The Singles (Basement Jaxx album)

The Singles is the first greatest hits album by English electronic music duo Basement Jaxx, released on 21 March 2005 via XL. The album contains two new songs, "Oh My Gosh" and "U Don't Know Me", which were both released as singles. "Do Your Thing" was previously included in the 2001 Rooty album, but with the release of this compilation album, the single was re-released in the UK after the two aforementioned singles.

The Singles
Greatest hits album by Basement Jaxx
Released	21 March 2005 (2005-03-21)
Recorded	1996–2004
Genre	House dance
Length	57:32 (First edition) 56:53 (Later editions)
Label	XL
Producer	Simon Ratcliffe Felix Buxton
Basement Jaxx chronology
Kish Kash (2003) The Singles (2005) Crazy Itch Radio (2006)
Singles from The Singles
"Oh My Gosh" Released: 14 March 2005 "U Don't Know Me" Released: 13 June 2005 "Do Your Thing" Released: 26 September 2005

Later editions of The Singles, included the "JaxxHouz" radio edit of "U Don't Know Me", in place of the original album version. A special edition of the release included a second disc of previously unreleased material.

Background and release

Talking about the compilation, Buxton told Canadian music magazine The Record:

[...] It's a collection of all our popular songs really, a collection where people could get all the main songs that they liked. It seemed like a good idea to put it out now because a lot of people were coming to our shows and didn't really know that a song like "Romeo" was by the same people who did "Where's Your Head At". Our music [across the years] is quite different so it has probably taken people a while to realise that it's all by the same band. So yeah, that was why really. It could be a collection for people who'd only just found out about us, or seen a live show and wanted to get our music.[1]

"Oh My Gosh" was the first single from the album. Released simultaneously with the album was The Videos, a video album containing the group's music videos, several live tracks, and four extra video clips.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
musicOMH	(favorable)[3]
NME	4/10[4]
Pitchfork	9.5/10[5]

Andy Kellman from AllMusic gave the album a very positive review, calling it "a timely and nearly faultless stop-gap compilation."[2]

PopMatters ranked the album 19th-best reissues of 2005.[6]

Promotion

Live 2006

Tour by Basement Jaxx
Associated album	The Singles
Start date	28 November 2006
End date	8 December 2006
No. of shows	8

Tour

Date	Country	City	Venue
Europe[7]
28 November 2006	Plymouth	United Kingdom	Plymouth Pavilions
29 November 2006	Brighton		Brighton Centre
30 November 2006	Bournemouth		Bournemouth International Centre
2 December 2006	Wembley, London		Wembley Arena
5 December 2006	Birmingham		National Indoor Arena
6 December 2006	Newcastle upon Tyne		Newcastle Arena
7 December 2006	Manchester		Manchester Evening News Arena
8 December 2006	Glasgow	Scotland	The SSE Hydro

Glastonbury Festival headlining

On 6 June 2005, it was announced last-minute that the duo would replace Kylie Minogue as headliners for the 2005 Glastonbury Festival, due to Minogue being diagnosed with breast cancer.[8] According to The Guardian, the reactions to this news were "muted". Basement Jaxx' headlining was said to be a departure from the usual rock bands that used to headline the festival, as was Minogue's planned appearance.[8]

While performing onstage, Scottish musician Bobby Gillespie called the band "Cocksuckers – no offence to cocksuckers," before slating everyone from Minogue to the crowd itself and eventually getting booed off stage. Basement Jaxx's vocalist Vula Malinga recalls: "I remember us girls were like 'WHAT? Shut Up! Come on let's take him! Warrrgh', but the guys were just like 'Everyone's entitled to their opinion.' In the end I think the crowd spoke for itself."[9]

Despite heavy rainfall during the year's festival, the duo's performance was well received.[10] They also included a carnival version of Motörhead's "Ace of Spades" in their set.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Red Alert" (featuring Blue James)	Ratcliffe Buxton Harvey Mason Tyrone Brown John Blake Jr. Leonard Gibbs James Simmons Richard Steacker Millard Vinson	3:37
2.	"Good Luck" (featuring Lisa Kekaula)	Ratcliffe Buxton Kekaula	3:32
3.	"Romeo" (featuring Kele Le Roc)	Ratcliffe Buxton	3:26
4.	"Oh My Gosh" (featuring Vula Malinga)	Ratcliffe Buxton	3:57
5.	"Bingo Bango"	Ratcliffe Buxton Bolivar	3:48
6.	"Where's Your Head At" (featuring Damien Peachey)	Gary Numan Ratcliffe Buxton	4:00
7.	"Rendez-Vu"	Ratcliffe Buxton	3:45
8.	"Jump n' Shout" (featuring Slarta John)	Ratcliffe Buxton Mark James	3:39
9.	"Lucky Star" (featuring Dizzee Rascal)	D.Mills Ratcliffe Buxton	3:54
10.	"Plug It In" (featuring JC Chasez)	Ratcliffe Buxton	3:20
11.	"U Don't Know Me" (featuring Lisa Kekaula) (later replaced by JaxxHouz Radio Edit, running 2:56)	Ratcliffe Buxton Kekaula	3:36
12.	"Do Your Thing" (featuring Elliot May)	Ratcliffe Buxton Blue Mitchell	4:20
13.	"Jus 1 Kiss"	Ratcliffe Buxton Bernard Edwards Nile Rodgers	3:37
14.	"Flylife"	Ratcliffe Buxton	4:04
15.	"Samba Magic"	Ratcliffe Buxton Jorge Dalto Tite Curet Alonso	4:50

Special edition bonus disc – Bonus Traxx

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Magnificent Romeo"	Ratcliffe Buxton Joe Strummer Mick Jones Paul Simonon Topper Headon	4:28
2.	"I Beg U"	Ratcliffe Buxton	3:42
3.	"Mere Pass"	Ratcliffe Buxton Earl Anthony Johnson Najma Akhtar Jonathan Richman	4:29
4.	"Miracles Keep on Playin'" (Red Alert Remix)	Ratcliffe Buxton Mark Capanni Bobby Taylor	4:34
5.	"Bongoloid"	Ratcliffe Buxton	4:22
6.	"Good Luck" (Live)	Ratcliffe Buxton Kekaula	4:53
7.	"Rendez-Vu" (Latin Version)	Ratcliffe Buxton	4:07
8.	"Broken Dreams" (Acoustic)	Ratcliffe Buxton	2:42
9.	"Ha Choo"	Ratcliffe Buxton	2:35
10.	"Onyx"	Ratcliffe Buxton	4:10
11.	"I Live in Camberwell"	Ratcliffe Buxton	3:38
12.	"Camberskank"	Ratcliffe Buxton	5:43
13.	"Jus 1 Kiss" (The Isley Bootleg)	Ratcliffe Buxton O'Kelly Isley Jr. Ronald Isley Rudolph Isley	5:02
14.	"Romeo" (Acoustic)	Ratcliffe Buxton	3:35

Charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11]	17
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12]	10
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[13]	69
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14]	36
Irish Albums (IRMA)[15]	2
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16]	13
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[17]	37
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[18]	41
UK Albums (OCC)[19]	1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[20]	2× Platinum	600,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

The Videos

The Videos
Video by Basement Jaxx
Released	2005
Recorded	1997–2005
Genre	Electronica
Label	XL

The Videos is a DVD by Basement Jaxx containing all official music videos, several live tracks, and four extra video clips.

It was released at the same time as The Singles.

Track listing

The Videos

1. "Red Alert"
2. "Rendez-Vu"
3. "Jump N' Shout"
4. "Bingo Bango"
5. "Romeo"
6. "Jus 1 Kiss"
7. "Where's Your Head At"
8. "Lucky Star"
9. "Good Luck"
10. "Plug It In"
11. "Cish Cash"
12. "Oh My Gosh"
13. "Flylife"

Live Traxx

1. "Red Alert" (Glastonbury 2000)
2. "Jump N' Shout" (Glastonbury 2000)
3. "Do Your Thing" (V2002)
4. "Cish Cash" (Werchter 2004)
5. "Lucky Star" (Fuji Rock 2004)
6. "Good Luck" (Glastonbury 2004)
7. "Supersonic" (Glastonbury 2004)
8. "Where's Your Head At" (Glastonbury 2004)

Extras

1. "The Road to Coachella"
2. "Jaxx TV"
3. "Tokyo Stench"
4. "Bongaloid"

See also

• List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2000s

References

1. "Basement Jaxx — Red Alert". The Record. Archived from the original on 23 March 2006. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
2. Kellman, Andy. "The Singles – Basement Jaxx review". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
3. Lyon, Charlotte (21 March 2005). "The Singles – Basement Jaxx review". musicOMH. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
4. Cashmore, Pete (September 12, 2005). "The Singles – Basement Jaxx review". NME. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
5. Harvell, Jess (23 March 2005). "The Singles – Basement Jaxx review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
6. PopMatters staff(s) (19 December 2005). "Best Reissues of 2005". PopMatters. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
7. "Basement Jaxx announces biggest UK tour". Basement Jaxx's official website. Archived from the original on May 22, 2006. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
8. "Jaxx replace Kylie at Glastonbury". BBC News. 6 June 2005. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
9. Lucas, Becky (3 March 2008). "Basement Jaxx singer in Dubai". Time Out Dubai. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
10. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/glastonbury/10912208/The-100-best-Glastonbury-performances-ever.html
11. "Australiancharts.com – Basement Jaxx – The Singles". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
12. "Ultratop.be – Basement Jaxx – The Singles" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
13. "Ultratop.be – Basement Jaxx – The Singles" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Basement Jaxx – The Singles" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
15. "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending May 12, 2005". chart-track.co.uk. Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
16. "Charts.nz – Basement Jaxx – The Singles". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
17. "Swedishcharts.com – Basement Jaxx – The Singles". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
18. "Swisscharts.com – Basement Jaxx – The Singles". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
20. "British album certifications – Basement Jaxx – Crazy Itch Radio". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 17, 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Crazy Itch Radio in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.