The Twelve Commandments of Dance
1989 studio album by London Boys
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Twelve Commandments of Dance is the debut album by Germany-based English dance-pop duo London Boys, released in 1989. It reached number 2 in the UK Albums Chart and stayed on the chart for 29 weeks.[2]
| The Twelve Commandments of Dance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 17 July 1989[1] | |||
| Genre | Dance | |||
| Labels | ||||
| Producer | Ralf René Maué | |||
| London Boys chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from The Twelve Commandments of Dance | ||||
| ||||
Other than the charting singles stated in the track listing, two other singles were released: "I'm Gonna Give My Heart" and "Dance Dance Dance".
Critical reception
A review published in Music Week presented the album as a "perfect, pimple-free, faceless pop music that attempts to be soulful but lacks any kind of charisma", reproached the fact that all the tracks "repeat the [same] formula ad nauseum", and concluded that "the album is a danger to youngsters everywhere".[3] Johnny Dee of Record Mirror stated that lyrically, the album is "all utter cack", but considered that the more important thing lies in the fact that every track "has a 132 bpm sequencer chugging away" and "a chorus so catchy" that listeners could not forget it and could perform "stupid dances" on it.[4]
Retrospectively, in a 2015 review, the Pop Rescue website gave the album four stars out of five, presented it as containing "wonderful early commercial dance/europop and light tracks" with elements from both disco and dance music and features recalling Pet Shop Boys, added "it is up-beat throughout and mostly up-lifting and cheerful", but considered "Wichitah Woman" and "El Matinero" as the weakest tracks.[5]
Track listing
All tracks written by Ralf René Maué.
- "Requiem" – 4:19 (UK No. 4)
- "Kimbaley (My Ma-Mama Say)" – 4:17
- "Harlem Desire" – 3:48 (UK No. 17)
- "Chinese Radio" – 3:49
- "Wichitah Woman" – 3:58
- "My Love" – 3:05 (UK No. 46)
- "London Nights" – 4:02 (UK No. 2)
- "I'm Gonna Give My Heart" – 4:08
- "El Matinero" – 4:14
- "Dance Dance Dance" – 3:56
- "Sandra" – 4:51
- "The Midi Dance" – 3:14
- The 2009 remastered reissue released by Cherry Pop Records features extended remixes of tracks 1, 3, 6 and 7
Chart and certifications
Charts
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[6] | 137 |
| Europe (European Top 100 Albums)[7] | 15 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[8] | 4 |
| UK Albums Chart[2] | 2 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[9] | Gold | |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[10] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||