Hey Boy Hey Girl

"Hey Boy Hey Girl" is a song by the British big beat duo The Chemical Brothers. It was released as a single from their 1999 album Surrender. It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart in June 1999 and remained on the chart for 10 weeks. It also reached the top 10 in Finland, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Spain, as well on Canada's RPM Dance Chart. In the latter country, it did not make it onto the RPM Top Singles chart, but it did debut and peak at number three on the Canadian Singles Chart. The Song Contains Samples From Peewee's Dance By Joeski Love from 1986 and The Vocals and Drums From The Roof Is on Fire By Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three from 1984.

For the 1959 film, see Hey Boy! Hey Girl!

"Hey Boy Hey Girl"
Single by The Chemical Brothers
from the album Surrender
B-side
  • "Flashback"
  • "Scale"
Released31 May 1999 (1999-05-31)
Length4:50
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Tom Rowlands
  • Ed Simons
  • Jerry Bloodrock
  • Celite Evans
  • Richard Lee Fowler
  • Charles Pettiford
  • Gregory Carlton Wigfall
Producer(s)The Chemical Brothers
The Chemical Brothers singles chronology
"Only 4 the K People"
(1999)		 "Hey Boy Hey Girl"
(1999)		 "Let Forever Be"
(1999)
Music video
"Hey Boy Hey Girl" on YouTube

The song dates back to 1997, when it was in the Radio 1 Anti-Nazi Mix. The song is a track in the 2011 video game Just Dance 3, and it is also featured in the 2012 video game Lumines Electronic Symphony by Ubisoft. It was also used during the introduction of Forza Horizon.

Critical reception

Daily Record commented, "Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands are back with another fantastic dance single. It's another block rockin' hit."[1] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 50 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years", writing that the song "[starts] with a menacing, trance laden groove" and "[builds] to an absolute dance stomper".[2]

Plagiarism allegations

In an interview with BELPOP, Lords of Acid founder Praga Khan confronted the Chemical Brothers backstage over the drum programming used in "Hey Boy Hey Girl" that is identical to "I Sit on Acid 2000" released by Lords of Acid. Their response to the allegations was "Everyone steals from everyone."[3]

Music video

The music video (directed by Dom and Nic) opens with a group of schoolchildren on board a coach. The camera focuses on a young girl who opens a medical book of pictures of the human skeleton. A blond boy spits on the page, then smiles at her as he walks away. The children go to the Natural History Museum, where the same boy tries to scare the girl with a skull in his hood. She chases the boy in the museum, but falls near the bottom of a flight of stairs and fractures her wrist. At the hospital, she gets an X-ray of her hand. It then shows her brushing her teeth whilst picturing herself as only bones. The background behind her morphs into a toilet area at the Ministry of Sound nightclub, South London. When she reverts into a person, she is older (played by Hanne Klintoe[4]). She passes a couple having sex in a stall, but she only sees them as skeletons (this shot was omitted from some pre-watershed television edits of the video.). She exits the bathroom and heads to the nightclub's bar, where a man (uncredited appearance of Rick Warden) tries to talk with her. She then pictures him as a skeleton and feels his jawbone before leaving. She then goes to the dance floor, and sees more people as skeletons, almost as if she has X-ray vision. She exits the nightclub, and the Chemical Brothers themselves make a brief cameo appearance, stepping out of a taxi with DJ equipment. She then steps into that same taxi, where she sees the driver as a skeleton. He then asks her 'Where you going, baby?' in a camp, droll voice.

Track listing

CD single

No.TitleLength
1."Hey Boy Hey Girl"4:49
2."Flashback"5:20
3."Scale"3:43

Charts and certifications

Release history
RegionRelease dateLabelFormatCatalogue
Japan26 May 1999Virgin JapanCDVJCP-12125
UK31 May 1999Freestyle DustCDCHEMSD8
12" vinylCHEMST8
CassetteCHEMSC8

Cover versions

In 2018 Belgian Producer duo Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike released a remake of the song titled Here We Go (Hey Boy, Hey Girl) together with dutch producer Nicky Romero on their Tomorrowland 2018 EP

In 2020 French producer David Guetta (under his Jack Back alias) released a remake of the song titled Superstar DJ.

References
  1. "Chartslot". Daily Record. 18 June 1999. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  2. "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". NME.COM. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  3. Praga Khan: BELPOP 4/6. YouTube. 22 March 2010.
  4. "Hanne Klintoe - Other Works". IMDb. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  5. "Australian-charts.com – The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  6. "Ultratop.be – The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  7. "Ultratop.be – The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  8. "Ultratop.be – The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl" (in Dutch). Ultratop Dance. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  9. "The Chemical Brothers Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  10. "Top RPM Dance/Urban: Issue 8393." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  11. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 16 no. 25. 19 June 1999. p. 13. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  12. "The Chemical Brothers: Hey Boy Hey Girl" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  13. "Lescharts.com – The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  14. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  15. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 16 no. 29. 17 July 1999. p. 11. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  16. "Íslenski Listinn (15.7–22.7. 1999)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 16 July 1999. p. 10. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  17. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Hey Boy Hey Girl". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  18. "Hits of the World – Italy" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 111 no. 29. 17 July 1999. p. 66. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  19. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 27, 1999" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  20. "Dutchcharts.nl – The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  21. "Charts.nz – The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  22. "Norwegiancharts.com – The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl". VG-lista. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  23. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  24. "Spanishcharts.com – The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  25. "Swedishcharts.com – The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  26. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  27. "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  28. "The Chemical Brothers Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  29. "Jaaroverzichten 1999" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  30. "Rapports annuels 1999" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  31. "Årslista Singlar, 1999" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  32. "British single certifications – Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
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