Saturdance / Track of the Moment / Video Premiere

‘Let’s Have A Kiki’: An Incomplete History

July 28, 2012 5 Comments

April 14: Over a month before the release of Scissor Sisters‘ new album, Magic Hour, the band’s Ana Matronic tells Scotland’s shmuFM that “Let’s Have A Kiki” is the track she can’t wait for their fans to hear.

“I am so excited for the song that I have on the record that’s called “Let’s Have A Kiki,” which is very much inspired by all of the parties that I’ve ever been to with men in dresses. It’s a very, very, very, fun song, and I can’t wait to do it live. I think it’s gonna be great. It’s one of those songs that has the potential to be built into a huge, fun production and I would love to do that with it.”

May 7: Scissor Sisters premiere “Let’s Have A Kiki” via Spotify, though the streaming service’s U.S. users aren’t invited to the party. But the very same Interweb that makes Spotify possible will not be denied, and an audio rip quickly makes its way to YouTube, various blogs, and my iPod, where it plays on Infinite Repeat™.

May 29: Scissor Sisters release Magic Hour in the U.S., and hosting their “Kiki” is now legit and legal. The track is one of only two on the album produced solely by Scissor Sisters.

June 20: Appropriately timed to the first day of summer, “Let’s Have A Kiki” gets some real heat. The promoters behind Boston club night Videodrome Discothèque post an unofficial music video, a compilation of campy clips that earn loads of viral love…

June 21: …including an effusive Twitter shout-out from Scissor Sisters’ frontman, Jake Shears:

June 28: San Francisco DJ Tristan Jaxx posts his unofficial remix of “Let’s Have A Kiki” to SoundCloud, which Shears also fancies enough to retweet.

July 8: Los Angeles-based DJ Ben Castañeda posts his (rather fantastic) mashup of “Let’s Have A Kiki” and Ida Corr vs. Fedde Le Grande’s “Let Me Think About It”:

July 9: Appearing on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, Scissor Sisters don’t let the cramped set stop them from having a kiki with host Andy Cohen:

July 12: Promoting her Catwoman role in The Dark Knight Rises on The Late Show with David Letterman, Anne Hathaway helpfully informs the veteran host what a kiki is. “A kiki is a party for calming all your nerves. It’s a new Scissor Sisters song that I’m obsessed with.”

July 16: Billboard reports that in the days following the Videodrome video edit, digital downloads of “Let’s Have A Kiki” increased by 52%, topping Scissor Sisters’ official single, “Only The Horses.”

July 19: With “Only The Horses” riding high at #5 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, official remixes of “Let’s Have A Kiki” by Danny Verde, Almighty, 2 Bears, and Olugbenga are serviced to DJs:

July 23: Apparently word has not reached everyone:

July 27: Scissor Sisters release an official ‘instructional video’ for “Let’s Have A Kiki,” filmed at the Kiki Institute of Mental Instability and choreographed by Brad Landers. I think my favorite part is Del Marquis on tambourine.

The how-to video is the jumping-off point for letshaveakiki.com, where Scissor Sisters are soliciting submissions inspired by the song. Visitors to their newly launched blog are invited to “Learn it, turn it, burn it”:

“We want to shine a spotlight on the global Kiki that has been sweeping your bedrooms, nightclubs and brains, so as well as videos, we want you to submit your photos, remixes, art… anything! We are LIVING for your ‘Let’s Have A Kiki’ love!”

To assist with bedroom DJ remixes, the band has even helpfully posted the acapella in both WAV and MP3 forms.

Today: Awareness reaches critical mass, or the Twitter equivalent, Katy Perry.

With a new music video and remixes, it looks like Scissor Sisters’ “Kiki” will go on for several more weeks at least, which is just as it should be.

Purchase Scissor Sisters – “Let’s Have A Kiki” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.