My Girl (Madness song)

"My Girl"
Artwork for original 1979 single
Single by Madness
from the album One Step Beyond...
B-side	"Stepping into Line", "In the Rain"
Released	21 December 1979 (1979-12-21)
Recorded	1979
Genre	Ska[1] 2-tone
Length	2:44
Label	Stiff
Songwriter(s)	Mike Barson
Producer(s)	Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley
Madness singles chronology
"One Step Beyond" (1979) "My Girl" (1979) "Night Boat to Cairo" (1980)

"My Girl" is a song by British ska/pop group Madness from their debut album, One Step Beyond.... It was written by Mike Barson.^[2] The song was released as a single on 21 December 1979 and spent 10 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 3.^[3]

The song was reissued on 27 July 1992 following the success of the reissued "It Must Be Love".^[4] It reached number 27 in the UK Singles Chart.^[5]

Song history

Mike Barson was working driving a van and delivering bananas teamed with a co-worker who was always talking about “My girl did this” and “My girl did that”.^[6][7] Barson used this phrasing to write a song about his own experiences with his girlfriend at the time, photographer Kerstin Rodgers.^[8] Barson originally performed lead vocals on the song and sang on the original demo.

The song first made its way into the band's set when they were performing as The Invaders.^[9] The first performance of the song came in July 1978, when the band performed at a shop in Camden Lock called Blind Alley where band member Mark Bedford was working; at the time the song was simply titled "New Song".^[9] Suggs took over the vocal duties from Barson before long, and sang the album version of the song.^[10]

When the group performed the song on Top of the Pops in January 1980, they were the first band of the new decade performing on the TV show.^[11]

Music video

The music video for "My Girl" features Madness performing the song at the Dublin Castle, Camden.^[10] For the video, the stage was extended especially, in order to ensure that the band could perform comfortably.^[10]

Critical reception

Mike Nicholls of Record Mirror noted the contrast between "My Girl" and the band's previous single, "One Step Beyond". He felt "My Girl" to be a "Cockney/Dury-style lament" and "more indicative of the Kilburn and the High Roads side of Madness' sound".^[12]

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", featuring Mike Barson on vocals. In 2006, The Ordinary Boys 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 (Suggs) and Carl Smyth (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's family.^[13] A Pet Shop Boys version of the song appears on the Pet Shop Boys' Christmas 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, It's... Madness, Total Madness and The Business.

Audio Bullys included it on their 2003 instalment of the Back to Mine series of 'after hours grooving' DJ mix albums, with Tom Dinsdale referring to it as "Classic Madness", adding "everyone should be able to relate to this tune".^[14]

Formats and track listings

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

1979 release

7" vinyl single

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"My Girl"	Mike Barson	2:41

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Stepping into Line"	John Hasler, Graham McPherson, Chris Foreman	2:16

12" vinyl single

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"My Girl"	Barson	2:41

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Stepping into Line"	Hasler, McPherson, Foreman	2:16
2.	"In the Rain"	McPherson, Lee Jay Thompson	2:44

1992 release

7" vinyl single

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"My Girl"	Mike Barson	2:41

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Madness" (live)	Cecil Campbell	3:05

CD single, #1

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"My Girl"	Barson	2:41
2.	"E.R.N.I.E." (live)	McPherson, Foreman	2:17
3.	"Embarrassment" (live)	Thompson, Barson	3:15
4.	"Tomorrow's Dream" (live)	Thompson, Barson	4:05

CD single, #2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"My Girl"	Barson	2:41
2.	"Precious One" (live)	Thompson, Smyth	3:40
3.	"My Girl" (live)	Barson	3:20
4.	"Disappear" (live)	McPherson, Bedford	2:33

Chart performance

Chart (1980)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart[3]	3
Irish Singles Chart[15]	3
Chart (1992)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart[5]	27

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[16]	Silver	250,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

My Guy's Mad at Me

"My Guy's Mad at Me"
Single by Tracey Ullman
from the album You Caught Me Out
A-side	"My Guy"
B-side	"Thinking of Running Away"
Released	March 1984
Recorded	January 1984
Genre	Pop
Length	2:54
Label	Stiff
Songwriter(s)	Mike Barson
Producer(s)	Peter Collins
Tracey Ullman singles chronology
"Move Over Darling" (1983) "My Guy's Mad at Me" (1984) "Sunglasses" (1984)

Tracey Ullman covered Madness's "My Girl" in 1984.^[17] The lyric and title were changed to "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" and peaked at number 23.^[18] The music video featured the British politician Neil Kinnock, at the time the Leader of the Opposition.^[19] The single was also released as a 7" picture disc, with a picture of Ullman and Kinnock sitting at a table.

Formats and track listings

7" vinyl single

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"My Guy"	Mike Barson	2:54

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Thinking of Running Away"	Phil Chapman, Peter Collins, Tracey Ullman	2:03

12" vinyl single

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"My Guy" (Extended version)	Barson

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"My Guy"	Barson	2:54
2.	"Thinking of Running Away"	Chapman, Collins, Ullman	2:03

Chart performance

Chart (1984)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart[18]	23
Dutch GfK chart[20]	19
Dutch Top 40[21]	23
Irish Singles Chart[15]	7

References

1. Considine, J. D. (2004). "Madness". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 508. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
2. Greene, Jo-Ann. "One Step Beyond Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
3. "The Official Charts Company - Madness - My Girl". Retrieved 13 June 2009.
4. Iestyn George, ed. (13 June 1992). "News". New Musical Express. p. 3.
5. "The Official Charts Company - Madness - My Girl 1992". Retrieved 13 June 2009.
6. "Suggs and Mike Barson of Madness: how we made One Step Beyond". The Guardian. 25 Nov 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
7. "Madness - My Girl - Explained". YouTube. 18 Jan 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
8. Rodgers, Kerstin (18 June 2011). "For those about to rock: we sauté you!". Retrieved 22 August 2012.
9. "The Ascent of Madness, 1978". Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
10. "The Ascent of Madness, 1979, part 2". Archived from the original on 16 July 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
11. "The Ascent of Madness, 1980". Archived from the original on 16 July 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
12. Nicholls, Mike (5 January 1980). "Singles". Record Mirror. p. 12. ISSN 0144-5804.
13. "Pet Shop Boys official website, see News section, 23 April 2008 and 3 May 2008". Retrieved 13 June 2009.
14. Back to Mine: Audio Bullys liner notes
15. "irishcharts.ie search results". Retrieved 13 June 2009.
16. "British single certifications – Madness – My Girl". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
17. Woodstra, Chris. "You Caught Me Out > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
18. "The Official Charts Company - Tracey Ullman - My Guy". Retrieved 13 June 2009.
19. Phibbs, Harry (1989). "A Decade of Revolution the Thatcher Years" (PDF). London: Adam Smith Institute. p. 76. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
20. "dutchcharts.nl - Tracey Ullman - My Guy's... ...Mad At Me (in Dutch)". Retrieved 13 June 2009.
21. "Nederlandse Top 40, week 15, 1984 (in Dutch)". Retrieved 13 June 2009.

External links

• My Girl at Discogs (list of releases)