THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

462-Earth, Wind & Fire with the Emotions-Boogie Wonderland.

1979-Number 4 single.

Best Bit-At 1.38. What do all these song titles have in common?
‘Oogie Oogie,’ ‘Reggae Woman,’ ‘Get Up and,’ ‘Jungle,’ ‘I Love To,’ ‘Blame It On the,’ ‘Yes Sir I Can,’- Yes, of course, you can ‘Boogie’ to them all.

Earth, Wind & Fire (see also best songs 916) were formed in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in 1969, by Maurice White, (1941-2016) (see also best songs 916 and 525) at the time of writing they remain active with 10 current members, in total 35 musicians have been band members since their incarnation. Maurice White chose the groups name from his own astrological sign, ‘Sagittarius,’ which has a primary elemental quality of fire, and seasonal qualities of earth and air, according to classical triplicities. Sagittarius in the northern hemisphere occurs in the autumn, whose element is earth, and in the southern hemisphere, it is spring, whose element is air. Hence the omission of water, the fourth classical element.

With sales in excess of 90 million records sold worldwide, Earth, Wind & Fire are one of the best selling acts of all time. Their discography includes 21 studio Albums released between 1971-2014, and 62 singles released between 1971-2021, there are also 17 official compilation Albums, and four live Albums available. On the American Billboard 200 Album chart, 14 of their Albums have reached the top 40, with ‘That’s the Way of the World’ making the Number 1 spot in 1975. On the Billboard Hot 100, 16 of their singles have made the top 40, with ‘Shining Star’ peaking the highest at Number 1 in 1975, while ‘Boogie Wonderland’ reached Number 6. In the UK, Earth, Wind & Fire have had 11 top 40 entries, with ‘September,’ (1978) and ‘Let’s Groove,’ (1981) both peaking the highest at Number 3.

‘Boogie Wonderland’ was the first of five singles released from Earth, Wind & Fire’s ninth studio Album ‘I Am,’ from June 1979, the song was co-written by Allee Willis, (1947-2019) (see also best songs 916) and Jon Lind, (1948-2022) with the production being by Maurice White, and Al McKay. Other notable works by Allee Willis include winning two ‘Grammy Awards’ for the soundtracks to the films ‘Beverley Hills Cops,’ (1984) and ‘The Color Purple’ (1985.) Jon Gus Lind was born on April 14th, 1948, in Brooklyn, New York, United States, he died from cancer on January 15th, 2022, at the age of 73. Other notable songs written by Jon Lind include co-writing two Billboard Number 1 singles, the 1985 chart topper by Madonna, ‘Crazy For You,’ and the 1989 Number 1 song ‘Save the Best For Last,’ performed by Vanessa Williams.

For ‘Boogie Wonderland’ Earth, Wind & Fire teamed up with their fellow ‘Columbia’ records label mates the Emotions, who are a ‘Gospel,’ ‘R&B,’ ‘Soul,’ ‘Disco,’ and ‘Pop’ all girl group. The Emotions were formed in 1962, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, starting out as the ‘Hutchinson Sunbeams,’ as a ‘Gospel’ singing group, made up of the sisters Wanda, Jeanette, and Sheila, and joined later by their younger sibling Pamela Hutchinson, (1959-2020) there have also been two other past non family members, and at the time of writing Wanda and Sheila continue to perform as the Emotions. By the late 1960’s they had transitioned into a ‘R&B/Soul’ act, signing to ‘Stax’ records, and being produced by Isaac Hayes, (1942-2008) (see also best songs 530-398 and 1) and David Porter (see also best songs 530.) In 1975 the Emotions signed with ‘Columbia’ records, where they first began to work with Maurice White, who would go on to produce their four Albums on Columbia between 1976-1979, as well as co-writing and co-producing their 1977 Billboard Hot 100 Number 1 single ‘Best of My Love.’ The Emotions who are considered to be one of the most influential ‘girl groups’ of all time, have released nine studio Albums between 1969-1985, and 45 singles between 1964-2003, there are also six official compilation Albums available. In America on Billboard, they have had three top 40 hit singles with ‘Best of My Love,’ reaching Number 1 in 1977, while in the UK they have charted twice with ”Best of My Love’ peaking the highest at Number 4.

‘Boogie Wonderland’ was inspired after Ailee Willis had watched the 1977 film ‘Looking for Mr Goodbar,’ which stars Diane Keaton as a lost soul who goes to clubs every night to dance away her misery. Willis explained, ‘When I saw Mr Goodbar I got kind of fascinated with people who did go to clubs every night, whose life was kind of falling apart, but they lived for the night life, though it didn’t seem to be advancing them as humans in the end. So if you really look at the lyrics of Boogie Wonderland, unlike ‘September,’ (a song she also co-wrote) it’s not a happy song at all. It’s really about someone on the brink of self destruction who goes to clubs to try and find more, but is at least aware of the fact that if there’s something like true love, that is something that could kind of drag them out of the abyss.’

‘Sounds fly through the night, I change my vinyl dreams to boogie wonderland, I find romance when I start to dance in boogie wonderland.’