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Land of a Thousand Dances

"Land of 1000 Dances"
Single by Chris Kenner
B-side "That's My Girl"
Released October 1962 (October 1962)
Format Vinyl
Genre Rhythm and blues
Label Instant
Writer(s) Chris Kenner
Chris Kenner singles chronology
"Let Me Show You How (To Twist)"
(1962)
"Land of 1000 Dances"
(1962)
"Come Back and See"
(1963)
"Land of 1000 Dances"
Cannibal-and-the-headhunters-land-of-1000-dances-rampart.jpg
Single by Cannibal & the Headhunters
from the album Land of 1000 Dances
B-side "I'll Show You How to Love Me"
Released February 1965 (February 1965)
Format Vinyl
Genre Rock and roll
Label Rampart
Writer(s) Chris Kenner
Cannibal & the Headhunters singles chronology
"Land of 1000 Dances"
(1965)
"Nau Ninny Nau"
(1965)
"Land of 1000 Dances"
Wilson-pickett-land-of-1000-dances-atlantic-2.jpg
Single by Wilson Pickett
from the album The Exciting Wilson Pickett
B-side "You're So Fine"
Released July 1966 (July 1966)
Format Vinyl
Recorded May 11, 1966, FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Genre Rhythm and blues
Length 2:28
Label Atlantic
Writer(s) Chris Kenner
Wilson Pickett singles chronology
"Ninety Nine and a Half (Won't Do)"
(1966)
"Land of 1000 Dances"
(1966)
"Mustang Sally"
(1966)
"Land of a Thousand Dances"
R-654531-1269886404 jpeg.jpg
Single by Ted Nugent
from the album Intensities in 10 Cities
Released 1981
Genre Rock
Length 4:39
Label Epic
Writer(s) Fats Domino/Chris Kenner
Ted Nugent singles chronology
"Jailbait"
(1981)
"Land of a Thousand Dances"
(1981)
"The Flying Lip Lock"
(1981)
Intensities in 10 Cities track listing
"The Flying Lip Lock"
(7)
"Land of a Thousand Dances"
(8)
"The TNT Overture"
(9)

"Land of a Thousand Dances" (or "Land of 1000 Dances") is a song written and first recorded by Chris Kenner in 1962. The song is famous for its "na na na na na" hook, which Cannibal & the Headhunters added in their 1965 version, which reached number 30 on the Billboard chart. The song was covered by Danny & the Memories. Thee Midniters, an American group out of East Los Angeles, was one of the first Chicano rock bands to cover "Land of a Thousand Dances", scoring a local hit in 1965. The song's best-known version was Wilson Pickett's 1966 recording on his album, which became a Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs No. 1 and his biggest ever pop hit. Some releases of the song credit Antoine "Fats" Domino as a co-author of the song with Kenner. Domino agreed to record the song in exchange for half of the song's royalties.

The "na na na na na" hook happened by accident when Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia, lead singer of Cannibal and the Headhunters, forgot the lyrics. The melody to this section was also created spontaneously, as it is not in Chris Kenner's original track.

The original Chris Kenner recording, which peaked at #77 on the Billboard chart in 1963, mentions 16 dances: the Pony, the Chicken, the Mashed Potato, the Alligator, the Watusi, the Twist, the Fly, the Jerk, the Tango, the Yo-Yo, the Sweet Pea, the Hand jive, the Slop, the Bop, the Fish, and the Popeye. Kenner's original recording included a brief, gospel-influenced, a capella introduction with the words: "Children, go where I send you / (Where will you send me?) / I'm gon' send you to that land / the land of a thousand dances." This 18 seconds was left off the single release to facilitate radio airplay, and the phrase "Land of 1000 Dances" never appeared in any subsequent recording.


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Wikipedia

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