"In Private" is a song by British singer

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop music, p ...

, released as a single on 20 November 1989. It was Springfield's third single in a row to be a chart success, after an absence of nearly two decades from the charts. Both "In Private" and Springfield's previous single, "

Nothing Has Been Proved "Nothing Has Been Proved" is a song and a single release by British singer Dusty Springfield, written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys. The song was the second collaboration between Springfield and the Pet Shop Boys, following their UK #2 and ...

" were produced by

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

, who helped return Springfield to prominence with their 1987 hit collaboration " What Have I Done to Deserve This?". Both Springfield singles were included on her 1990 British album ''

Reputation The reputation of a social entity (a person, a social group, an organization, or a place) is an opinion about that entity typically as a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria, such as behavior or performance. Reputation is a ubiquitous ...

''.

Releases and chart performances

"In Private" peaked at #14 in the British charts. It was a top ten hit in West Germany, the Netherlands, Israel, Belgium and Sweden. Though not released as a single in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, it proved to be popular with club DJs on both coasts and charted on the Hot 100 Dance/Club Play charts, also at #14. A separate remix single with an orange cover - as opposed to the other formats' colours of green (see right; also used for 12" and 7" versions) and purple (for the CD single) - was also released both on 12" and CD in certain territories, featuring three radically rearranged and remixed dance versions by

Shep Pettibone Robert "Shep" Pettibone (born 10 July 1959) is an American record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. Career Shep Pettibone surfaced after his work with Arthur Baker on Afrika Bambaataa & the Jazz ...

Critical reception

Bruce Eder from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

commented, "She seems to reach that much higher and also that much deeper inside of herself on 'In Private' and 'Daydreaming' to much subtler effect; those cuts are very much of a piece with her best work on the ''

Dusty in Memphis ''Dusty in Memphis'' is the fifth studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield. Initial sessions were recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis, while Springfield's final vocals and the album's orchestral parts were recorded at Atlantic ...

'', '' A Brand New Me'', and '' Cameo'' albums". A reviewer from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' described the song as "a strong number in a 60s style."

Cover versions

The song was later re-recorded and released in 2006 on ''Fundamentalism'', the limited edition second disc released with the Pet Shop Boys' album ''

Fundamental Fundamental may refer to: * Foundation of reality * Fundamental frequency, as in music or phonetics, often referred to as simply a "fundamental" * Fundamentalism, the belief in, and usually the strict adherence to, the simple or "fundamental" idea ...

''. A different mix of this recording appeared as the b-side to the single " Minimal", released the same year, and was subsequently included in the b-sides compilation ''

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''. It is performed as a duet between

Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for ''Smash Hits'', and a ...

and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

. The fact that both of them are openly gay men makes all the more pointed the song's subject of a hidden relationship that one of the participants is ashamed to admit to, especially on the following lines: Tennant: "What you gonna say when you run back to your wife?" / John: "I guess it's just the story of my life...!" / Both: "What are you gonna say...?" The song was also recorded by the Swedish pop group,

Nouveau Riche ''Nouveau riche'' (; ) is a term used, usually in a derogatory way, to describe those whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. The equivalent English term is the "new rich" or "new money" ( ...

, as a hidden track on their 2007 album "Pink Trash". In 2008, it was covered by another Swedish band,

Sahara Hotnights Sahara Hotnights are a Swedish rock band from Robertsfors, Sweden. Their style incorporates elements of garage rock, power pop and punk. History The band formed sometime around 1991/1992, "due to boredom". While in Australia, Josephine Forsman b ...

, peaking at 7th position at the

Swedish singles chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

."Swedishcharts.com - Discography Sahara Hotnights"
Hung Medien. accessdate: 9 June 2014. In 1996, a Dutch cover version of the song was a big comeback hit for Flemish singer,

Liliane Saint-Pierre Liliane Saint-Pierre (born Liliane Louise Keuninckx, 18 December 1948) is a Belgian pop singer. Hailing from Flanders, she sings mostly in Dutch. She competed at Eurovision Song Contest 1987 with the song " Soldiers of Love". Biography Liliane ...

Track listings

* 7" single / Cassette # "In Private" — 4:21 # "In Private" (instrumental) — 4:21 * 12" maxi / CD maxi # "In Private" (12" version) — 7:12 # "In Private" (7" version) — 4:24 # "In Private" (instrumental version) — 4:24 * 12" maxi / CD maxi - Remixes # "In Private" (remix) — 8:53 # "In Private" (dub) — 6:34 # "In Private" (bonus beats) — 3:56

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

* Written and produced by

* Backing vocals by

Carol Kenyon Carol Kenyon (sometimes spelt Karol; born 1959) is a British singer. She is best known for her vocals on the Heaven 17 hit song "Temptation", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1983. When the song was re-released as a remix by ...

and Katie Kissoon * Co-produced and mixed and engineered by

Julian Mendelsohn Julian Mendelsohn is an Australian record producer, audio engineer and mixer. Early life After completing school in Australia, Mendelsohn moved to the United Kingdom. He secured his first job in 1974 at Milner Sound Fulham Rd. Chelsea, run b ...

* Assistant: Danton Supple * Fairlight- and keyboard programming by Gary Maughan * Remixes by Shep Pettibone * Artwork by 3a * Catalog#: ** on spine: 20 3618 6 ** on back sleeve K: 060 20 3618 6 ** on labels: 060-20 3618 6

References

{{authority control 1989 singles 1990 singles Dusty Springfield songs Pet Shop Boys Songs written by Neil Tennant Songs written by Chris Lowe 1989 songs Parlophone singles Sahara Hotnights songs