Turtle Power!
"Turtle Power!" (or simply "Turtle Power") is a song by American hip hop duo Partners in Kryme. The song was released by SBK Records from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soundtrack. An early unfinished version without Shane Faber's production plays over the film's closing credits. In the United Kingdom, the film mix heard over the end credits uses the word "hero" instead of "ninja", even though the film was not retitled in the UK, unlike the 1987 cartoon series (which was titled Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles). "Turtle Power" was released in April 1990 and reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks, making it the first hip hop single to reach number one in the UK and becoming the 13th-highest-selling single of the year in the United Kingdom. Additionally, the song peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number four in Ireland, and number seven in New Zealand.
| "Turtle Power!" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Partners in Kryme | ||||
| from the album Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
| B-side | "Splinter's Tale" (by John Du Prez) | |||
| Released | April 13, 1990 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 3:54 | |||
| Label | SBK | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Producers |
| |||
| Partners in Kryme singles chronology | ||||
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"Turtle Power!" (or simply "Turtle Power") is a song by American hip hop duo Partners in Kryme.[1] The song was released by SBK Records from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soundtrack. An early unfinished version without Shane Faber's production plays over the film's closing credits. In the United Kingdom, the film mix heard over the end credits uses the word "hero" instead of "ninja", even though the film was not retitled in the UK, unlike the 1987 cartoon series (which was titled Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles).
"Turtle Power" was released in April 1990 and reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks, making it the first hip hop single to reach number one in the UK and becoming the 13th-highest-selling single of the year in the United Kingdom. Additionally, the song peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number four in Ireland, and number seven in New Zealand.
Song information
[edit] | This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2019) |
Written by James P Alpern and Richard A Usher Jr and produced by Partners in Kryme, "Turtle Power!" rode the wave of popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. A rap record featuring the use of vocoder vocals for the chorus, it became a worldwide hit, reaching number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100,[2] number seven in New Zealand[3] and number one on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks in July and August 1990.[4] The song was also coupled with the single "Turtle Rhapsody" and included in the third Ninja Turtles film soundtrack.
Track listings
[edit]7-inch and cassette single[5][6]
- "Turtle Power" – 3:50
- "Splinter's Tale 1 & Splinter's Tale 2" (performed by John Du Prez) – 5:23
12-inch and German maxi-CD single[7][8]
- "Turtle Power" (single edit) – 3:50
- "Turtle Power" (album version) – 4:17
- "Splinter's Tale 1 & Splinter's Tale 2" (performed by John Du Prez) – 5:23
Charts
[edit]
Weekly charts[edit]
|
Year-end charts[edit]
|
Certifications
[edit]| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[25] | Silver | 200,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[26] | Gold | 500,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
[edit]| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | April 13, 1990 |
|
SBK | [citation needed] |
| United Kingdom | July 9, 1990 | [27] | ||
| July 16, 1990 | 7-inch picture disc | [28] | ||
| Australia | July 23, 1990 |
|
[29] |
References
[edit]- ^ "The Pop Life – Page 2 – New York Times". The New York Times. April 11, 1990. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- ^ a b "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. June 2, 1990. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ a b "Partners in Kryme – Turtle Power!". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ a b "Official Singles Chart on 28/7/1990 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ Turtle Power (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). SBK Records. 1990. NR-07325.
- ^ Turtle Power (US cassette single sleeve). SBK Records. 1990. 4JM-07325.
- ^ Turtle Power (US 12-inch single vinyl disc). SBK Records. 1990. V-19710.
- ^ Turtle Power (German maxi-CD single liner notes). SBK Records. 1990. 560 20 3933 2.
- ^ "Partners in Kryme – Turtle Power!". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ "Hits of the World: Canada". Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 28. July 14, 1990. p. 63.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Image 1256". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 33. August 18, 1990. p. IV. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
- ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
- ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Turtle Power". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ "Partners in Kryme – Turtle Power!" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ "Partners in Kryme – Turtle Power!". Singles Top 100. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ "Partners in Kryme – Turtle Power!". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ "Hot Rap Songs". Billboard. July 14, 1990. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart 1990 (61–100) (from The ARIA Report No. 50)". ARIA. Retrieved October 10, 2016 – via Imgur.
- ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 1990" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 51. December 22, 1990. p. 36. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
- ^ "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1990" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ "Årstopplistan 1990, Singlar" (in Swedish). Grammotex. Archived from the original on February 16, 2001. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
- ^ "1990 Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England. March 2, 1991. p. 41.
- ^ "British single certifications – Partners in Kryme – Turtle Power". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 30, 2020. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Turtle Power Partners in Kryme in the "Search:" field.
- ^ "American single certifications – Partners in Kryme – Turtle Power". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
- ^ "New Singles". Music Week. July 7, 1990. p. 39.
- ^ "New Singles". Music Week. July 14, 1990. p. 37. Misprinted as July 9 on source.
- ^ "New Release Summary: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 28. July 22, 1990. p. 19.
