Drummer Boy (Alesha Dixon song)

"Drummer Boy" is song by English singer-songwriter Alesha Dixon. It was released on 3 September 2010 as the lead single from her third studio album, The Entertainer. The first teasers for the song surfaced on Dixon's fansite in late July, and Dixon announced, via her various social networking sites, that the song would receive its radio play premiere on 23 July on BBC Radio 1 with Fearne Cotton.[1] "Drummer Boy" debuted on the Irish Singles Chart at number twenty-three on 10 September 2010. The single peaked at Number 15 on the UK Singles Chart, making it Dixon's lowest peaking lead single from an album to date.

"Drummer Boy"
Single by Alesha Dixon
from the album The Entertainer
Released23 August 2010 (2010-08-23)
Recorded2010
Genre
Length3:12
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Shama "Sak Pase" Joseph
  • Nate Walka
  • Deodrick Jackson
  • James Riles
Producer(s)Joseph
Alesha Dixon singles chronology
"To Love Again"
(2009)		 "Drummer Boy"
(2010)		 "Take Control"
(2010)

Background

Discussing the song's history, Dixon has said: "ShamRock aka Sak Pase - who's one of Akon's proteges - produced the track. And, as soon as I walked into the studio with him and Nate Walker (the track's co-writer) I instantly just felt something special!... You know, I'm always looking for something that's just full of life; that's different, quirky, and that can't be put in a box... Plus I loved the TOUGHNESS of it! I particularly loved the fact that it is female-empowering, but not in a feminist trying-to-wave-the-flag-and-be rude-about-men kind of way."[2]

Critical reception

"Drummer Boy" has garnered a mostly positive reception, with critics such as Fraser McAlpine of the BBC and Popjustice heavily praising it. McAlpine awarded the song 5 stars on his BBC review, saying he was "delighted to report that it is enjoyment all the way".[3] McAlpine praised what he called "her mad brilliance"[3] and concluded with, "best of all, there is no possibility that you could confuse this song with anything else in the charts this year. And for that reason alone it deserves top honours".[3] Popjustice described the song as "a bit of a grower", stating that on their first listen to the song they dubbed it "2010s worst piece of recorded music", and by their seventh listen they simply wrote, in capital letters, "THIS IS AMAZING".[4] Popjustice also named it their 'Song of the Day' for 22 July, stating that "Chartwise this'll be either a massive hit of a fantastic miss", but regardless it is "up there with the best".[5] The site also noted the sexual double entendres throughout the lyrics of the song.[4] 4Music stated "Alesha is back with a track that's about as subtle as a sledgehammer",[6] and also highly praised the video.[6]

Digital Spy criticised the song's 20 second intro, writing: "Irritating? Extremely".[7] Its consensus was, "It'll definitely get Dixon noticed, but for all the right reasons? We're not so sure"; it awarded the single 3 out of 5 stars.[7] Popjustice, who gave a favourable review, also called the intro "terrible", and showed how to start the song from 19.5 seconds on an iTunes format, thus skipping the intro.[8] However, the online website SoFeminine.co.uk disagreed with Digital Spy's view, describing the track as "a fantastically quirky slice of pop which we think is destined to become a dancefloor anthem".[9]

Music video
Alesha sat in her bright red armchair in the video. Dixon enlisted Ray Kay, feeling he was the best director for the shoot, which she wanted to be full of vibrant colours.

The music video for "Drummer Boy" was filmed by Norwegian director Ray Kay, with the shoot taking place in Los Angeles.[10] The video shoot consisted of a 21-hour shoot, in which Dixon stated she "had the best time", but that she "couldn't feel [her] feet" after the strenuous shoot.[11] The music video contains seven different costume changes by Dixon, 10 accompanying dancers, as well as 20 drummers.[11] In an interview with 4Music, Dixon explained the concept behind the music video: "The song is so energetic and I wanted to shoot it with Ray Kay because he's great at shooting really colourful videos. I knew that I wanted lots of drummers and dancers and I just wanted it to feel really tough and represent strength through the styling and dancing. It was the best video that I've done in terms of fun".[12]

The Daily Mirror reported that, whilst on the shoot, Alesha accidentally knocked out one of her dancers, saying, "she flung her arm out and clocked one of the girls with a giant ring, leaving her out cold".[13] Dixon later confirmed the Mirror's story, saying "I got her right in the head. She just fell back and didn't move. She was lying there, really trying to fight back the tears. I started crying because I felt so bad! She had a massive bump on her head immediately. But she was back up by the end of the video because she's a professional".[12]

Synopsis

The video begins in black and white, with the words "Alesha" written across the middle of the screen. Dixon is seen stood to the far-left, whilst a man playing the drums is stood opposite. Dixon then announces: "I think I need a better drummer", with the man stood opposite replying, "Say what?" Dixon repeats herself, and by this point the words "Alesha" have vanished, replaced by the words "Drummer Boy". Then the scene changes and it transitions from monochrome to normal colour, with different images of her dancers flashing quickly between monochrome and colour, whilst they get splattered with vibrant coloured paint; this time the words read: "A Ray Kay video", before disappearing altogether. Thereafter, the video contains Dixon in various scenarios, the first being Dixon dressed in black and red, sitting in a red armchair, flanked by two men, both wearing black and red, with a black background wall. The background wall changes intermittently throughout the video, ranging from red, pink, yellow, blue, lilac and peach. Various other similar scenes continue with Dixon dressed in flamboyant costumes, interspersed with shots of her drummers and her dance troupe, which Dixon dances with in some scenes.

Release and reception

The music video's television premiere took place a day later at 11:15am on 4Music and later on 4 Music's sister channel, Channel 4, at 12:50pm on 7 August.[14] 4Music stated that "the video is an ultra slick affair which, as you might expect, boasts a whole troupe of sexy drummer boys".[15]

Track listing

Personnel
  • Songwriting – Sham E. Joseph, Nate Walka, Deodrick Jackson, James Riles
  • Production – Sham E. Joseph
  • Additional production – Nate Walka
  • Vocal production – Kuk Harrell, Nigel Butler (additional), Ray Hedges (additional)
  • Engineering and mixing – Josh Gudwin
  • Assistant engineering – Dustin Capulong, Ghazi Hourani
  • Mastering – Miles Showell

Source:[20]

Charts
Chart (2010) Peak
position
European Hot 100 Singles (Billboard) 48
Ireland (IRMA)[21] 23
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[22] 11
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[23] 26
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[24] 15

Release history
Region Date Format Label
Spain 23 August 2010[25] Digital download Warner Music
Ireland 3 September 2010[26] Atlantic Records
United Kingdom 5 September 2010[5] Asylum Records
6 September 2010[27] CD single
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References
  1. Alesha Dixon Twitter. 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2010-07-22
  2. Alesha interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' September 2010
  3. Fraser McAlpine (30 August 2010). "Alesha Dixon - 'Drummer Boy'". BBC. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  4. "The seven stages of Alesha Dixon's 'Drummer Boy'". Popjustice. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  5. "Song of the Day: Drummer Boy". Popjustice. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  6. "VIP track: Alesha Dixon". 4Music. 9 August 2010. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  7. Robert Copsey (22 August 2010). "Alesha Dixon: "Drummer Boy"". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  8. Robert Copsey (23 July 2010). "Futher [sic] points re that Alesha Dixon single". Popjustice. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  9. "Alesha Dixon - Drummer Boy video". Sofeminine.co.uk. 19 August 2010. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  10. "Alesha Dixon to release new Unleashed album". OMG Music. 8 July 2010. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  11. Alesha Dixon (23 July 2010). "Message from Alesha". AleshaDixon.net. Archived from the original on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  12. "4Music.com meets Alesha Dixon". 4Music. 31 August 2010. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  13. Clemmie Moodie and Danielle Lawler (7 August 2010). "Alesha Dixon knocked dancer out on video for new single Drummer Boy". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  14. "REPORT: Alesha Dixon's 'Drummer Boy' Video to premiere August 7th…". Toyaz World. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  15. "See Alesha's new video". 4Music. 3 August 2010. Archived from the original on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  16. "Alesha Dixon - Drummer Boy (digital download 1)". 7 Digital (IR). Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  17. "Alesha Dixon - Drummer Boy (digital download 2)". 7 Digital (IR). Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  18. "Alesha Dixon - Drummer Boy MP3 music downloads". 7 Digital. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  19. "Drummer Boy". iTunes. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  20. Drummer Boy (liner notes). Alesha Dixon. Asylum Records. 2010.CS1 maint: others (link)
  21. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Drummer Boy". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  22. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  23. "Spanishcharts.com – Alesha Dixon – Drummer Boy" Canciones Top 50.
  24. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  25. iTunes Spain - Alesha: Drummer Boy
  26. "Alesha Dixon -Drummer Boy". RTÉ Ireland. 10 August 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  27. "Alesha - Drummer Boy". HMV. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
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