"Boogie Wonderland" is a 1979 hit single by Earth, Wind & Fire

Earth, Wind & Fire

Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...

 featuring The Emotions

The Emotions

The Emotions are an American all female soul and R&B singing group. The group was formed in its current hometown of Chicago, Illinois originally consisting of the three Hutchinson sisters, all the children of Joseph and Lillian Hutchinson....

. Boogie Wonderland was written by Allee Willis

Allee Willis

Allee Willis is an American songwriter, artist, set designer, multimedia artist, writer, collector and director.-Overview:...

 and Jon Lind

Jon Lind

Jon Lind is an American songwriter and performer.- Biography :Jon Lind was raised in New York City. He studied classical guitar at the Mannes College of Music. His first break was in the 1970s where he worked with Bob Cavallo. At this period he met Maurice White who recorded two of his songs. He...

, and included on the album I Am

I Am (Earth, Wind & Fire album)

I Am is the ninth studio album by the R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in 1979 on Columbia Records. The album features the singles "Boogie Wonderland" with The Emotions and "After the Love Has Gone". Also recorded in the I Am sessions were "September" and "Love Music" which were both included...

. It is regarded as a classic of the disco age and peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Reception

"Boogie Wonderland", written for the lead singer of Earth, Wind, & Fire's cousins, was very successful commercially, selling over a million copies and being certified gold (up until the RIAA lowered the sales levels for certified singles in 1989, "gold" equaled 1 million units sold).

Covers

"Boogie Wonderland" was the basis for the big beat

Big beat

Big beat is a term employed since the mid-1990s by the British music press to describe much of the music by artists such as The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, and Propellerheads typically driven by heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns in...

 dance song "I'm Alive" by Stretch & Vern Present "Maddog"; the song reached #6 in the UK in September 1996.

The rock band Girls Against Boys

Girls Against Boys

Girls Against Boys are an indie rock/post-hardcore band, originally forming in Washington, D.C. in 1988 and currently based in New York City.-Career:...

 covered the song for the 1999 movie 200 Cigarettes

200 Cigarettes

200 Cigarettes is a 1999 comedy-drama film starring Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Dave Chappelle, Guillermo Díaz, Angela Featherstone, Janeane Garofalo, Gaby Hoffman, Kate Hudson, Courtney Love, Jay Mohr, Martha Plimpton, Christina Ricci and Paul Rudd. The film also features paintings by Sally...

.

A rendition of the song was featured on the reality television

Reality television

Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...

 competition series American Idol

American Idol

American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

, during the closing minutes of the April 2, 2003 episode. It was performed by the Top 8 finalists from Season 2

American Idol (Season 2)

The second season of American Idol premiered on January 21, 2003 and continued until May 21, 2003. The title of show was shortened from American Idol: The Search for a Superstar of Season 1 to just American Idol. Brian Dunkleman quit after the first season, and Seacrest therefore became the lone...

: Ruben Studdard

Ruben Studdard

Christopher Theodore Ruben Studdard , best known as Ruben Studdard, is an American R&B, pop, and gospel singer. He rose to fame as winner of the second season of American Idol...

, Clay Aiken

Clay Aiken

Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and author who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released...

, Kimberley Locke

Kimberley Locke

Kimberley Dawn Locke is an American singer-songwriter and model. She has recorded in the dance, pop and adult contemporary music genres....

, Josh Gracin

Josh Gracin

Joshua Mario "Josh" Gracin is a country music singer. A former member of the United States Marine Corps, he first gained public attention as the fourth-place finalist on the second season of the Fox Networks talent competition American Idol.After his elimination from the show, Gracin completed his...

, Trenyce

Trenyce

Lashundra Trenyce Cobbins , known professionally as Trenyce, is an American singer and was a finalist for the second season of American Idol in 2003, finishing in fifth place.- Biography:...

, Carmen Rasmusen

Carmen Rasmusen

Carmen Rasmusen is a Canadian-American country music artist who ranked sixth on the second season of American Idol in 2003. Rasmusen also plays piano and guitar.-Early life:...

, Kimberly Caldwell

Kimberly Caldwell

Kimberly Ann Caldwell is an American singer, actress, and television hostess, from Katy, Texas who was the seventh place finalist on the second season of American Idol. She used to work as an entertainment correspondent and hosted various shows on the TV Guide Network...

 and Rickey Smith

Rickey Smith

Rickey Smith is an Irish former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s who at representative level has played for Ireland, and at club level for Bangor Vikings.-International honours:...

.

It was covered by Brittany Murphy

Brittany Murphy

Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack , known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress and singer. She starred in films such as Clueless, Just Married, Girl Interrupted, Spun, 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and Riding in Cars with Boys...

 for the soundtrack

Happy Feet: Music from the Motion Picture

Happy Feet is the lyrical soundtrack album from the 2006 animated film, Happy Feet. As of March 2007, the OST has sold over 272,627 copies in the US.-Track listings:# "Song of the Heart"#:Written and performed by Prince...

to the 2006 movie Happy Feet

Happy Feet

Happy Feet is a 2006 American-Australian computer-animated family film with music, directed and co-written by George Miller. It was produced at Sydney-based visual effects and animation studio Animal Logic for Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures and Kingdom Feature Productions and was released...

.

Appearances in other media

"Boogie Wonderland" has been featured in the films "Roller Boogie

Roller Boogie

Roller Boogie is a United Artists film starring Linda Blair and introducing Jim Bray The film also stars Beverly Garland, Mark Goddard, and Kimberly Beck, and is directed by Mark L...

", Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure

Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure

Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure is the first Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy television movie, the second one being Billy & Mandy: Wrath of the Spider Queen. It was also released on DVD. It premiered on March 30, 2007, even though it premiered in the UK first on February 14, 2007.-Plot:Grim...

, Madagascar

Madagascar (2005 film)

Madagascar is a 2005 computer-animated film produced by DreamWorks Animation, and released in movie theaters on May 27, 2005. The film tells the story of four Central Park Zoo animals who have spent their lives in blissful captivity and are unexpectedly shipped back to Africa, getting shipwrecked...

, Happy Feet

Happy Feet

Happy Feet is a 2006 American-Australian computer-animated family film with music, directed and co-written by George Miller. It was produced at Sydney-based visual effects and animation studio Animal Logic for Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures and Kingdom Feature Productions and was released...

, as previously mentioned, Caddyshack

Caddyshack

Caddyshack is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis, and Douglas Kenney. It stars Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Cindy Morgan, and Bill Murray...

. and The Emperorïs New Groove 2: Kronkïs New Groove.

A remix of the song was also used in the arcade game Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX

Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX

Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix, or 3rdMix, is the 3rd game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released in the arcades by Konami on October 30, 1999. Although only officially released in Japan, units exist worldwide...

, and the original version appeared later in Hottest Party 3

Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3

Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3 is a rhythm-based dancing game for the Nintendo Wii. It is a video game released by Konami in 2010. The game can be played using a dance pad, the classic controller, or the Wii Remote and Nunchuck combination...

. "Boogie Wonderland" has also been made into different variations by the Southern University

Southern University

Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Baton Rouge campus is located on Scott’s Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in the northern section...

 Marching Band, Tennessee State University

Tennessee State University

Tennessee State University is a land-grant university located in Nashville, Tennessee. TSU is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee.-History:...

's Aristocrat of Bands, and the Marching 100

Marching 100

The Marching 100 is the official name of the marching band at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida.-History:The first band at FAMU was organized in 1892, under P.A. Van Weller...

. The song is also used in the Australian play, Priscilla: the Musical

Priscilla Queen of the Desert - the Musical

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a musical with a book by Australian film director-writer Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott, using well-known pop songs as its score...

.

Remixes

• "Boogie Wonderland" (Bimbo Jones
  Bimbo Jones
  Bimbo Jones is a UK dance music group comprising producers Lee Dagger and Marc JB and vocalist Katherine Ellis. Known for their remix work and white label releases, they produced a remix of Meck's 2006 UK number-one single "Thunder in My Heart Again"...
  
   Radio Edit) - 3:08
• "Boogie Wonderland" (Bimbo Jones 12 inch Version) - 7:57

Chart positions

Chart (1979)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	4
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	6
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	2

Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to "Boogie Wonderland" is adapted from AcclaimedMusic.net.

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Gary Mulholland	U.K.	This Is Uncool: The 500 Best Singles Since Punk Rock	2002	*
Dave Marsh Dave Marsh Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...	U.S.	The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made	1989	737
Bruce Pollock	U.S.	The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944-2000	2005	*
Panorama	Norway	The 30 Best Singles of the Year 1970-98	1999	13

(*) designates lists that are unordered.