Where's Your Head At

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"Where's Your Head At"
Basement Jaxx Where's Your Head At.png
Single by Basement Jaxx
from the album Rooty
Released26 November 2001 (2001-11-26)
Length
  • 4:43 (album version)
  • 3:57 (single edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx singles chronology
"Jus 1 Kiss"
(2001) 		"Where's Your Head At"
(2001) 		"Get Me Off"
(2002)

"Where's Your Head At" is a song by British electronic music duo Basement Jaxx. It was released as the third single from their second album, Rooty, on 19 November 2001. The song is based on samples from Gary Numan's songs "M.E." and "This Wreckage". The song peaked at number nine in Canada and the United Kingdom, number 16 in Australia, and number 39 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, the band's only charting single on a non-dance music chart in the United States.

The song ranked at number 83 in Pitchfork Media's list of the Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s.[1]

Music video[]

The music video, directed by Traktor,[2] starts out with a man (played by Damien Samuels) entering an undisclosed location ("the armpit of nowhere" as he calls it) to meet up with a man who claims to have "the latest thing in pop music". Meanwhile, an unconscious guitarist is shown being wheeled away in a hospital gurney, with the song starting when he lifts his head.

The man then meets up with a scientist (played by Czech actor Petr Janiš), who then shows him his idea – monkeys playing music – with the help of several props. The protagonist seems unconvinced by the presentation. The laboratory secretary then suggests that the scientist should demonstrate the idea instead. He is then led into another room and sat behind a protective screen, with a view of a chamber containing instruments and DJing equipment. Three monkeys are brought into the chamber and start to play the instruments – it's revealed that their faces are actually those of humans (two of the monkeys have the faces of band members Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe). After playing for a while, another monkey appears and all the monkeys suddenly start destroying the equipment, a behavior which inexplicably carries over into the scientist observing the performance. The group of monkeys then surround the main character, who promptly flees.

During his escape, the protagonist stumbles upon a room containing a monkey and an unconscious human both hooked up to a machine. The monkey's face then becomes more human in appearance. The protagonist, now horrified, sees a diagram on the wall showcasing pictures of a human brain pointing towards several monkey brains. It turns out the "latest thing in pop music" is actually an experiment where musicians' brains are being transferred to monkeys, and he's planned to be the next victim. The video ends with him escaping down a laundry chute to a room with men who have monkey-like faces, only to be cornered by the scientist and a dog, who also has the face of the scientist.

The video won two awards at the 11th Annual Music Video Production Awards for Best Electronica Video and Best Directorial Debut.[3] Pitchfork Media ranked the video at number 24 in their list of The Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s.[4]

Remixes[]

In 2011, DJ Chuckie created a mashup of the song with Cold Blank's remix of "Cal State Anthem" and played it at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, as well as several other festivals and events around the world.[5]

In 2021, Drum and bass producer and DJ 1991 released a remix of the song.

Track listing[]

  1. "Where's Your Head At"
  2. "Where's Your Head At (Stanton Warriors Mix)"
  3. "Romeo (Acoustic Mix)"

Charts[]

Chart (2001–2002) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[6] 16
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7] 44
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[8] 8
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[9] 9
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[10] 44
Ireland (IRMA)[11] 19
Ireland Dance (IRMA)[12] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 63
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 38
Scotland (OCC)[15] 14
UK Singles (OCC)[16] 9
UK Dance (OCC)[17] 3
UK Indie (OCC)[18] 2
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[19] 39
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[20] 3
US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[21] 2

Certifications and sales[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[22] Silver 200,000double-dagger

double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history[]

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States 29 October 2001 (2001-10-29) Alternative radio Astralwerks [23]
Australia 19 November 2001 (2001-11-19) CD
[24]
United Kingdom 26 November 2001 (2001-11-26)
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • DVD
 XL [25]

References[]

  1. ^ http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7691-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-100-51/2/
  2. ^ "Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At ( Official Video ) Rooty". Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  3. ^ Basement Jaxx at AstralWerks Archived 22 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7695-the-top-50-music-videos-of-the-2000s/3/
  5. ^ "DJ Chuckie Set at Electric Daisy Carnival". IENLIVE. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Australian-charts.com – Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  7. ^ "Ultratop.be – Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  8. ^ "Ultratop.be – Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At" (in French). Ultratip.
  9. ^ "Basement Jaxx Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 19 no. 51. 15 December 2001. p. 11. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  11. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Where's Your Head At". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Top 10 Dance Singles, Week Ending 29 November 2001". GfK Chart-Track. Retrieved 2 June 2019.[dead link]
  13. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  14. ^ "Charts.nz – Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At". Top 40 Singles.
  15. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  16. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  17. ^ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  18. ^ "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  19. ^ "Basement Jaxx Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  20. ^ "Basement Jaxx Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  21. ^ "Basement Jaxx Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  22. ^ "British single certifications – Basement Jaxx – Where's Your Head At". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  23. ^ "Alternative: Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1425. 26 October 2001. p. 99. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  24. ^ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 19 Nov 2001" (PDF). ARIA. 19 November 2001. p. 24. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  25. ^ "New Releases – For Week Starting November 26, 2001: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 24 November 2001. p. 31. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
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