'Dominator' is a classic
techno/
rave/
house tune from
1991, written by Dutch
gabba pioneers Johan van Beek and Robert Mahu, who went under the name
Human Resource. It was released on
80 Aum Records and was hugely popular throughout Europe. In the UK, it reached number 18 over Christmas 1991, at a time when the charts were starting to become dominated - ho - with one-off dance hits.
The song is famous for popularising the classic rave 'hoover noise', as heard prominently on the Prodigy's contemporary single 'Charly'; this distinctive sound apparently originated from a Roland Juno 6 and resembles the strings pad from Joy Division's 'Atmosphere', with more fizz and masses of pitch-bend. Listened to nowadays the single is very much of its time - spartan and unvarying - whilst the mix seems odd; the vocals are much louder than the instrumental, although this makes it easier for DJs to add their own music, as indeed many did. So far over 30 different mixes of the track have been released, the most popular of which was Joey Beltram's version.
As with many other beat-orientated electronic dance tracks, the lyrics were modular and minimal. Essentially, they consisted of a verse which ran:
"I'm bigger and bolder
and rougher and tougher
in other words, sucker,
there is no other"
A chorus which went:
"I'm the one and only dominator
I'm the one and only dominator"
And the occassional interjection of "I wanna kiss myself". If you treat the verse as X, the chorus as Y, and the interjection as Z, the original 7" mix goes:
zzzzxxzyzyzzyzx (+"no other") xyzy (bells) yzzx (+"no other") xyzyzzyyy
And this is an actual fact.