Official Charts Pop Gem #66: Benny Benassi – Satisfaction

As the Commonwealth Games launched in Glasgow this week, we decided to get the blood pumping and hone our bods with a fitness-themed Pop Gem.

We wanted your favourite WORKOUT songs, those tracks that made a trip down to the leisure centre worthwhile. Pop Gym, if you like!

We got your oodles of suggestions down to a shortlist of 14. Don’t forget to check out our video playlist of all finalists ,plus our Spotify and Deezer playlists of every Pop Gem ever picked.

So who did we pick to be the ultimate body pumpin’ Pop Gem? It was a tough one, and we even had a few run-throughs of the playlist doing press-ups and the like, but we went for Benny Benassi presents The Biz, with Satisfaction.

Watch the eye-popping video before we explain ourselves.

Why it had to be Benny Benassi

Italian DJ Benny – real name Marco, fact fans – burst onto the UK pop scene in 2003 with this unforgettable club smash. It was a hot hot hot summer, with huge hits from Beyoncé and Wayne Wonder turning up the heat even higher. Along came Benny with an aggressive, catchy, relentless house track and the rest is history. And, as Benny’s name doesn’t come up that often in our Pop Gem nominations, and him being a DJ and all, we thought he’d welcome the opportunity of a residency in our Pop Gem Hall Of Fame.

The song

Satisfaction had been bubbling under for a while, and was popular with clubbers. When it was finally released in the UK, the tune attracted a lot of attention, and not just because it was an absolute banger. The Satisfaction video is the stuff of legend and helped kick off a trend for saucy videos. Featuring a bunch of very scantily clad beautiful models wielding power tools, along with instructions on how to use them, Satisfaction wasn’t just entertaining, it was educational too! Satisfaction peaked at Number 2 – there was no way Beyoncé's Crazy In Love had any intention of shifting off the Number 1 spot that week – and has sold over 200,000 copies.

Benny Benassi’s chart story

While Benny’s not scored that many hit singles in the UK, he’s had a couple of big ones. In 2002, as KMC, he scored a Top 40 hit with I feel So Fine FT Dhany. 

Satisfaction was his first under his own name, peaking at Number 2. His next Top 10 came almost eight years later as featured artist on Chris Brown’s Number 4 hit Beautiful People, which has sold over 720,000 copies in the UK.

He managed another two Top 40 hits, the most recent being 2011’s Cinema FT Gary Go, which reached Number 20.

Benny has also found fame on remix duties for artists including Goldfrapp and OutKast. Most notably, Benny remixed Madonna’s Number 3 hit from 2009 Celebration – his version was used in the official video.

Playlists

Watch all 14 of our finalists’ videos – why not have a workout while you do?

Every Pop Gem ever picked:

Deezer

Spotify

Pop Gem Hall Of Fame

Today's Pop Gem is the latest in a long line of amazing pop songs that have been inducted into our Pop Gem Hall Of Fame. Take a look at all the tracks who've received the honour so far

Your Pop Gem needs you

Got a Pop Gem of your own? Want to suggest a theme for another week? Find out how you can get involved in the Pop Gem party.