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"The Power" is a song by the German music group Snap! from their album World Power. It was released in January 1990 and reached number one in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as well as on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Rap charts. It is particularly known for its hook "I've got the power!".

Background

Written by Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti (under the pseudonyms Benito Benites and John "Virgo" Garrett III) and produced by Snap!, it was the group's third single. Featuring a rap by Turbo B and vocals by Penny Ford (lip-synced in the music video by Jackie Harris), the single became a massive international hit.

The song opens with the somewhat enigmatic line in Template:Lang-ru«Персональный спутник»” (meaning “The American company Transceptor Technology has started production of the ‘Personal Companion’ computer”). “Personal Companion” was a computer-like device for the blind and visually impaired. Released in 1990, it was controlled by voice and could, among other functions, automatically download articles from USA Today by a built-in modem. It was made by Transceptor Technologies of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The song contains samples from "Let the Words Flow" by Chill Rob G, "Love's Gonna Get You" by Jocelyn Brown, and "King Of The Beats" by Mantronix. To compensate Wild Pitch Records for the unauthorized sampling of Chill Rob G's line "It's gettin kinda hectic!" a deal was struck allowing Wild Pitch to use Snap's music for their own song. This version of "The Power" is credited to "The Power Jam featuring Chill Rob G" or jus Ford's vocals. Jocelyn Brown also confirmed legal action because of the unauthorized sampling.

Covers and remixes

In 1990, the American act Deff Boyz sampled the track for their single "Swing."

In 1992 German Studio project MVT (Musical Voyage Target) used "The Power" sample for their single "Hype the Bass".

The song was covered in 2002 by the German crossover band, H-Blockx. Turbo B featured in the song taking turns to rap lyrics with H-Blockx's then frontman Dave Gappa. Of note, Turbo B replaces the word 'Snap!' with 'H-blockx' in the line "If they are Snap! don't need the police to try to save them". The single charted at number 48 in Germany, number 51 in Austria and number 34 in Australia.

In 2003, the song was remixed by Motivo, with added Indian vocals from Joshilay and released as Snap! Vs. Motivo - The Power (of Bhangra).

In 2010, Swizz Beatz sampled the song on the second half of Kanye West's official remix to his single Power featuring Jay-Z.

In 2013, Lena Philipsson covered the song during the 70th birthday celebration of Queen Silvia of Sweden.

Tremors at Techno-Mart

On July 5, 2011, a 39-story shopping mall called the "Techno-Mart" in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, shook violently for 10 minutes and was evacuated for two days. After study, it was determined that about 20 people performing Tae Bo exercises to "The Power" caused the building to vibrate by creating a mechanical resonance. The tentative conclusion was the consensus among the six professors from an architectural institute and vibration measurement experts who participated in a recreation of the event. The Architectural Institute of Korea was scheduled to release the final results of the safety inspection later in 2011.

Track listings

Charts and sales

Chart successions

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)

References

1. Abledata.com
2. ^ "Jocelyn Brown discusses her voice behind SNAP's record "The Power" on BBC1 TV Interview". YouTube. 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
3. German Charts - H-blockx ft. Turbo B
4. Australia Charts - H-Blockx
5. SF Gate Hot Topics Blog. "Korea solves mystery of shaking skyscraper", SFGate.com, 19 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
6. Yun Suh-young. "Aerobic exercise blamed for tremor at Techno-Mart", The Korea Times, 19 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
7. Lee Ji-sang, Kim Hee-jin. "Gym rats shook TechnoMart: Owner", Korea JoongAng Daily, 19 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
8. ^ "Lescharts.com". Retrieved 2008-10-28.
9. Belgian peak
10. Canada Top Singles peak
11. RPM Dance: issue date July 7, 1990
12. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972code: fin promoted to code: fi (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 9789511210535.
13. "Charts-surfer.de". Archived from the original on 2007-10-29. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
14. "Irishcharts.ie". Retrieved 2008-04-10.
15. "Hit parade Italia]". Retrieved 2008-05-30.
16. "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 15, 1990". Retrieved 2008-10-28.
17. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
18. "Chartstats.com". Retrieved 2008-04-10.
19. ^ "Billboard.com Snap! chart history". Retrieved 2008-10-28.
20. ^ ""The Power '96" at lescharts.com". Retrieved 2008-10-28.
21. "1990 Austrian Singles Chart" (in German). Austriancharts. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
22. "Single top 100 over 1990" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
23. "1990 Swiss Singles Chart". Hitparade language=German. Retrieved 23 July 2010. {{cite web}}: Missing pipe in: |publisher= (help)
24. "Billboard Top 100 - 1990". Retrieved 2009-09-15.
25. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('The+Power')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
26. Dutch certifications nvpi.nl (Retrieved 9 December 2008)
27. Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved 9 December 2008)
28. UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved 9 December 2008)
29. U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved 9 December 2008)

• 1990 singles
• Snap! songs
• European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
• Dutch Top 40 number-one singles
• UK Singles Chart number-one singles
• Number-one dance singles in Canada
• Number-one singles in Switzerland
• Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs number-one singles
• Number-one debut singles