Spinning Around
"Spinning Around" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue for her seventh studio album, Light Years (2000). Written by Ira Shickman, Osborne Bingham, Kara DioGuardi and Paula Abdul, the song was initially meant to be recorded by Abdul for her own album, but was given to Minogue after the plan never came to fruition. Produced by Mike Spencer, the disco-influenced dance-pop song was then released in Australia and the UK as the lead single from Light Years on 19 June 2000, through Mushroom Records and Parlophone. Lyrically, the song addresses the theme of reinvention, with Minogue claiming that she has changed as a person and learned from the past.
"Spinning Around"
- "Cover Me with Kisses"
- "Paper Dolls"
19 June 2000
3:27
- Ira Shickman
- Osborne Bingham
- Kara DioGuardi
- Paula Abdul
Upon its release, "Spinning Around" received favourable reviews from music critics, who singled it out as one of the highlights from the album and praised Minogue for returning to her signature musical style. Commercially, the single was a success and became Minogue's "comeback" single following the critical and commercial disappointment of her previous album Impossible Princess (1997).[4] It entered the Australian Singles Chart at number one, becoming Minogue's first chart-topper since "Confide in Me" in 1994. The single also debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, where it became her first single to peak atop the chart since "Tears on My Pillow" in 1990. Elsewhere, it reached the top five in several countries, including Croatia, Czech Republic, Ireland, New Zealand and Russia. "Spinning Around" was certified platinum and gold in Australia and the United Kingdom, respectively. The song won the 2000 ARIA Music Award for "Best Pop Release".
The accompanying music video for "Spinning Around", directed by Dawn Shadforth, features Minogue dancing and enjoying herself at a nightclub. It became popular for the gold hotpants she sported in most of the scenes and led to her bottom gaining extensive coverage from the media. The hotpants are considered to be "iconic" and have been displayed in exhibitions of Minogue's fashion. "Spinning Around" has been performed by Minogue during all of her tours, with the exception of the Anti Tour. In 2003, Q magazine ranked "Spinning Around" at number 90 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[5]
Background and recording[edit]
In 1997, Minogue released her sixth studio album, Impossible Princess. The album represented a drastic change in the singer's musical direction, shifting from her signature dance-pop styles to incorporate elements of electronica and pop rock.[6] It was her second album to be released on British record label Deconstruction and became a success in her native Australia, peaking at number four on the ARIA Albums Chart.[7] In the United Kingdom Impossible Princess was less successful than Minogue's previous albums and peaked at number ten on the UK Albums Chart.[8] The album also suffered from poor reviews in the UK as commentators criticised its different musical approach; many also considered that Minogue's career was over. Despite embarking on a successful promotional tour, Minogue was dropped by Deconstruction in 1999. Minogue then signed to Parlophone, another British record label.[9]
After various discussions, Minogue decided to do what she did "best" and record a simple pop album inspired by disco and Europop, entitled Light Years.[2][10] "Spinning Around" was included as the opening track of the album and was written by Ira Shickman, Osborne Bingham, Kara DioGuardi and Paula Abdul, and produced by Mike Spencer.[11] Abdul had based the song on her divorce from clothing designer Brad Beckerman and had originally intended to record it for her own studio album, but it was given to Minogue after the album failed to materialise.[12][3] The song was the first major songwriting project for DioGuardi, who had not been offered any notable projects previously.[13] In an interview discussing the development of Light Years, Minogue revealed that the song had initially been found as a demo in New York by her A&R executive Jamie Nelson, who believed it would be "perfect" for the singer.[12] After listening to the demo, Minogue agreed to record it and felt the song had the potential to be a hit.[12] "Spinning Around" was then released as the lead single from the album on 19 June 2000 in both Australia and the United Kingdom.[11][14]
Composition[edit]
Similar to most of the songs from Light Years, "Spinning Around" is a "string-laden" dance-pop track with prominent influences from disco music.[2][3] According to the sheet music of the song published by BMG Rights Management at Musicnotes.com, it is composed in the key of F♯ minor and features a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute.[15] Minogue's vocal range spans from the low note of F3 to the high note of C5.[15] Addressing the theme of reinvention, the lyrics declare that Minogue has changed and learned from her past mistakes; it contains lines like "I'm spinning around/Move out of my way ... I'm not the same" and "Mistakes that I made have given me the strength to really believe."[16][17] In an analysis of the lyrics of the song, Pom Avoledo from Blogcritics wrote that Minogue demands attention in the chorus towards the changes in her personality and asserts that people appreciate them, in the line "I know you're feelin[g] me [be]cause you like it like this." The first verse deals with Minogue ridding herself of items and symbols from her past and starting afresh, evidenced in lines like "Threw away my old clothes, got myself a better wardrobe." The critic felt that in the second verse Minogue faces her mistakes and accepts herself as she is. The bridge of the song features the repetition of the hook "You know you like it like this," with Minogue's voice being vocoded.[16] Chris True from AllMusic felt that through the lyrics, Minogue was admitting that releasing Impossible Princess in 1997 was not the best decision.[2]
Critical reaction[edit]
"Spinning Around" received favourable reviews from music critics. Chris True from AllMusic selected it as a highlight from the album and said it was a "fun and string-laden declaration that she may have made a mistake back in 1997."[2] Pom Avoledo praised Minogue for returning to her signature dance-pop style and complimented her for giving "Spinning Around" an "air of elegance and sensuality which was lacking in her early material."[16] A very positive review came from Siobhan Grogan of NME, who favoured the chorus of the song and commended Minogue for coming back to "what she knows best."[18] The critic felt the song would become a hit in gay clubs and commented that "[Spinning Around] is made of the same fizzing, giddy disco-pop that made Kylie famous in the first place."[18] Gary Crossing from Yahoo! Music, who gave Light Years a mixed review, felt that "Spinning Around" was one of the better tracks from the album and called it a "slinky little number."[19] Olive Pometsey from GQ deemed it one of Minogue's most "iconic" tracks, concluding that "from the funky bass to those gold shorts, our pop queen did not return to the charts to play; she came to reign".[20]
In his review of Minogue's 2004 greatest hits album Ultimate Kylie, Jason Shawahn from About.com praised the inclusion of songs like "Spinning Around" and other tracks from Light Years, calling them "a blessing for domestic music consumers, since that disc has never found its way onto official US release, though with any collection of Minogue hits, one simply has to look at what they have in their collection versus what they don't."[21] At the 14th ARIA Music Awards ceremony in 2000, "Spinning Around" won the award for "Best Pop Release".[22] Billboard's Jason Lipshutz wrote the track found the singer "returning to straightforward pop after 1997's ambitious Impossible Princess and corralling some disco thump to create an especially giddy effect"; calling it one of Minogue's "most effortless hits to date".[23] Louis Vartel from the LGBT oriented website NewNownext, called it her "coolest, most liberated dance opus". He placed it at number seven of his list of the singer's 48 greatest songs, in honour of her 48th birthday.[24] Writing for the Herald Sun, Cameron Adams ranked it at number 42 on his list of the singer's best songs, in honour of her 50th birthday and said: "Remember at the time many thought Kylie was washed-up, so a 70s-soaked disco pop tune was the ideal way to recalibrate the good ship Minogue. It worked, with a little help from some very little hungry gold hotpants", the last part being a reference to the song's music video.[25]
Chart performance[edit]
The song was a commercial success. In Australia it was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) prior to its release on the strength of pre-orders.[14] On the chart date of 2 July 2000, it debuted at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart.[11] The following week, it dropped to number five and it stayed in the top ten for four consecutive weeks in total.[11] It was Minogue's first number-one single in the country since "Confide in Me", which was released six years earlier.[11] "Spinning Around" charted for a total of 12 weeks[11] and was later certified platinum by the ARIA for shipments of 70,000 units.[26] The song also performed well in New Zealand, entering the RIANZ Singles Chart at number eight and peaking at number two.[27] It spent a total of 17 weeks on the chart and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for sales of 7,500 units.[28]
With first-week sales of over 82,000 units,[29] "Spinning Around" debuted atop the UK Singles Chart on the chart date of 1 July 2000,[30] becoming Minogue's first number-one single in a decade.[14] Her previous chart-topping single was "Tears on My Pillow" from her second studio album Enjoy Yourself (1989).[31] "Spinning Around" was Minogue's fifth number-one single in the United Kingdom.[4] Minogue became one of only two artists to have a number one single in three consecutive decades, achieving this in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.[14] The other artist to hold this distinction is Madonna,[14] whose song "American Pie" topped the UK singles chart in March 2000.[32] "Spinning Around" charted inside the top ten for two weeks and inside the top forty for eight weeks.[33] The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified the song gold for shipments of 400,000 units.[34] As of March 2014, the single has sold 300,000 units in the country according to the Official Charts Company.[35] "Spinning Around" was deemed a successful "comeback" single for Minogue and, along with parent album Light Years, helped relaunch her career.[4][9]