"She Drives Me Crazy" is a song by British group Fine Young Cannibals, released in 1988 by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

as the first single from their second and final album, '' The Raw & the Cooked'' (1989). The song was written by the group's frontman

Roland Gift Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as th ...

with David Steele and produced by FYC with David Z. It peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart in January 1989, becoming the band's highest charting single. "She Drives Me Crazy" proved an even bigger hit in the US, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 15 April 1989 for one week and becoming the first of two chart-topping singles for the band on that chart. It also reached No.1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart, as well as in countries including Australia, Austria, Canada, New Zealand and Spain. It reached the top 3 on several European charts including Belgium, West Germany, Iceland, Ireland and Switzerland. Two different music videos were produced for the song, directed by Philippe Decouflé and Pedro Romhanyi. In 2018, ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' magazine listed "She Drives Me Crazy" at No. 28 in their countdown of "The 50 Best '80s Songs". In 2023, ''Billboard'' magazine ranked it No. 77 in their "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time". American country artist Dolly Parton included a reimagined country cover version on her 2008 album ''

Backwoods Barbie ''Backwoods Barbie'' is the forty-second solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on February 26, 2008, by Dolly Records. The album was Parton's first mainstream country album in nearly a decade and marked the ...

''.

Background and recording

Co-produced by Prince associate David Z, the track was recorded in Studio B of Prince's Paisley Park complex outside of Minneapolis. The unique snare drum "pop" sound was created by recording the snare drum portion separately. A speaker was then placed on top of the snare drum, and a microphone below. The original recording of the snare drum part was played back through the speaker and re-recorded.

Critical reception

Jo-Ann Greene from AllMusic stated that "She Drives Me Crazy" "features the most unique, and instantly identifiable, beat/riff combination of the decade." The Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen noted that it, "with its synthesized drums, was a great party song -

Gift A gift or a present is an item given to someone without the expectation of payment or anything in return. An item is not a gift if that item is already owned by the one to whom it is given. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation ...

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

delivery which went into a full-fledged roar was perfect for the track. Even the guitar work fits the track - from the jangly jazz riffs to the crunch of the power chords." David Bennun from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' said that "She Drives Me Crazy" "clattered and chugged and breathed limpid desire just about as well as you could in the Eighties." Pan-European magazine ''

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 it as a "subtly persuasive

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

number that is sure to attract major airplay on pop and rock radio." Pop Rescue called it a "real gem with plenty of guitar, interesting vocals and beeping synth layers." Andy Strickland from '' Record Mirror'' wrote, "Always interesting, always a few surprises and this is no exception from the bandy trio. A stuttering pop record that's too slow to dance to and too fast to smooch to. The FYCs always sprinkle some interesting sounds over their records and here we have funky guitar breaks, heavy metal chords and plenty of things going boing, clicky click ding."

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland * James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman * James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), S ...

from the magazine's DJ Directory deemed it a "haunting sparse jittery tapped then chunky rock guitar chorded whinneying falsetto 108½bpm lurcher".

Music video

Two music videos were produced for "She Drives Me Crazy", one by French choreographer, dancer, mime artist, and theatre director Philippe Decouflé and another by Pedro Romhanyi. The video received several nominations at the

1989 MTV Video Music Awards The 1989 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 6, 1989, honoring the best music videos from April 2, 1988, to June 1, 1989. The show was hosted by Arsenio Hall at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. This year four new "genre" cat ...

, including "Best Video".

Re-release

The song was re-released in 1997 in support of Fine Young Cannibals'

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

'' The Finest''. It included a remix by Roger Sanchez, as well as Mousse T. remixes of " Johnny Come Home". The single reached No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart. "She Drives Me Crazy ( Seth Troxler 'Out of Time' Remix)" was released in 2020 by

Track listings

* 7" single # "She Drives Me Crazy" – 3:35 # "Pull the Sucker Off" – 3:34 * 12" single # "She Drives Me Crazy" (David Z Remix) - 7:05 # "She Drives Me Crazy" (Driven Crazy Dub) - 5:33 # "She Drives Me Crazy (Justin Strauss Remix) - 7:39 # "She Drives Me Crazy (Single Remix) - 3:48 * CD maxi # "She Drives Me Crazy" - 3:35 # "Pull the Sucker Off" - 3:37 # "Tired of Getting Pushed Around" (The Mayhem Rhythm Remix) - 6:37 * CD maxi (1997 Re-release) # "She Drives Me Crazy" (Original 7") - 3:36 # "She Drives Me Crazy" (Roger Sanchez Radio Edit) - 3:33 # "Johnny Come Home" (Mousse T. Edit) - 4:06 # "Johnny Come Home" (Mousse T. Cocktail Mix) - 4:13

Personnel

– vocals *

Andy Cox Andrew Cox (born 25 January 1956) is a British guitarist, who along with Dave Wakeling, formed ska band the Beat in 1978. The Beat achieved eight Top 40 singles and three hit albums in the UK before announcing their break up in 1983. Some of t ...

– guitar * David Steele – bass, keyboards, drum machine

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1988 singles 1988 songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Fine Young Cannibals songs I.R.S. Records singles London Records singles Music videos directed by Pedro Romhanyi Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Spain RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by David Steele (musician) Songs written by Roland Gift