, Bianca Bonelli, and Tico Tac, the band's cartoon mascot.
On 22 April 2014, ''The Invasion of the Spacepeckers'' was released by MiruMir Music Publishing in Russia. The reissued album included the original "Happy Birthday" calendar and ''Tico Tac: Spacepecker'' (a promotional comic strip drawn by Bjørn Frank Jensen), and expanded artwork recreated from the original art by Daniel Maslovsky. Maslovsky was also the producer of the album. He did an interview with
Aart Mol, which was later published on ''Zvuki'' as part of a promotional campaign for the album's release. It also included a comic strip named ''Tico Tac: The Woodpecker from Space''.
The album was reissued again in 2024 on Maslovsky's new label Maschina Records in Estonia, on 2CD with rare tracks and unreleased mixes on 29 January 2024, and on different coloured
LP records
The LP (from long playing or long play) is an analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification ...
on
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
on 2 February 2024 and in March.
Track listing
Official tracks
;Side A
#"Do the Rap" (4:11)
#"Cartooney Tunes" (incl. "Happy Birthday") (4:20)
#"La Bamba" (4:15)
#"I'm a Rock n' Roll Pecker" (2:05)
#"Communication Outerspace" (3:06)
;Side B
#
" Woodpeckers from Space" (5:54)
#"Give Me That Banana" (4:04)
#"Do You Like Surfing?" (3:17)
#"Sky Rider" (3:13)
;Bonus tracks (2024 reissue)
#"Woodpeckers from Space" (1984 7" Version)
# "Rap and Sing-Along" (1984 7" Version)
# "Rap and Sing-Along" (1984 12" Version)
# "Do the Rap" (1985 7" Version)
# "Do the Rap" (1985 12" Version)
# "Happy Birthday" / "Sky Rider" (1985)
# " Pink Panther's Motion" (1986, originally released by Magical Ring Records)
# "The Man From Santiago" (1985, originally released on Question Mark's ''Famous Tunes'' by Boni Records)
;Woodpeckers from Space (remixes '86-'01, 2024 reissue)
#"Woodpeckers from Space" (1986 7" Version) by S. Mortali
# "Woodpeckers from Space" (1986 12" Version) by S. Mortali
# "Woodpeckers from Space" (1989 Video "House" Kids 7" Version) by Lex van Coeverden
# "Woodpeckers from Space" (1989 Video "House" Kids 12" Version) by Lex van Coeverden
# "Woodpeckers from Space" (1994 Radio Version) by Patrick de Schrevel
# "Woodpeckers from Space" (1994 Extended Mix) by Patrick de Schrevel
# "Woodpeckers from Space" (1994 Club Mix Short) by Patrick de Schrevel
# "Woodpeckers from Space" (1994 Club Mix Long) by Patrick de Schrevel
# "Woodpeckers from Space" (1994 Robin Drost Version) by Robin Drost
# "Woodpeckers from Space" (2001 7" Version) by Lex van Coeverden
# "Woodpeckers from Space" (2001 12" Version) by Lex van Coeverden
# "(silence)"
# "(samples)"
Personnel
Musicians
* Aart Mol – bass guitar
Technical
* Aart Mol – producer, writer, remixer (as "Adams & Fleisner" and "T. Acardi")
Artwork
* Dirk Arend – cover illustration, creator of Tico Tac (original release, 2024 reissue, as "Fruut")
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Invasion Of The Spacepeckers, The
1984 debut albums
Video Kids albums