Rock the House

Rock The House is the tenth track and third single of Gorillaz's 2001 album "Gorillaz".

Information
Rock The House is one of the two tracks on the debut album to feature rapper Del The Funky Homosapien as Del The Ghost Rapper, the other being Clint Eastwood. It features a memorable trumpet riff sampled from the theme tune of the 1966 film Modesty Blaise.

The single got a fair amount of radio play but could not be said to achieve true 'single' status in territories outside the UK, where its chart position would at best be described as 'acceptable' for a third / fourth single.

MTV however lapped up the video so from this point of view it was a promotional success - the video and the radio version of the song would later be offered as a purchase incentive bonus on most editions of the compilation album G-Sides. There were three excellent B-sides across formats which would become firm fan favourites.

Music Video

 * Main Article: Rock The House (Video)

The music video for "Rock the House" was directed by Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland.

The inspiration for the video is said to have come from Hewlett's angst at the time, as the band was going through the process of being sued by another band named Doppelgangerz, who claimed that Gorillaz were a stolen idea.

UK Formats
Promo CD

1. Rock The House

2. The Sounder

Enhanced CD 1

1. Rock The House (Radio Edit)

2. The Sounder (Edit)

3. Faust

4. Rock The House Teaser Trailer (Video)

Enhanced CD 2

1. Rock The House

2. Ghost Train

3. 19-2000

4. 19-2000 Geep Sim Trailer

5. 19-2000 (Music Video)

Cassette

1. Rock The House (Radio Edit)

2. The Sounder (Edit)

3. Ghost Train

12-inch vinyl

1. Rock the House

2. The Sounder (Edit)

3. Faust

4. Ghost Train

Release dates and chart positions
UK : 22/10/01 – highest chart position : 18

Trivia



 * According to Rise of the Ogre, this is the band's least favorite song from Phase One, and 2-D even says that it shouldn't have been on the Gorillaz album.
 * The song samples a large number of assets from "Modesty Blaise Theme" by John Dankworth.
 * During the Live at the Forum, Rock The House was performed by the British hip hop group Phi-Life Cypher, who also provided rap parts for the original version of "Clint Eastwood", as Del The Funky Homosapien was unable to participate on the performace.
 * The B-side track "The Sounder" was originally beat made backstage by Cass Browne also during the Live at the Forum and shares its bassline with "Rock The House".
 * Only the shorter edited version of the song has even been officially released on the compilation album G-Sides, while the full version, apart from some promo releases of the single, has only ever been featured as a bonus track on the French special version of the debut album.