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Tones And I
Australian pop singer
Toni Watson, known professionally as Tones and I, is an Australian singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known for her 2019 single "Dance Monkey", which went number one in over 30 countries including her native home Australia.
In 2019–20, "Dance Monkey" completed 24 weeks at number one on the Australian singles chart, beating Bing Crosby's all-time Australian record for his version of "White Christmas", which spent an equivalent of 22 weeks at the top in 1943. "Dance Monkey" was certified 19× platinum by ARIA for shipments of over 1,330,000 units by June 2023.
genres: indie pop, electronic dance music, pop music
awards: ARIA Award for Best Female Artist, ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist - Release, ARIA Award for Best Pop Release, ARIA Award for Best Independent Release, Spotify Award for Emerging Artist
Toni Watson grew up in Mount Martha on the Mornington Peninsula to the south of Melbourne. She later explained how she chose a music career: "One day I was at the park with my family, all my cousins and stuff, in Frankston ... We were all just singing a song and my aunty was like 'oh guys, she can actually hold a note'. I think that's the earliest memory of someone actually pointing me out as someone that has an ability to sing. I was probably like 7 years old." The singer-songwriter had learned to play keyboards and drum pads while at secondary school. She started busking in Melbourne while working in fashion retail at the Universal Store.
Australian pop singer-songwriter, born 13 May 1993 in Mornington Peninsula, Australia.
Also known as: Tones & I
From Discogs (free to use). Their entry
Liner notes
Tones And I, the records, oldest first
The Kids Are Coming
2019 ep
Welcome to the Madhouse
2021 album
wanted
Beautifully Ordinary
2024 album
Records from MusicBrainz; covers from the Cover Art Archive.
"Dance Monkey" is a song by Australian singer Tones and I, released on 10 May 2019 as the second single from Tones and I's debut EP, The Kids Are Coming. The song was produced and mixed by Konstantin Kersting.
Lyrics
When interviewed by DJ Smallzy in July 2019 on Australian radio station Nova FM, Tones explained that "Dance Monkey"'s lyrics are about the relationship she had with her audience when she was busking (street performing) on the streets of Australia:
Music video
Liam Kelly and Nick Kozakis directed the music video, which was released on 24 June 2019, produced by Visible Studios. It follows the character "Mr. Tones" (played by Tones and I), an elderly man who sneaks out of a care home with his friends so they can go to a golf course and have a dance party with other senior citizens.
Reception
Al Newstead from ABC called the song "another powerhouse melody" adding it will "instantly lodge itself in your brain". Mike Kaplan, senior VP/Programming for Entercom Alternative WNYL New York City (the first station in the United States to play the song), notes "Sonically, it's catchy and extremely memorable," adding "Its international success certainly helped convince us to share it with our listeners."
