Woodpeckers from Space

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (October 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

"Woodpeckers from Space"
Single by VideoKids
from the album 'The Invasion of the Spacepeckers'
B-side	"Rap and Sing Along"
Released	October 5, 1984
Recorded	1984
Genre	Synthpop, electro, Italo disco, Novelty
Length	3:34
Label	Polydor
Songwriter(s)	A. Adams & Fleisner
Producer(s)	A. Adams & Fleisner
VideoKids singles chronology
"Woodpeckers from Space" (1984) "Do the Rap" (1985)

"Woodpeckers from Space" is a song by the Dutch Euro disco/Italo disco duo VideoKids. The album version of the song features sound effects from the Speak & Spell toy.

Music video[]

The video starred Peter Slaghuis and Bianca Bonelli, the members of the group. They also used the trademark laugh of Woody Woodpecker for Tico, the mascot of the group who sings along. The Extended version also includes samples from the song "Home Computer" by the German group Kraftwerk. Another one of VideoKids' songs called "Satellite" also featured it in the video. The video had two people on a spaceship and the original members of the band. Originally Woody Woodpecker himself was going to be used as the mascot, but Tico was created in order to avoid being sued, also hence why the full version of the laugh is not used.^{[citation needed]}

The video's plot is a bit complicated, but the first starts out with some pilots who are flying a plane-like spaceship but with no spacesuits in a rather blue-looking space background with lots of fog. As they fly, suddenly they notice an animated dwarf man with a space helmet and a drill on his backside with a yellow jumpsuit harassing their "spaceship".

Every now and then we see Tico poking holes onto the ground on some unknown planet while laughing along to the song, and appearing alongside the spaceship singing with Peter, Bianca, the pilots, and the scientists inside who all sing along, and press buttons to the melody.

Eventually they all make it to a point where they land on some white and foggy planet, and they all sing and dance on the planet that Tico has been poking holes through supposedly. He is revealed to be nice, and they all enjoy the rest of the song then for the rest of the video. Tico then eventually flies out of the picture and into space. Leaving everyone to sing and dance as the song fades out.

Tico reappears, and even reusing some cels in the next music video for "Do the Rap" where everything is in much clearer and better form at a party with everyone singing along to a record player playing the song.

Covers[]

The song was covered by the South African outfit Café Society in 1985 and their version held the No. 1 position on the South African Top 20 for 8 weeks. VideoKids never released the song in that country for unknown reasons. According to rumor, it was to show respect for a political situation that was occurring at the time. The song was also covered by the Norwegian bubblegum/trance/dance group SpritneyBears in 2003, and laid in second place on the Norwegian chart, spending 8 weeks on that chart in total.

Most cover versions were not as well-known as the original song.

Charts[]

In popular culture[]

• This song appears in the original version of the Pingu episode "Pingu Looks After the Egg", as well as the pilot episode whose elements were later incorporated into the aforementioned episode. The later soundtrack replaced that with the song replaced by David Hasselhoff's 1993 song "The Pingu Dance".

References[]

This 1980s single–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t