Today’s classic song of the day is that funky little dance track, “Boogie Wonderland,” released in April of 1979. Performed by Earth, Wind & Fire along with the female vocal trio the Emotions, this single peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 on the Cash Box Top 100, #2 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart, and #14 on Billboard’s Disco chart.
“Boogie Wonderland” was written by Allee Willis and Jon Lind and produced by EW&F’s Maurice White and Al McKay. Willis was a successful songwriter who co-wrote EW&F’s “September” and “What Have You Done to Deserve This?” for the Pet Shop Boys (featuring Dusty Springfield); she also won two Grammy Awards for her contribution to the movies Beverly Hills Cop and The Color Purple, and was nominated for an Emmy for co-writing “I’ll Be There for You,” the theme for the hit television show, Friends. Jon Lind was also a successful songwriter, co-writing “Crazy for You” for Madonna, “Skin Deep” for Cher, and “Save the Best for Last” for Vanessa Williams.
The song “Boogie Wonderland” is all about partying on the dance floor—sort of. The lyrics are actually inspired by the the 1977 film Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and dwell more on people’s boring lives outside the parties and the discos. As Allee Willis explained:
“They go out to a club every night to forget themselves. So maybe the state of mind that they could be in was… kind of like a ‘boogie wonderland.’”
In short, “Boogie Wonderland” is really what some call a “sad banger”—a song with upbeat music covering up devastatingly sad lyrics.
All that said, “Boogie Wonderland” is one hell of a dance track. You can’t help but get up and dance to the driving beat and the Emotions’ vocals do a good job complementing EW&F’s horns and rhythm section. The groove is relentless.
One might ask, why the Emotions? Well, Maurice White was more or less the Svengali behind that group, writing and producing their 1977 album Rejoice and their biggest single hit, “Best of My Love.” He’d wanted to work with the young ladies since hearing them several years prior, and he got his chance when they left Stax Records in 1975, when the label went belly up, and moved to Columbia Records. Having the Emotions collaborate with his group, Earth, Wind & Fire, was a natural thing.
Which brings us to today’s daily bonus video of the day, the official music video for “Boogie Wonderland.” Try not to get up and dance, I dare you.
