"Vous êtes fous !" ( "You're Crazy!") is the debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by Belgian hip-hop act

Benny B Benny B (real name Abdel Hamid Gharbaoui, born 11 December 1968 in City of Brussels, Brussels) is a Belgian artist.

, with DJ Daddy K also credited on the single's cover. Released in May 1990, the song is from Benny B's first album, ''L'Album''. It became a summer hit in France and Belgium (Wallonia), where it was a top three hit.

Background and writing

No producer thought that Benny B could release a hit, except Olivier Verhaeghe, the director of the studio Vie Privée, which had "the audacity to believe in Benny B...". He convinced them to change their "too aggressive rhythm, "hip hop" as we call in the United States" for a

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

sound easier to be aired on radio and in

discothèque A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and a ...

s. At the time, they believed that they would not be able to sell more than 5,000 or 6,000 discs. The song was written and the music composed by Vito Lucente, Alain Deproost, Amid Gharbaoui and R. Quyssens. Several words ("Et qui l'accompagne ?", "Mais vous êtes fous !", "Oh oui !") are sampled from an episode of ''

Captain Future Captain Future is a Pulp magazine, pulp science fiction hero – a space-traveling scientist and adventurer – originally published in the United States in Captain Future (magazine), his namesake pulp magazine from 1940 to 1944. The character w ...

'', "The Adventures of Captain Future", released as a single in 1981. The introduction uses a

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

from the 1972 song, "Son of Shaft", recorded by

The Bar-Kays The Bar-Kays is an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including " Soul Finger" (US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, R&B number 3) in 1967, "Son of Shaft" (R&B number 10) in ...

. "Vous êtes fous!" was the first hip-hop hit in France, succeeded by the following singles of Benny B and those of

MC Solaar Claude Honoré M'Barali (; born 5 March 1969), professionally known as MC Solaar (), is a French rapping, rapper of Senegalese people, Senegalese and Chadian people, Chadian origin. He is one of France's most famous and influential hip hop musi ...

, particularly "

Bouge de là "Bouge de là" (French, meaning: "move from there" or "get out of here", also translated as "take a hike") is the debut single by MC Solaar. It samples "The Message" by Cymande, a band formed in London in the early 1970s. This was the first single ...

", from 1991. It was also recorded in

Spanish-language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

, under the title "Estáis locos!". This version features as tenth track on ''L'Album''. Several remixes, produced by R. Cue, Vito Lucente and DJ Daddy K, were available on the various formats. There were also a cover version by Suzy D (Suzy Naguy), a female

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

of Benny B. This version was released under the title "Mais vous êtes sottes! (zot)" with New Belgian Sound label and has different lyrics; however, it remains much more confidential than Benny B's version.

Chart performances and awards

In France, "Vous êtes fous !" debuted at number 42 on the chart edition of 26 May 1990, gained a few positions every week and reached the top ten in the sixth week, and peaked at number three in its 20th week. It remained for 18 consecutive weeks in the top ten, then dropped slowly, and totalled 29 weeks in top 50. On the

European Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, it entered the chart at number 95 on 23 June 1990, reached a peak of number 17 in its 18th week and dropped off the chart after 24 weeks of presence. The same year, the single was certified

Gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...

for 500,000 units.. ''Select "Benny B & DJ Daddy K" from the drop-down menu and click "OK"''. Similarly, in Belgium, the group received a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

, on 22 September 1990, in the basement of the Galeries Louise for having sold more than 50,000 discs.

Track listings

* 7" single, 7" single Belgium (Benny B feat. Daddy K – "Vous êtes fous !") (accessdate: 3 September 2021)., 7" single France (Benny B feat. Daddy K – "Vous êtes fous !") (accessdate: 3 September 2021). # "Vous êtes fous !" (techno version) - 3:12 # "Vous êtes fous !" (hip hop mix) - 3:08 * 12" maxi, 12" maxi Belgium (Benny B feat. Daddy K – "Vous êtes fous !") (accessdate: 3 September 2021)., 12" maxi France (Benny B feat. Daddy K – "Vous êtes fous !") (accessdate: 3 September 2021). # "Vous êtes fous !" (techno version) - 4:48 # "Vous êtes fous !" (hip hop mix) - 3:08 # "Vous êtes fous !" (radio edit) - 3:00 # "Vous êtes fous !" (a cappella) - 1:24 # "Vous êtes fous !" (wild mix) - 4:48 * CD maxi, CD maxi Belgium (Benny B feat. Daddy K – "Vous êtes fous !") (accessdate: 3 September 2021)., CD maxi France (Benny B feat. Daddy K – "Vous êtes fous !") (accessdate: 3 September 2021). # "Vous êtes fous !" (techno version) - 4:48 # "Vous êtes fous !" (hip hop mix) - 3:08 # "Vous êtes fous !" (radio edit) - 3:00 # "Vous êtes fous !" (a cappella) - 1:24 # "Vous êtes fous !" (wild mix) - 4:48 * 12" maxi - Remixes, 12" maxi remixes Belgium (Benny B feat. Daddy K – "Vous êtes fous !") (accessdate: 3 September 2021)., 12" maxi remixes France (Benny B feat. Daddy K – "Vous êtes fous !") (accessdate: 3 September 2021). # "Vous êtes fous !" (dance remix) - 5:03 # "Vous êtes fous !" (a cappella) - 1:24 # "Vous êtes fous !" (Vito mix) - 4:41 # "Vous êtes fous !" (Daddy K hip hop remix) - 3:59 * CD maxi - Remixes, CD maxi remixes France (Benny B feat. Daddy K – "Vous êtes fous !") (accessdate: 3 September 2021). # "Vous êtes fous !" (Vito mix) - 4:41 # "Vous êtes fous !" (Daddy K hip hop remix) - 3:59 # "Vous êtes fous !" (dance remix) - 5:03 # "Vous êtes fous !" (a cappella) - 1:24 * Promo 12" maxi - Spain, 12" maxi promo Spain (Benny B feat. Daddy K – "Vous êtes fous !") (accessdate: 3 September 2021). # "Vous êtes fous !" (Vito mix) - 4:45 # "Vous êtes fous !" (techno version) - 4:48 # "Vous êtes fous !" (R. Cue mix) - 5:03 # "Vous êtes fous !" (a cappella) - 1:22 # "Vous êtes fous !" (Daddy K mix) - 4:01 # "Vous êtes fous !" (a cappella) - 1:24

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

"Vous êtes fous!", sur bide-et-musique
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vous Etes Fous ! 1990 songs 1990 debut singles Benny B songs