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"9 to 5" (or "Morning Train") is a popular
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...
written by British songwriter Florrie Palmer and recorded by Scottish singer
Sheena Easton
Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...
in
1980, becoming her biggest hit. It peaked at number three in the United Kingdom in August 1980 and was certified
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
. In February 1981, it was released in the United States and Canada under the title "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" to avoid confusion with
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
's recent hit "
9 to 5". It reached number one in both countries, becoming Easton's only chart-topper in those nations.
Easton had released one single prior to "9 to 5": "
Modern Girl
(also shortened to ) were Japanese women who followed Westernized fashions and lifestyles in the period after World War I.
were Japan's equivalent of America's flappers, Germany's , France's , or China's (). By viewing through a Japanese ...
". This had failed to chart highly, but after exposure on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
documentary,
''The Big Time: Pop Singer'', both "9 to 5" and "Modern Girl" were propelled into the top ten at the same time, making her the third female artist (after
Ruby Murray
Ruby Florence Murray (29 March 1935 – 17 December 1996) was a Northern Irish singer. One of the most popular singers in the British Isles in the 1950s, she scored ten hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1954 and 1959. She also made pop chart ...
and
Shirley Bassey) to achieve this feat. "9 to 5" became a top three hit and was one of the best-selling singles of the year.
Early in 1981,
EMI Records decided to launch Easton in the US and released "9 to 5" as her debut single. The title of the song was changed to "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" to avoid confusion with the
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
song of the same name, which charted nearly simultaneously with Easton's record.
Easton's song went to #1 on both the U.S.
pop and
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
charts; it remained at the top for two weeks on ''Billboards pop chart. On ''Billboard'' 1981 year-end charts, it came in as the twelfth-biggest pop and thirteenth-biggest AC hit of the year 1981. It also topped the ''RPM'' magazine pop and AC charts in Canada, reigning over the former for two weeks in May 1981, while also reaching the summit in New Zealand, before being replaced by
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.
Sumner and Hook formed the band after atte ...
's "
Love Will Tear Us Apart
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a song by English rock band Joy Division, released in June 1980 as a non-album single. Its lyrics were inspired by lead singer Ian Curtis's marital problems and struggles with epilepsy. The single was released the m ...
".
The song is about a woman who waits at home all day for her man to come home from work.
The music video was filmed on the
Bluebell Railway
The Bluebell Railway is an heritage line almost entirely in West Sussex in England, except for Sheffield Park which is in East Sussex. It is managed by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It uses steam trains which operate between an ...
, a
heritage line
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
running between East and West Sussex in England. The video stars
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...
No. 488, a preserved
LSWR 0415 Class
The LSWR 415 class is a 4-4-2T steam tank locomotive, with the trailing wheels forming the basis of its "Radial Tank" moniker. It was designed by William Adams and introduced in 1882 for service on the London and South Western Railway (LSWR ...
locomotive.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Other versions
Easton re-recorded the song ("El Primer Tren") for her Spanish-language album ''Todo Me Recuerda a Tí'', in 1983 for the Latin markets.
Swedish-born Norwegian singer
Elisabeth Andreassen
Elisabeth Gunilla Andreassen (; born 28 March 1958), also known as just Bettan, is a Norwegian-Swedish singer who has finished both first and second in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Career
Her talent was discovered in 1979 by Swedish musician and ...
covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
the song in Swedish, as "Han pendlar varje dag" ("He commutes every day") with the new lyrics by
Olle Bergman
Olov (or Olof) is a Swedish form of Olav/Olaf, meaning "ancestor's descendant". A common short form of the name is ''Olle''. The name may refer to:
* Per-Olov Ahrén (1926–2004), Swedish clergyman, bishop of Lund from 1980 to 1992
*Per-Olov Br ...
, on her 1981
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
''
Angel of the Morning
"Angel of the Morning" is a popular song written by Chip Taylor, originally recorded by Evie Sands, but first charting by Merrilee Rush. The song has been covered by many artists including P. P. Arnold, Connie Eaton, Mary Mason, Guys 'n' ...
''. This version also stayed at
Svensktoppen
''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. The last years before the January 2003 cha ...
for 9 weeks during the period 21 February-18 April 1982, with a chart peak of #4.
Also in 1981, the Bulgarian-French singer
Sylvie Vartan
Sylvie Vartan (; born Sylvie Georges Vartanian; hy, Սիլվի Ժորժ Վարդանյան. on 15 August 1944) is an Armenian-Bulgarian-French singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. ...
recorded a French cover of the song entitled "L'amour, c'est comme une cigarette" ("Love is like a cigarette"), with lyrics entirely unrelated to the Easton original.
In 1981, the Czech singer
Helena Vondráčková
Helena Vondráčková (born 24 June 1947, in Prague) is a Czech singer whose career has spanned five decades.
Early life/career
Beginnings
Vondráčková spent her childhood years in the town of Slatiňany. She took piano lessons from an ea ...
recorded a cover called "Nač vlastně v půli vzdávat mač" ("Why actually give up a match in the middle?"). The Czech text was written by Zdeněk Borovec.
Idols South Africa
''Idols'' is a television show on the South African television network Mzansi Magic, and previously on M-Net, based on the popular British show ''Pop Idol''. The show is a contest to determine the best young singer in South Africa.
The general ...
winner
Anke Pietrangeli covered the song on her album ''Tribute to the Great Female Vocalists'' in 2009.
St. Vincent recorded a cover with different lyrics on her 2021 album, ''
Daddy's Home'', titled ''My Baby Wants a Baby''. The album release credits Annie Clark and Florrie Palmer for writing.
In popular culture
It was revealed in the documentary ''
John Peel's Record Box
''John Peel's Record Box'' is a documentary film made by Elaine Shepherd, released on 14 November 2005 on Channel 4. It was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award.
__TOC__
Contents
The box contains a small private collection of the British radio ...
'' that British radio DJ
John Peel loved the record so much that he kept two copies of it in a small wooden box of his 142 favourite singles.
It was referenced in a ''
Not the Nine O'Clock News
''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 1979 to 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the '' Nine O'Clock News'' on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-cur ...
'' sketch, with
Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Helen Stephenson, Lady Connolly (born 4 December 1949) is a New Zealand-born psychologist, writer, and performer who is now a resident in both the United Kingdom and the United States. She is best known for her work as an actress and co ...
playing a housewife who sings the song while cleaning the house. Her husband, played by
Rowan Atkinson returns home, and corrects the wording, beginning by pointing out that he travels to work by bus, not by train, to which Stephenson sings the lines again incorporating the corrected statements.
The song was featured twice in the NBC sitcom ''
Seinfeld''. It first appeared in a scene from the season 8 episode "
The Bizarro Jerry
"The Bizarro Jerry" is the 137th episode of the United States, American television sitcom ''Seinfeld''. This was the third episode of the eighth season, originally airing on the NBC network on October 3, 1996. The title and plot extensively referen ...
"', in a montage of
Kramer's "work" experience.
Its second appearance was in the season 9 episode "
The Butter Shave
"The Butter Shave" is the 157th episode of the NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. It is also the first episode of the ninth and final season. It aired on September 25, 1997. In this episode, George gets a new job and preferential treatment due to his co-wor ...
", where
George Costanza
George Louis Costanza is a fictional character in the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), played by Jason Alexander. He is a short, stocky, balding man who struggles with numerous insecurities, often dooming his romantic rela ...
pretends to be handicapped at work.
In 2001, it was featured in the ''
South Park'' season 5 episode 13, "
Kenny Dies".
The song features in the 2004 movie ''
EuroTrip'': the character of Scotty is forced to sing it in a Manchester United backer's bar.
The beginning of the song is sung by one of the characters in the NBC series ''
Will & Grace
''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman ( Eric McCormack), a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler ( Debra Messi ...
'' in season 8, episode 16, “Grace Expectations”.
The song’s melody is interpolated heavily in ‘My Baby Wants A Baby’, on
St. Vincent's sixth studio album, ''
Daddy’s Home'', and Florrie Palmer is credited as a co-writer.
The song is featured in the NBC series ''
Good Girls'' in season 3, episode 4, "The Eye in Survivor".
See also
*
Cashbox Top 100 number-one singles of 1981
These are the number-one hits on the Top 100 Singles chart in 1981 as published by ''Cash Box'' magazine.
See also
*1981 in music
*List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1981 (U.S.)
References
*http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/randypny4/cashbox/1 ...
*
List of ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one singles of 1981
*
List of train songs
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:9 To 5 (Sheena Easton Song)
1980 singles
1981 singles
Sheena Easton songs
Elisabeth Andreassen songs
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Cashbox number-one singles
Number-one singles in Australia
Number-one singles in New Zealand
RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Song recordings produced by Christopher Neil
Songs about trains
1980 songs
EMI Records singles