Say I'm Your Number One
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"Say I'm Your Number One" (also formatted as "Say I'm Your No. 1") is a song by English singer
Princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...
, released in 1985 as the lead single from her self-titled debut studio album (1986). Written and produced by
Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW and also known as the Hit Factory) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s throug ...
(SAW), the song peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, it reached number 20 on ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
Hot Black Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...
chart, while it reached the top ten in the UK and several of European and Oceanian countries.


Background and recording

Session singer A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a record ...
Desiree Heslop – later to take the stage name Princess – was hired by SAW to workshop some "credible" soul-pop tracks, after distinguishing herself as a backing vocalist on the Brilliant album ''Kiss The Lips of Life''. "I was a singer who had come in to do a job, and had differentiated myself on a part that the other singer wasn't getting", the vocalist remembered of winning over SAW. "So they sent the other lady home." According to Princess and her brother/manager Don Heslop, SAW provided them with a number of basic, unfinished tracks for them to choose from and to help develop, including one that later became "Say I'm Your Number One".
Mike Stock Michael Stock (born 3 December 1951) is an English songwriter, record producer, musician, and member of the songwriting and production trio Stock Aitken Waterman. He has been responsible for over a hundred top-40 hits in the UK, including 16 n ...
remembers specifically choosing the track for the vocalist, writing "I thought it would be fine for Desiree." After a conversation between Don Heslop and producer
Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, and television personality. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman production and songwriting team, he co-wrote and co-produced many UK hit singles. An av ...
, the manager says a plan was floated to collaborate on material between them that could potentially garner a record deal. "What he wanted to do, and what I wanted to do seemed to be written by the same author," said Heslop. "We talked about doing something amazing and taking it to the majors." Waterman recalled of the conversation: "... I'd said that Desiree was only a session singer and has just been paid to sing on something we were working on for Dee C Lee."
Matt Aitken Matthew James Aitken (born 25 August 1956) is an English songwriter and record producer, brought up in Astley, Greater Manchester, best known as part of the 1980s/early-1990s songwriting/production trio Stock Aitken Waterman. Biography He beg ...
says the track is a very rare example of a song written by SAW that first came together without a particular artist or project in mind. He also added that the song was offered to many A&R representatives and artists, but was rejected as they "hated" it. When the Princess-fronted version of the record was finished, no major label would pick up it up, and the snub helped inspire the creation of Supreme Records, which released the track and then became an ongoing vehicle for SAW's output. Initial buzz around the track was created by servicing it to
pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...
, and pressing
white label White label may refer to: * White-label product, a permitted replication and rebranding of a product * White label record, records with plain white labels attached. * White Label Music, an independent record label based in the United Kingdom * ''Wh ...
copies to create the impression it was an American import.


Writing

Speaking on the genesis of the track, Waterman stated he gave Mike Stock and
Matt Aitken Matthew James Aitken (born 25 August 1956) is an English songwriter and record producer, brought up in Astley, Greater Manchester, best known as part of the 1980s/early-1990s songwriting/production trio Stock Aitken Waterman. Biography He beg ...
a brief to write a song that women could mime to men they were attracted to, as the song was played in nightclubs. Among the guide tracks that influenced production was "Genie" by B.B. & Q. Band. The track marked the first appearance of the fictitious drummer A.Linn, aka Waterman, in the credits. While Stock Aitken Waterman are solely credited as the writers of the song, Princess says she contributed to the lyrics and structure of the song during the demo process. Despite the track initially being intended for Lee, Princess felt the evolution of the song under her guidance meant it was effectively always hers. "It was always mine because I did the sensibility and the feeling of the song, and how it morphed from the demo," she said. "I was almost entwined in the song – we co-wrote the bridge, and all the BVs were mine, and to a certain extent, Don’s influence."


Music video

The video for the song, which featured the singer journeying around London, was designed to highlight the Britishness of the record by including cultural icons such as
double-decker buses A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but Open top bus, open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are Coach (bus), coaches too for long-d ...
, and the singer's
bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a Coke hat, billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849 and commissioned by ...
.


Impact and legacy

Retrospectively, in 2020, Daniel Griffiths of ''musicradar.com'' considered "Say I'm Your Number One" as one of the five songs by SAW that producers need to hear, adding that at the time, the trio was "still malleable to whatever new style was arriving in the clubs" and "this US-influenced R'n'B electro groove might come as a SAW surprise". In 2021, British magazine ''
Classic Pop Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...
'' ranked the song number eight in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs". In 2023, Alexis Petridis of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' listed the song at number 9 in his "Stock Aitken Waterman's 20 greatest songs – ranked!", describing it as a "mid-tempo electro pop-soul, heavily influenced by the Brooklyn Bronx & Queens Band".


Chart performance

"Say I'm Your Number One" was Princess' biggest hit single, and although it was the first of a run of four
hit singles A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...
that the artist released with SAW, it proved to be her only top ten entry in her home-country. In the UK, it debuted at number 54 on 3 August 1985 and climbed every week until reaching a peak of number seven for consecutive two weeks; it fell out of the chart after 12 weeks, of which four were spent in the top ten. In Continental Europe, it achieved its highest position in West Germany where it debuted at number 52 on 23 September 1985, rose to number 16 the next week, attained number two in its fifth week, being only beaten by
Modern Talking Modern Talking was a German pop duo consisting of arranger, songwriter and producer Dieter Bohlen and singer Thomas Anders. They have been referred to as Germany's most successful pop duo, and have had a number of hit singles, reaching the to ...
's " Cheri Cheri Lady"; it spent seven weeks in the top ten and 15 weeks on the chart. On the 1985 national year-end chart, it ranked at number 47. "Say I'm Your Number One" also peaked within the top ten in Switzerland and the Netherlands, where it reached number four and number six, respectively, and barely missed the top ten in Ireland and the Flanders region of Belgium where it stalled at numbers 11 and 12. In addition, it was a top 20 hit in Italy, and a top 30 hit in Finland and Austria. On the Pan-
European Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...
chart established by the '' Eurotipsheet'' magazine, it culminated at number ten in its ninth week. In North America, "Say I'm Your Number One" reached number 20 on the ''Billboard''s
Hot Black Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...
chart and number 22 on the
Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...
chart. It was a hit in Oceanian countries, peaking at number two in New Zealand where it ranked for ten weeks in the top 50, and at number eight in Australia.


Other uses

The music of "Say I'm Your Number One" was interpolated with
Bananarama Bananarama is an English pop group formed in London in 1980. The group, originally a trio, consisted of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when ...
's " A Trick of the Night" for the latter song's Number One Mix, the U.K. single remix, and related variations.


Track listings

*7-inch single :A. "Say I'm Your Number One" – 3:38 :B. "Say I'm Your Number One" (Senza Voce) – 4:30 *12-inch single :A. "Say I'm Your Number One" (Full Length Version) – 6:20 :B1. "Say I'm Your Number One" (Short Version) – 5:42 :B2. "Say I'm Your Number One" (Senza Voce) – 3:00 *"After the Love Has Gone / Say I'm Your Number One" :A. "After the Love Had Gone" – 6:48 :B. "Say I'm Your Number One" – 6:14


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


References

{{Stock Aitken Waterman 1985 singles 1985 songs Next Plateau Entertainment singles Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman Songs written by Matt Aitken Songs written by Mike Stock (musician) Songs written by Pete Waterman Supreme Records singles Princess (singer) songs