THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

395-Darude-Sandstorm.

2000-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 5.00. With this song Darude became the first ever artist from Finland to have a top 3 hit in the UK singles chart.

Darude is the stage name of ‘Electronic Dance Music’ producer Toni-Ville Henrik Virtanen, who was born on July 17th, 1975, in Eura, Satakunta, Finland. While being the DJ at a friends party, Virtanen played the 1996 song ‘Rude Boy’ by Leila K several times in a row, this earned him the nickname ‘Rude Boy,’ which eventually morphed into ‘Da Rude,’ and then ‘Darude.’ In order to get his music heard he began releasing demos to radio stations beginning in 1997, and offering his music for download on ‘MP3.com,’ making him one of the forerunners of online file sharing for music promotion.

The discography of Darude includes five studio Albums released between 2000-2023, and 18 singles released between 1999-2019, there are also four extended plays (EP’s) available. Darude has also released a multitude of remixes and productions of other artists work between 2000-2019, including a 2000 remix of ‘Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song’) by the Safri Duo (see also best songs 557.) In Finland, on the ‘Official Finnish Charts’ (Finnish: ‘Suomen virallinen lista,’ which is compiled and published by ‘Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland,’ Darude has had seven top 40 hit singles, with four of those tracks reaching the Number 1 position, with ‘Sandstorm’ peaking at Number 3. In the UK, he has had three top 40 charting singles, ‘Sandstorm,’ (1999-Number 3) it’s follow up ‘Feel the Beat,’ (2000-Number 5) and that ones follow up ‘Out of Control (Back for More,’) (2001-Number 13. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, his only charting single is ‘Sandstorm,’ which stalled at Number 83.

‘Sandstorm’ was the first of three singles released from ‘Before the Storm,’ the debut studio Album by Darude, from September 2000, the song which can be filed under ‘Eurodance,’ and ‘Trance,’ and is an instrumental, was written by Darude, with the production being by Darude, and JS16, which is the stage name of Jaakko Sakari Salovaara, who was born on January 13th, 1975, in Finland. Before starting a long working association with Darude, he was best known for producing the Finnish ‘Hip-Hop’ group ‘Bomfunk MC’s,’ whose best known song produced by ‘JS16’ was the 2000 UK Number 2 single ‘Freestyler.’ His first solo release was the 1991 single ‘Hypnosynthesis,’ at the age of 16, hence the number 16 in his ‘stage’ name, he then went on to form his own record label ’16 Inch Records.’ ‘JS16’ has released one solo studio Album, ‘Stomping System,’ in 1998, and 15 singles, 11 as the lead artist, and a further four as a featured artist, between 1991-2020.

‘Sandstorm’ was initially released in Finland in October 1999, and following it’s success, it was released in many other countries in 2000. The song was written by Darude who chose the instrumentals title because the ‘Roland JP-8080’ synthesizer used in the song displays the text ‘sand storm’ on startup. ‘Sandstorm’ went on to become the biggest selling 12 inch single worldwide in the year 2000, and has since gone on to sell in excess of 1 million copies to date. The song can be filed under the genre of ‘Trance’ music. Trance (see also best songs 510) is a genre of ‘Electronic Dance Music,’ it’s roots can be traced back to the late 1980’s, and would develop in the early 1990’s in Germany, before spreading throughout the rest of Europe. It can be described as a melodic offshoot of ‘Techno,’ and ‘House Music.’ Other genres of music that are often incorporated in Trance include Classical music, and Film music.

It is fair to say that ‘Sandstorm’ has continued to grow in popularity over the years. When initially released in 1999 it spent 17 consecutive weeks at Number 1 on the Finnish ‘Dance Music’ chart, which led to it’s release throughout Europe, and the rest of the world. In March 2010, ‘Sandstorm’ was certified Gold in the United States by the ‘Recording Industry Association of America’ for sales of over 500,000 copies. In January 2020, it was certified Platinum for sales over one million worldwide. On the centenary of Finland’s independence in 2017, celebrations in Helsinki included Darude as one of the main performers with his ‘Sandstorm.’ The song has also gained recognition for its usage in live sporting events worldwide, and popularity in internet ‘meme culture.’