Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1993
The Key the Secret
Buy The Key the Secret now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = The Key the Secret
| cover = The Key The Secret.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Standard artwork for original 1993 release
| type = single
| artist = Urban Cookie Collective
| album = High on a Happy Vibe
| B-side = Remix
| released = 9 July 1993
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = House
| length = 3:40
| label = Pulse 8
| writer = Rohan Heath
| producer = Chapter
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Feels Like Heaven
| next_year = 1993
| misc =
}}
"'The Key the Secret'" is a song by British band Urban Cookie Collective. It was released in 1993 as the first single from their debut album, 'High on a Happy Vibe' (1994), and features vocals by British singer Diane Charlemagne. The song peaked at number-one in the Netherlands and was a top 5 hit also in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and the UK. It was the best-selling Dance song of 1993 and was also picked as the theme tune for a major TV show in Japan with a viewing audience of some 30 million.
Today, the song is widely regarded as one of the biggest dance music anthems of the '90s and has been remixed several times. A remix of the song was also included in episode 2 of the second series of Channel 4's drama series 'Queer as Folk' in 2000. "The Key, The Secret" was more recently covered by Phobos & Deimos. And German pop singer Jasmin Wagner heavily sampled the chorus and the beat of the song in the German version as "Er ist so s" in 2000, which was released on her fourth studio album, 'Die Welt gehrt Dir'.
Background and release
"The Key the Secret" was originally a track written at home by Rohan Heath in a soul and hip hop vein. It was released on the tiny Unheard Records label. After a subsequent re-mix provoked a massive club response it was picked up by the Pulse 8 record label and released in July 1993.
Critical reception
British DJ Graham Gold picked the song as one of his favourites in 1995, adding, "I don't care who dissed it or if it crossed over into the charts. The vocal was so up and positive it made me feel how music should make you feel 'good'." Music writer James Masterton viewed it as "a rather weak-kneed piece of girlie dance" in his weekly UK chart commentary. Andy Beevers from 'Music Week' rated it three out of five, describing it as a "poppy house tune with catchy female vocals". James Hamilton from the magazine's 'RM' Dance Update noted it as a "Charlemagne cooed raving galloper". Upon the release of the 1996 remix, a reviewer from 'Music Week' gave it four out of five, commenting, "A seemingly superfluous reissue remix of the 1993 number two hit. Nevertheless, the song maintains its effervescent hook of housey piano and celebratory vocal, and could well be a hit again."
Australian music channel Max included "The Key the Secret" in their list of "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2012.
Chart performance
"The Key the Secret" was very successful globally. It remains the band's biggest hit, peaking at number-one in the Netherlands. In Europe, the single made it to the top 10 also in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100 and MTV's European Top 20, where it hit numbers ten and two. It also reached number eight on the European Dance Radio Chart. In the UK, "The Key the Secret" peaked in its sixth week at the UK Singles Chart, on 8 August 1993. It was held off the top spot by Freddie Mercury's "Living on My Own" and spent two weeks as number two and sixteen consecutive weeks inside the UK Top 75. Additionally, it was a top 20 hit in Finland, Italy and Spain. Outside Europe, it went to number three on the 'RPM' Dance/Urban chart in Canada, number four in Australia, number ten in Zimbabwe, number 26 on the 'Billboard' Hot Dance Club Play chart in the United States and number 31 in New Zealand.
In 1996, the track was remixed and again entered the UK charts peaking for one week at number 52. It was remixed again in 2004, this time peaking at number 31 in 2005.British Hit Singles and Albums 19th Edition An uptempo Eurodance remix was also made by DJ Dougal and Mickey Skeedale for 'Dancemania Speed' in 1998.
Music video
The accompanying music video of "The Key the Secret" was directed by British director and assistant director Lindy Heymann. It features the band performing the song in an indoor botanical garden. Singer Diane Charlemagne sings between the plants. Several dancers also appear in the video, with body painting in gold. The colours of the video repeatedly fades out into black-and-white or opposite. Some scenes also shows the dancers looking into or they are seen through a glass sphere.
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Official versions
* "The Key the Secret"
* "The Key the Secret" (Glamourously Developed Mix)
* "The Key the Secret 2004" (Northstarz Club Mix)
References
Category:1993 debut singles
Category:1993 songs
Category:1996 singles
Category:2004 singles
Category:Dutch Top 40 number-one singles
Category:Music Week number-one dance singles
Category:Music videos directed by Lindy Heymann
Category:Pulse 8 singles
Category:Urban Cookie Collective songs
Buy The Key the Secret now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1993