"No Good " is a song by English electronic music group the Prodigy. The song was written and produced by group member Liam Howlett. It was released in May 1994 as the second single from their second studio album, Music for the Jilted Generation. The song is built around a repeated vocal sample from "You're No Good for Me" by Kelly Charles. Howlett initially had doubts whether to use the sample because he thought it was too pop for his taste. The song also contains samples from "Funky Nassau" by Bahamian funk group the Beginning of the End. In 2012, NME listed the song in the "100 Best Songs of the 1990s" at number 33.
Critical reception
NME noted it as "one of The Prodigy’s finest singles with its scuzzy euphoria and thumping bass." Gareth Grundy from Select wrote in his review, that Liam Howlett's "jungle and hardcore roots are still present, but he injects some space and gracious melody between the coruscating rhythm."
Music video
Liam Howlett said to Dazed magazine "'No Good... was a response to all that shit Eurodance stuff", and said that the band had started to make better videos. The song's music video, directed by Walter Stern combines the humorous flavour of that for the band's previous video for "Out of Space" with the menace of "Firestarter" and "Breathe" videos to come. Filmed in a disused, underground cellar below Spitalfields market in the East End of London, the video features characters dancing to the song, including a very manic Liam Howlett, whilst other band members prowl around moodily. After Howlett breaks down a plaster wall with a sledgehammer, group member Keith Flint is seen in a straitjacket, eventually being locked into a Plexiglas box-prison. The single was certified Gold in Germany for 250,000 sold copies. The music video became the last music video to be played on the music channelNME TV directly before its closure at 6:00am on 5 January 2012.
Remixes and samples
Belgian producer CJ Bolland remixed this track on the original release in 1994. A drum and bass remix of the song was made by British producer DJ SS. Since the Prodigy's use of the samples, several other artists, including HitHouse, Ally Brooke, Oxide & Neutrino, Plan B, Ultrabeat and Kollegah have sampled "You're No Good for Me" by Kelly Charles.
