Lucas with the Lid Off
{{Short description|1994 single by Lucas Secon}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Lucas with the Lid Off
| cover = Lucas With The Lid_Off - single cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Lucas
| album = Lucacentric
| released = 1994
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = {{hlist|Jazz rap|electro swing{{Cite web|url=https://recordingarts.com/record/evolution-of-house-music/electro-swing|title=Evolution of Electro Swing | Recording Arts Canada}}}}
| length = 4:02{{Cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/gb/album/lucacentric/792276|title=Lucacentric by Lucas|via=music.apple.com}}
| label = Big Beat
| writer = Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed, Lasse Jensen, Lucas Secon, Zany King
| producer =
- Lucas
- Illinton
| prev_title = Wau Wau Wau
| prev_year = 1994
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
"Lucas with the Lid Off" is a song by Danish rapper Lucas Secon that was released as the lead single from his second album, Lucacentric (1994). It features a sample from the 1935 Benny Goodman song "When Buddha Smiles".[https://www.whosampled.com/Benny-Goodman/When-Buddha-Smiles/], WhoSampled.com, Benny Goodman - When Buddha Smiles The song was a hit in the United States, reaching number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 22 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was most successful in Australia, where it reached number 15, and it peaked within the top 40 in Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
The music video for the song was directed by the French film maker Michel Gondry and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards.{{cite web|url=http://www.michelgondry.com/?tag=lucas|title=Michel Gondry website: videos: Lucas|access-date=9 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310022246/http://www.michelgondry.com/?tag=lucas|archive-date=10 March 2016|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-06-ca-17089-story.html|title=THE 37TH GRAMMY NOMINATIONS|date=6 January 1995|website=Los Angeles Times}}
Music video
The black and white music video for the song is known for its technical achievement in that it was shot in one long continuous single take with no edits, cuts or digital enhancement. In an RES magazine interview, Gondry described the video as "a big turn for me, because it was so challenging. Nobody really believed - even me - that we could pull that off when we made it after 17 takes, because it was really done all in-camera in one shot. There is no post-production at all. I think this one really gave me a lot of attention.'"{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160310014228/http://www.director-file-two.com/gondry/lucas.html Director: RES magazine interview, Michel Gondry]}}
Lucas with the Lid Off was nominated in the Best Music Video (short form) category at the 37th Grammy Awards, Produced by Michel Gondry whom had two music videos nominated at the 37th Grammy Awards.{{Cite web|url=http://www.michelgondry.com/?p=184|title=Sinéad O'Connor – Fire on Babylon – 1994 | Michel Gondry|date=10 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310012605/http://www.michelgondry.com/?p=184|archive-date=10 March 2016}}
The video was also received a MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Male Video at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, and was No. 20 in Slant Magazine{{'}}s 100 Greatest Music Videos.{{Cite web|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/100-greatest-music-videos/|title=The 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time|first1=Sal|last1=Cinquemani|first2=Ed|last2=Gonzalez|website=Slant Magazine}}
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!scope="col"|Chart (1994) !scope="col"|Peak |
| {{single chart|Australia|15|artist=Lucas|song=Lucas with the Lid Off|rowheader=true|access-date=22 March 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Canadatopsingles|21|chartid=2694|rowheader=true|access-date=22 December 2018}} |
| scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40){{cite news|url=https://timarit.is/page/2722828#page/n1/mode/2up|title=Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (22.–27.12 '94)|newspaper=Dagblaðið Vísir|language=is|page=20|date=22 December 1994|access-date=1 October 2019}}
|16 |
|---|
| {{single chart|New Zealand|29|artist=Lucas|song=Lucas with the Lid Off|rowheader=true|access-date=22 March 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Scotland|29|date=19940813|rowheader=true|access-date=22 March 2018}} |
| {{single chart|UK|37|date=19940813|rowheader=true|access-date=22 March 2018}} |
| {{single chart|UKdance|25|date=19940731|rowheader=true|access-date=18 April 2022}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardhot100|29|artist=Lucas|rowheader=true|access-date=22 March 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardalternativesongs|22|artist=Lucas|rowheader=true|access-date=22 March 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Billboarddancesales|35|artist=Lucas|rowheader=true|access-date=24 June 2021}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardrapsongs|27|artist=Lucas|rowheader=true|access-date=22 March 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardpopsongs|29|artist=Lucas|rowheader=true|access-date=22 March 2018}} |
Cover versions
On the album A Century of Song (Polyholiday Records), the song was covered by the American band La Musique Populaire.{{Cite web|url=http://www.polyholiday.com/century/centurybox5.html|title=LMP - A Century of Song: the box set|website=www.polyholiday.com}} It was performed in the form of a spoof in an episode of the PBS series Bill Nye the Science Guy in 1995, but renamed "Whether the Weather" as part of the episode's scientific lesson about climates.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160310022246/http://www.michelgondry.com/?tag=lucas Michel Gondry official website: videos: 'Lucas With The Lid Off']
{{Authority control}}
Category:Big Beat Records (American record label) singles
Category:Black-and-white music videos
Category:Music videos directed by Michel Gondry
Category:Songs with lyrics by Arthur Freed