"Legal Man" is the debut single of Scottish

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" come ...

. The track features

Isobel Campbell Isobel Campbell (born 27 April 1976) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and cellist. She rose to prominence at age nineteen as a member of the indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, but left the group to pursue a solo career, first as The Gentle Waves ...

, Sarah Martin, and Rozanne Suarez (credited as the Maisonettes) on vocals and

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...

drummer

Jonny Quinn Jonathan Graham Quinn (born 26 February 1972) is a Northern Irish musician, best known as the drummer for alternative rock band Snow Patrol, and was previously a member of bands like The Mighty Fall, The New Brontes and Disraeli Gears. As drumm ...

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

. The cover artwork—designed by Andrew Symington—features band members

Stevie Jackson Stephen Jackson (born 16 January 1969) is a Scottish musician and songwriter. He plays lead guitar and sings in the Glasgow-based indie band Belle and Sebastian. Career Jackson's early musical influences include Madness, ABBA, Orchestral Ma ...

and Campbell along with Adrienne Payne and Suarez. Two B-sides were released with the single: "Judy Is a Dick Slap", an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

, and "Winter Wooskie", which was the last time bass player

Stuart David Stuart David is a Scottish musician, songwriter and novelist. He co-founded the band Belle and Sebastian and was a member from 1996 to 2000, and then went on to front Looper (1998–present).Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discograp ...

sang lead vocals before departing the band in 2000. "Legal Man" was released in May 2000, first in the United States on 16 May, then in the United Kingdom six days later. It reached number 15 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, number 10 in Norway, number 46 in Sweden, and number 50 in Ireland. In Canada, the track reached number four on

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart was a chart compiled by the American-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan, which began publication in November 1996. It was published every Wednesday and also published on Thursday by '' Jam!''/Canoe. I ...

. The song's music video was directed by Campbell.

B-sides

"Judy Is a Dick Slap" is the first instrumental released by the band while "Winter Wooskie" is the third and final song featuring lead vocals from former bass player

, who left the band in 2000. All three tracks from the single were later collected on the '' Push Barman to Open Old Wounds'' compilation.

Track listings

All songs were written by Belle and Sebastian. CD single # "Legal Man" # "Judy Is a Dick Slap" # "Winter Wooskie" 7-inch single :A. "Legal Man" :B. "Winter Wooskie" 12-inch single :A. "Legal Man" :B. "Judy Is a Dick Slap"

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the UK 7-inch single sleeve and disc notes. Studio * Recorded at

CaVa Studios Ca Va Studios or Ca Va Sound is a professional recording studio based in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland. CaVa has previously had bases both in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The studios began in 1974 started by founder Brian Young and his team. Sin ...

(

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland) Personnel * Belle and Sebastian – writing, production * The Maisonettes – vocals * Rozanne Suarez – vocals, cover star *

–

* Tony Doogan – production, recording * Willie Deans – recording assistant * Ian Grier – recording assistant *

– cover star *

– cover star * Adrienne Payne – cover star * Katrina House – back cover star * Andrew Symington – cover design

Charts

Release history

References

External links

"Legal Man" at belleandsebastian.com

"Legal Man" at jeepster.co.uk
{{Authority control 2000 debut singles 2000 songs Belle and Sebastian songs Jeepster Records singles Matador Records singles