"I'm Not Scared" is a song by British pop band Eighth Wonder, released in February 1988 by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

as the first single from their debut album, '' Fearless'' (1988). The song achieved success in France, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and West Germany, where it was a top-10 hit. Written by the

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

, the original version contains several words in French. "J'ai pas peur" is the French adaptation of "I'm Not Scared" and is included as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to the 7-inch and 12-inch singles. The 12-inch "disco mix" combines the two versions into one long mix. Pet Shop Boys also released their own version of the song, with

Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for '' Smash Hits'', and assist ...

vocals, on the album '' Introspective''.

Critical reception

In his review of the song, John Wilde 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. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' wrote, "It is entirely meaningless and is exactly what you expect it to be. This doesn't stop it roving through an empty space with a fair amount of scarlet charm." Another ''Melody Maker'' editor, Chris Roberts, complimented the single as "fine". Jerry Smith of ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' considered that it was not surprising that "I'm not Scared" sounds like

and Phil Harding production, as the song was written and produced by them, noted "Kensit's distinctive, breathy vocal" and deemed the song a potential hit.

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), Sco ...

from ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' wrote in his dance column, "Patsy Kensit-lisped and French-spoken lethargic Eurobeat-ish ultimately quite haunting 0--0bpm slinker produced by the Pet Shop Boys and Phil Harding". William Shaw from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' felt the song "definitely bears all the hallmarks of

Eurodisco Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is a genre of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the middle 1970s, incorporating elements of pop music, pop and rock music, rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco ...

— all the little insistent keyboard tunes, all the thumping bass bits, all the chattering drum machines. But where most Eurodisco records tend to be lyrically a bit daff and musically lightweight, this is a work of genius. An extremely girlie sounding Patsy Kensit strides through a city full of dogs singing a beautifully mournful melody about how she's not afraid of them, first in English, and then (just to add a touch of Euro-flavour) in French. Strange indeed, but mighty compelling."

Retrospective response

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' ranked the song at number 62 on its "100 Greatest Dance Songs" list in 2006, writing, "'I'm Not Scared' is unmistakably a Lowe/Tennant composition, with sharp staccato synth lines, a fluctuating bassline, histrionic lyrics ending in curly, figurative question marks .. andon the extended Disco Versiondramatic string stabs".

Track listings

* 7-inch single and cassette single # "I'm Not Scared" – 3:49 # "J'ai pas peur" – 5:48 * 10-inch single # "I'm Not Scared" (10-inch remix) – 5:30 # "J'ai pas peur" – 5:48 * UK 12-inch and CD single, European mini-CD single # "I'm Not Scared" (disco mix) – 7:58 # "I'm Not Scared" – 4:30 (album version) # "J'ai pas peur" – 5:48 * US 12-inch single :A1. "I'm Not Scared" (long Euro mix) / (disco mix) – 7:58 :A2. "J'ai pas peur" – 5:48 :B1. "I'm Not Scared" (

Little Louie Vega Luis Ferdinand Vega Jr. (born June 12, 1965), as known as "Little Louie" Vega, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer of Puerto Ricans in the United States, Puerto Rican ancestry. He is one half of the Masters at Work musical production ...

mix) – 7:17 :B2. "Baby Baby" (Dusted mix) – 6:00 * Japanese mini-CD single # "I'm Not Scared" (disco mix) – 8:00 # "J'ai pas peur" – 5:51

Credits

Original version * Artwork by Stylorouge * Photography by Eamon J. McCabe * Produced by Pet Shop Boys and Phil Harding * Programmed by Ian Curnow * Written by Tennant and Lowe Little Louie Vega mix & Dub version * Edited by Tony Moran * Assistant: Chris Trevett * Recording by Mike Rogers * Remixed by Hugo Dwyer * Keyboards by Mac Quayle * Produced by "Little" Louie Vega

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

* The Pet Shop Boys included their own version of the song on their 1988 album '' Introspective''. * Swedish Pet Shop Boys tribute group West End Girls covered the song for their 2006 debut album '' Goes Petshopping''.

References

{{Authority control 1988 singles 1988 songs CBS Records singles Eighth Wonder songs Number-one singles in Italy Pet Shop Boys songs Song recordings produced by Phil Harding (producer) Songs written by Chris Lowe Songs written by Neil Tennant