"My Girl" is a song by British

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

/ pop group Madness from their debut album, '' One Step Beyond...''. It was written by

Mike Barson Michael Barson (born 21 April 1958) is a Scottish-born multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Barson came to prominence in the late 1970s as the keyboard player for the band Madness. Early y ...

. The song was released as a single on 21 December 1979 and spent 10 weeks 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 ...

, peaking at number 3. The song was reissued in 1992 following the success of the reissued " It Must Be Love". It reached number 27 in the UK Singles Chart.

Song history

The song first made its way into the band's set when they were performing as The Invaders. The first performance of the song came in July 1978, when it was performed by the band at the "Blind Alley Shop" and simply titled "New Song". Barson originally performed lead vocals, and even sang on the demo for the song, having written the song about his then girlfriend, Kerstin Rodgers. However,

Suggs Graham McPherson (born 13 January 1961), known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor from Hastings, England. In a music career spanning 40 years, he came to prominence in the ...

took over the vocal duties before long, and sang the album version of the song. When the group performed the song on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'' in January 1980, they were the first band of the new decade performing on the TV show.

Music video

The music video for "My Girl" features Madness performing the song at the Dublin Castle

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. For the video, the stage was extended especially, in order to ensure that the band could perform comfortably.

Other versions

A demo version of "My Girl" was released on the B-side of the 12" version of "

The Return of the Los Palmas 7 "The Return of the Los Palmas 7" is a song by British ska/Pop music, pop band Madness (band), Madness, written by Mike Barson, Mark Bedford and Daniel Woodgate.Woodstra, Chris. The song was Woodgate's first credit as a songwriter, and was relea ...

", featuring Mike Barson on vocals. In 2006,

The Ordinary Boys The Ordinary Boys are an English indie rock band from Worthing, West Sussex. Originally a hardcore outfit named Next in Line, they are influenced by punk rock and Britpop music, as well as the bands the Clash, the Specials, the Jam, the Kink ...

released a live recording of the song at the Brixton Academy featuring Suggs, as the B-side to their single " Nine-2-Five". On 2 May 2008,

Graham McPherson Graham McPherson (born 13 January 1961), known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor from Hastings, England. In a music career spanning 40 years, he came to prominence in the ...

(Suggs) and

Carl Smyth Cathal Joseph "Carl" Smyth (born 14 January 1959), also known as Chas Smash, is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His career spans more than 40 years. Smash came to prominence in the late 1970s as secondary vocalist, trump ...

(Chas Smash) performed a new arrangement by Pet Shop Boys live at Heaven in London; they appeared as part of Pet Shop Boys' live set during ''Can You Bear It?'', the benefit evening for

Dainton Connell Dainton Connell (14 February 1961 – 5 October 2007), known as "Denton" or "The Bear", was an English former hooligan. He was leader of one of the Arsenal's hooligan firms during the 1980s. Later in his life he served as a bodyguard, minder an ...

's family. A Pet Shop Boys version of the song appears on the Pet Shop Boys' ''

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

'' EP, along with a remix of the song. Barson wrote a follow-up song, "My Girl 2", which was recorded by Madness and released as a single in 2012. Though it contains the phrase "my girl", "My Girl 2" is otherwise musically and lyrically quite distinct from "My Girl".

Appearances

In addition to its single release and appearance on the album ''One Step Beyond...'' "My Girl" also appears on the Madness collections '' Divine Madness'' (a.k.a. ''The Heavy Heavy Hits''), ''

Complete Madness ''Complete Madness'' is the first greatest hits album by ska/pop group Madness. It was released in 1982 and included Madness' biggest hits from their first three studio albums and the stand-alone singles. ''Complete Madness'' spent 99 weeks on th ...

'', '' It's... Madness'', '' Total Madness'' and '' The Business''.

Audio Bullys Audio Bullys are an English electronic music project, originally consisting of Simon Franks and Tom Dinsdale. The group were once managed by the DJ and presenter George Lamb. Franks and Dinsdale released their debut album ''Ego War'' in 2003, ...

included it on their 2003 installment of the ''

Back to Mine ''Back to Mine'' is a series of mix albums, usually mixed by DJs or composers of electronic music. The compilations usually feature artists other than the artist compiling the album, and are based on what the artist would play in their home aft ...

'' series of 'after hours grooving'

DJ mix album A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically mixed together to appear as one continuous track. DJ mixes are usually performed using a DJ mixer and multiple sounds sources, such as turntables, CD players, digital audio players ...

s, with Tom Dinsdale referring to it as "Classic Madness", adding "everyone should be able to relate to this tune".

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "My Girl".

1979 release

;7" vinyl single ;12" vinyl single

1992 release

;7" vinyl single

Chart performance

Certifications and sales

My Guy's Mad at Me

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman, 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and director. Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows '' A Kick Up the Eighties'' ( ...

covered Madness's "My Girl" in 1984. The title was changed to "My Guy", and the single was titled "My Guy's Mad at Me". Madness' Mark Bedford played bass on the track. Her version was in the UK Top 40 at the same time as Madness' "

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

" and peaked at number 23. The music video featured the British politician

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...

, at the time the Leader of the Opposition. The single was also released as a 7"

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at lea ...

, with a picture of Ullman and Kinnock sitting at a table.

Formats and track listings

;7" vinyl single ;12" vinyl single

Chart performance

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:My Girl 1979 singles Madness (band) songs 1984 singles Tracey Ullman songs Songs written by Mike Barson 1979 songs Stiff Records singles Virgin Records singles Song recordings produced by Clive Langer Song recordings produced by Alan Winstanley