You're My Favorite Waste Of Time
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"You're My Favorite Waste of Time" (also known as "Favorite Waste of Time" and "My Favourite Waste of Time") is a song written and first released by American singer Marshall Crenshaw. His 1979 home demo of the song was released as the B-side of his 1982 hit " Someday, Someway" and is available on his compilations '' The 9 Volt Years'' and '' This Is Easy: The Best of Marshall Crenshaw''. Written by Crenshaw while in ''
Beatlemania Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles from 1963 to 1966. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom in late 1963, propelled by the singles " Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and " She Loves Yo ...
'', the song was inspired by
the Hollies The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and ...
and featured tongue-in-cheek lyrics about his wife. The song, though originally a B-side, would later be covered by many artists, including
Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...
, who had a minor hit with the song in Australia and the US in 1983, and Owen Paul, who reached number 3 in Britain with his rendition.


Original version

"You're My Favorite Waste of Time" was one of the first songs Marshall Crenshaw wrote, preceding his 1982 hit, "Someday, Someway". Crenshaw explained, "That's one that I actually remember writing. I was still in ''
Beatlemania Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles from 1963 to 1966. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom in late 1963, propelled by the singles " Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and " She Loves Yo ...
'' at the time. The show was at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, and we were going to be there for two weeks. I got there a day early and was hanging out, watching the guys build sets. I went down to the room where all the guitars were, and I grabbed one of those Gibson J-160s. The Beatles, in the early days, used J-160 acoustics with P-90 pickups, so we had a couple of those in the show. I was noodling around, and I made that song up in my head as I was wandering around the theater. I got the title, and I was thinking a song that
The Hollies The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and ...
might do, with a big anthemic chorus and harmonies and stuff." The lyrics were intended by Crenshaw to be humorous. He explained, "The lyrics are tongue-in-cheek. 'You're my favorite waste of time.' It’s a love song. I don’t know what I was thinking of. I guess I was partly thinking about when I used to go over to y wifeIone’s house—this was when we were still in our teens—and we’d wait for her parents to go to bed so we could be alone. While we would do that, we were just sitting around watching TV, killing time. I really liked doing that with her, just sort of doing nothing. You could take it a lot of different ways, though. It’s a funny song, and it’s got funny words. Like, 'I don’t care if being with you is meaningless and ridiculous.' That’s a funny thing to say.' Crenshaw recorded "You're My Favorite Waste of Time" in a homemade sound laboratory in his apartment in
Pelham, New York Pelham is a suburban town in Westchester County, approximately 10 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,078, an increase from the 2010 census.United States Census Bureau, 2020 Report, Pelham to ...
. Crenshaw recorded the song alone, including the percussion, which was a combination of maracas, tambourine and two tracks of a single snare drum: he explained, "For a bass drum I muffled a parade
snare drum The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...
with my hand and hit it just right, then I used the same drum as the snare drum." The song was credited to "Marshall Crenshaw and the Handsome, Ruthless and Stupid Band". The song was originally released as the B-side to Crenshaw's hit "Someday, Someway." It would later appear on compilation albums and would be covered by numerous artists. Reflecting on the song's popularity among other artists Crenshaw later stated that the song "has really had staying power."


Bette Midler version

In 1983, American actress and singer
Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...
covered the song for her sixth studio album ''
No Frills A no-frills or no frills service or product is one for which the non-essential features have been removed to keep the price low. The term "Ruffle (sewing), frills" originally refers to a style of fabric decoration. Something offered to customers f ...
'', which also included covers of " Don't Know Much" (under the title "All I Need to Know" and with changed lyrics), and " Beast of Burden". Midler's version reached number 44 on the
Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...
and number 78 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song also appears on her 2015 compilation album '' A Gift of Love''. Crenshaw said of Midler's version, "I guess there must have been something in it that struck her as funny—that appealed to her sense of humor perhaps, whatever that is." Midler's version includes a brief third verse (starting with "one last thing") that Crenshaw did not write; Midler or an associate presumably wrote it, uncredited. Numerous cover versions of the song (including Owen Paul's, below) include this third verse.


Owen Paul version

The song was recorded by Scottish singer Owen Paul and released in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
on May 19, 1986. It remains his biggest hit single, reaching number 3 on the UK
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in July 1986 and at number 23 in Australia. Paul is usually considered as a "
one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...
" because of the song's popularity and the fact that it was his only UK chart single. This recording features future
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member Mark Luckhurst on bass. It was aborted on the television programme '' Pebble Mill at One'' when the band members just stood still instead of miming as they were unable to hear the backing track. Referring to the Paul's version, Crenshaw said that "a guy in Britain picked up on ette Midler'sversion of it and had his own smash hit, which still gets played on the radio all the time in Europe." Crenshaw was critical of Paul's version in an interview, saying "I can't listen to even twenty seconds of that record at all." Following its success, Paul re-recorded the song three times, first in 2016 to celebrate its 30th anniversary, second in 2020 as a lockdown session, and most recently in 2021 to celebrate its 35th anniversary. However, all of those versions failed to chart.


Charts


References

{{Authority control 1979 songs 1982 singles 1983 singles 1986 singles Marshall Crenshaw songs Bette Midler songs Johnny Logan (singer) songs Songs written by Marshall Crenshaw Atlantic Records singles Epic Records singles Warner Records singles