"Pjanoo" (pronounced [ˈpjɑ̌ːnʊ]) is a keyboard-based house track by the Swedish DJ and producer Eric Prydz. It received moderate airplay amongst British radio stations, being heavily used by BBC Radio 1 in advertisements for their "Radio 1 Big Weekend" and "Weekend in Ibiza" events. The single peaked at number six on the Swedish Singles Chart. "Pjanoo" found success outside Sweden, particularly in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and topped the country's Dance chart for ten non-consecutive weeks.
| "Pjanoo" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Eric Prydz | ||||
| from the album Eric Prydz Presents Pryda | ||||
| Released | 8 August 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2006 | |||
| Genre | Progressive house | |||
| Length |
| |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Eric Prydz | |||
| Producer(s) | Eric Prydz | |||
| Eric Prydz singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background and release
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Digital Spy |   [1] |
The song has been on promotional release since 17 March 2008[2] with Eric Prydz's own label, Pryda, with a limited number of 12" pressings available on special order. The song was released on 8 August 2008 by Ministry of Sound's Imprint Label, Data Records.
Prydz stated: "I played it in a club in northern UK in 2006. Didn't get the reaction I thought I would, so I didn't play it for years until I found the CD while playing at 'Ambasadeur' club in Stockholm. Played it for fun again and it went off. Someone filmed it and it ended up on YouTube."
British drum and bass producer High Contrast made a successful drum and bass remix of "Pjanoo" which was released by Data Records on 26 August 2008, with a track length of 7:43.[3]
Despite showing overall resentment towards Prydz, Pitchfork nonetheless conceded that the song was "one of the year's best dance tracks".[4]
Music video
A cowboy in the Old West has a fistful of dollars but he cannot find a drink anywhere because the temperature is over 40 °C (104 °F). He finds an old pub named Pjanoo, and goes into the pub to find a drink. Then an old piano plays by itself, and the cowboy finds two shrunken Native Americans who provide a rain dance, causing rain to fall very heavily. A water tap has water running and the cowboy runs to the tap to have a drink and then runs out of the pub.
Formats and track listing
- 12″ Vinyl Promo (Pryda 11)
- "Pjanoo"
- "F12"
- CD maxi
- "Pjanoo" (Radio Edit) – 2:37
- "Pjanoo" (Club Mix) – 7:31
- "Pjanoo" (High Contrast Remix) – 7:04
- "Pjanoo" (Afterlife Mix) – 5:38
- "Pjanoo" (Fred Falke Mix) – 6:24
- "Pjanoo" (Guy J Remix) – 7:43
- CD single
- "Pjanoo" (Radio Edit) – 2:37
- "Pjanoo" (Afterlife Radio Edit) – 2:50
- iTunes Single
- "Pjanoo" (Radio Edit) – 2:37
- "Pjanoo" (Dana Bergquist and Peder G Remix) – 9:03
- Free Download (2019)
- "Pjanoo" (Lucas & Steve Remix) – 3:16
Charts
Year-end charts
| Chart (2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[25] | 58 |
| CIS (TopHit)[26] | 196 |
| Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[27] | 68 |
| Hungary (Dance Top 40)[28] | 77 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[29] | 19 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[30] | 44 |
| Russia Airplay (TopHit)[31] | 184 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[32] | 75 |
| Chart (2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| Russia Airplay (TopHit)[33] | 151 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[34] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
In popular culture
- Used frequently as an anthem at sports events, specifically during halftime of Knicks games in Madison Square Garden.[citation needed]
- Heard in the nightclub in the episode "Night Out In London" of the British sitcom The Inbetweeners.[35]
- Mixed with the songs "Shout" by Tears for Fears and "Somebody Told Me" by The Killers in the video game DJ Hero.[36]
- The Club mix version was used in the first trailer for the video game Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony, and is available on the in-game radio station Vladivostok FM.
- The Cascada song "Fever" has parts loosely based upon "Pjanoo".[37]
- Used by the BBC in television advertisements for Sport Relief 2010.
- Used by Sky Sports as the theme for their coverage of International One Day Cricket.[38]
- A sample is used in short clips of the German TV magazine stern TV.
- It was heard on an episode of British sitcom Coming of Age.[citation needed]
- Piano riff is used in Blank & Jones Remix of "I Don't Want to Be a Hero" by Johnny Hates Jazz.
- Used in the 2020 Summer Olympics Weightlifting.[39]
- The song was also used by a popular Italian creator on YouTube named "Zeb89" who used this song as his channel intro
Samples
The main melody was sampled in the 2013 song Rollercoaster by Justin Bieber.The main rhythm was sampled in the intro of the 2020 song Hypnotized Purple Disco Machine and Sophie and the Giants