"Gold" is a song written and performed by Australian singer-songwriter

Guy Sebastian Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter who was the winner of the first '' Australian Idol'' in 2003, judge on Australia's ''The X Factor'' from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2016, and coach ...

. It is the second single from his seventh album '' Armageddon'' and was released digitally in Australia on 11 May 2012.iTunes – Music – Gold – Single by Guy Sebastian

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

Archived fro
the original
on 12 June 2012. An EP with two new songs and a remix of a previous single "

Who's That Girl Who's That Girl? may refer to: Film and television * ''Who's That Girl'' (1987 film), an American film starring Madonna * ''Who's That Girl'', a Philippine film of 2011 * "Who's That Girl?", an episode of ''Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!'' Music * Who's Tha ...

" was released in CD format on 1 June 2012 and digitally on 15 June 2012.Gold (Signed copy)
Sanity Music. Archived fro
the original
on 11 June 2012.Gold EP

Archived fro
the original
on 15 June 2012. "Gold" peaked at number ten on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and was certified platinum in 2014.ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Singles
. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 14 March 2014 It was Sebastian's ninth of 12 top ten singles on the Australian charts.Guy Sebastian in the Australian Charts
. Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 June 2012.

Background

"Gold" is an uptempo

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

song. During an interview on Australian radio station

Nova 96.9 Nova 96.9 (call sign: 2SYD) is a commercial radio station operating in Sydney, Australia. The station is owned by NOVA Entertainment along with sister station, smoothfm 95.3 Audience In 2014 Nova had a 4% share of the Sydney audience on ...

Sebastian said "Gold" was special to him because he was a huge Otis Redding fan, and he had inserted a horn line from a 1967 live recording of an Otis Redding track called "Shake" into the song. Discussing the inspiration for the song, he said: "You hear an old soul track, old

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

or Memphis, and it just makes you get on your feet." He elaborated, "It's probably the most fun, up-tempo song I've ever released to sing ..Because it's such aggressive soul... By the end of the track I'm jumping out of my skin. It's one of those singer songs."Behind the Video: Guy Sebastian's "Gold"
.

. Retrieved 12 June 2012. Sebastian said in an interview with Take 40 that the idea for lyrics came because of a friend who always used the term "That's Gold". There was some controversy surrounding the song when '' The Voice'' final 24 contestant

Carmen Smith Carmen Smith (born 1984) is an Australian singer/songwriter who rose to prominence after appearing in the first season of ''The Voice Australia''. Early career Since 2002, Smith has been a back-up singer for a number of Australian performers, ...

, who performed backing vocals on the track, was asked to leave the show because she appeared in the video. ''The Voice'' producers said she had broken the "spirit" of the rules as the video would give her an unfair advantage over other contestants. Smith later stated that she had performed with Sebastian for years, and had a clause in her ''The Voice'' contract which allowed her to continue to perform and record with him. She thought appearing in the video would be permitted under her contract, but that ''The Voice'' producers saw things differently: "We had differences in opinion but in the end that is how they felt about it and I just had to go home and accept it. ..The fact that this has happened, it is unfortunate, but the positive is that I get to move on and do what I do best and sing with Guy again."

Release and promotion

"Gold" was serviced to radio on 4 May 2012 and was the second most added song to Australian radio for two consecutive weeks. It peaked at number 26 on the national airplay charts. Sebastian performed the song on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

's ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'', ''

Australia's Got Talent ''Australia's Got Talent'' is an Australian reality television talent show. The show is based on the ''Got Talent'' series format that originated in the United Kingdom with Simon Cowell. The first six seasons aired on the Seven Network, from 2 ...

'' and '' Sunrise''.

Reception

Critical response

A reviewer for Take 40 wrote: "It's already becoming one of our favourite new tunes! The song is super-fast and full of fun vibes and has an upbeat Motown feel to it!"

Power Fm Capital South Coast was a regional radio station owned by operated by Global Radio as part of the Capital (radio network), Capital radio network. It broadcast to Hampshire from studios in Segensworth, Fareham. In 2019, Capital South Coast was r ...

announcer Bella Frizza said: "'GOLD' has just been released and you know what? I reckon it is just that -GOLDEN! But hey don't trust my ears – listen for yourself and if you're not dancing round your office/bedroom/loungeroom within about 40 seconds then I want to hear why!" Music site auspOp wrote: "We can't tell you how happy we are that Guy Sebastian has ditched the R&B/dance hybrid sound for his latest single 'Gold'. 'Cause this new tune is precisely what Guy does best – oozing with class and old school soul. 'Gold' sounds like it could have been ripped straight from the streets of '60s Detroit, what with its flashy brass, gorgeous gospel chorus and Guy's insane pitch-perfect vocal. ..'Gold' is quite simply pure, unadulterated joy."

Commercial performance

"Gold" debuted and peaked at number ten on the

, and achieved platinum certification in 2014. It was Sebastian's ninth of 12 top ten singles in Australia.

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Gold" premiered in May 2012. It was filmed at an old warehouse at the Mill Markets in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

, Victoria. Sebastian said the concept came from an old

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...

video. He sent it to the producers as a reference and the "Gold" video evolved from there. It is set at a 1950s warehouse party, and Sebastian and his band are shown performing to an audience dressed in clothing of the era. He and his backing vocalist leave the stage and join the dancers on the dance floor. The video is shot in black and white, and in the last 45 seconds is infused with gold highlights and then progresses to full subdued colour.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Track listing

* Digital single # "Gold" – 3:22 *

Extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

CD and digital download # "Gold" – 3:24 # "Diamond in My Hand" – 3:24 # "Lost in the Streets of LA" – 3:32 # "

" (7th Heaven Radio Mix) – 3:59

Credits and personnel

*Lead vocals (all tracks) – Guy Sebastian "Gold" *Writers – Guy Sebastian, Harmony "H-Money" Samuels * Background vocals –

* Featured sample – Otis Redding recording "Shake" *Production – Pro-Jay, Samuels *

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

– Carlos King *Assistant engineer – Jose Cardoza * Mixing – Manny Marroquin *Mixing assistant – Chris Galland * Mastering – Joe Laporta "Diamond in My Hand" *Writers – Guy Sebastian, Pro-Jay *Production – Pro-Jay *Mixing – Rob Chiarelli *Mastering –

Leon Zervos Leon Zervos is a mastering engineer who has worked with many world-renowned artists, including Pink, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Beastie Boys, and Willie Nelson. Life and career Leon Zervos began his mastering career in 1982 at the then EMI Studi ...

"Lost in the Streets of LA" *Writers – Guy Sebastian, Andre Harris, Carl Dimatago *Production – Andre Harris *Mastering – Leon Zervos "

" *Writers – Guy Sebastian,

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

* Featured rap – Eve *Production – Guy Sebastian, Andre Harris *Engineering and mixing – Brandon Kilgour *Mastering – Leon Zervos *Remix – 7th Heaven Credits taken from "Gold" CD liner notes.Notes for "Gold" by Guy Sebastian

D liner notes D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''dee'' (pronounced ), plural ''dees''. History The ...

Sony Music Australia

Release history

References

{{authority control 2012 singles Guy Sebastian songs Songs written by Guy Sebastian Songs written by Harmony Samuels 2012 songs