Victoria (Dance Exponents song)
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| "Victoria" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Dance Exponents | ||||
| from the album Prayers Be Answered | ||||
| Released | June 1982 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:26 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jordan Luck | |||
| The Dance Exponents singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Victoria" is a song by the New Zealand rock band The Exponents from the band's 1982 album Prayers Be Answered. Released in June 1982 as the band's first single, it reached Number 6 on the New Zealand singles chart.[1] The song was selected by a panel of New Zealand songwriters to have been the #8 top 100 New Zealand songs of all time.
Background[edit]
"Victoria" was inspired by Jordan Luck's landlady in Christchurch, with the name Victoria used as a pseudonym (her real name was Vicky).[2] She successfully ran an escort agency but lived with an abusive man: Luck questioned her relationship with the line "What do you see in him?".
"Victoria was 23 and earned [sic] the whole apartment block. She was a hard worker. And yes, she read Alvin Toffler. But we'd wake up in the morning and she'd be bruised because her boyfriend was beating her up."
— Jordan Luck, New Zealand Herald[3]
The band moved to Auckland before the release of the song. After the single became a success, Luck visited "Victoria" in Christchurch and was happy to find that she not only loved the song but had also split up with her abusive boyfriend.[4]
Music video[edit]
A video was funded by the New Zealand Broadcasting Association but, unusually for the time, included a story rather than just a studio performance. Shot in the band's hometown of Christchurch, it shows Luck as "Victoria"'s taxi driver[5] and Al Park,[6] a singer-songwriter sometimes credited as the father figure for the "Lyttelton Sound" and the first person to bring punk music to Christchurch.[7] In 2019, Luck covered Park's "I Walked Away" for the covers collection Better Already - The Songs Of Al Park.[8]
Alternative versions[edit]
The recording of "Victoria" on the Prayers Be Answered album differs from the original single. Another version was also included on the 1985 Amplifier album.
Charts[edit]
| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[9] | 6 |
References[edit]
- ^ "Victoria: (Song)". Charts.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ Anderson, Vicki (27 May 2016). "Whatever happened to Victoria?". The Press. Christchurch. p. C5. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ "The National Anthems". New Zealand Herald. 2 November 2001. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
- ^ "Through the Eyes of Love". NZ on Screen. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ "Victoria". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ "Al Park". Music.Net.NZ.
- "Al Park Releases 1979 Single/Video 'California'". NZ Music Commission. 18 March 2022. - ^ Chris Cudby (27 May 2022). "Al Park Shares New Album 'Pony'". Under the Radar. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
- ^ "Jordan Luck Announces National Tour + Covers al Park's 'I Walked Away'". Under the Radar. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
- ^ "Dance Exponents – Victoria". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 21 August 2021.