The "Sweetest Girl"
| "The "Sweetest Girl"" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Scritti Politti | ||||
| from the album Songs to Remember | ||||
| B-side |
"Lions after Slumber" (UK, US, Germany) "Confidence" (France, Japan) | |||
| Released | 1981 | |||
| Format | ||||
| Genre | Synthpop | |||
| Length |
4:37 (single version) 6:18 (album version) | |||
| Label | Rough Trade | |||
| Writer(s) | Green Gartside | |||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| Scritti Politti singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"The “Sweetest Girl”" (sic) is a song written by Green Gartside. It was originally performed by Gartside's band Scritti Politti, and released in 1981 as a single. The single peaked at number 64 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] The piano is played by Robert Wyatt.
The song became a marginally bigger hit 5 years later, when covered by Madness. Madness' version of the song reached #35 in the UK and #29 in Ireland in early 1986. Madness changed the title of the song slightly, losing both the definite article and the quotation marks around the last two words in "The “Sweetest Girl”", thereby rendering it as "Sweetest Girl"
Scritti Politti version
Track listing
The B-side, "Lions After Slumber" takes its title and quotes, in its final lines, from the 1819 political poem The Masque of Anarchy by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
7" and 12" vinyl (UK, US, Germany)
| Side one | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "The "Sweetest Girl"" | 4:34 |
| Side two | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Lions After Slumber" | 4:58 |
 |
The Sweetest Girl Sample
 An audio sample of " The Sweetest Girl" (1981) |
| Problems playing this file? See media help. | |
7" vinyl (France, Japan)
| Side one | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "The "Sweetest Girl"" | 4:37 |
| Side two | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Confidence" | 3:04 |
Madness version
| "Sweetest Girl" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Madness | ||||
| from the album Mad Not Mad | ||||
| B-side | "Jennie (A Portrait Of)" | |||
| Released | 10 February 1986 | |||
| Format | ||||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length |
4:20 (single version) 5:46 (album version) 7:01 (dub mix) 6:34 (extended mix) | |||
| Label | Zarjazz | |||
| Writer(s) | Green Gartside | |||
| Producer(s) |
Clive Langer Alan Winstanley | |||
| Madness singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The cover of the song by ska-pop band Madness was included on their 1985 album Mad Not Mad and released as a single the following year. The song spent 6 weeks in British charts peaking at number 35.
Video
The song video was featured in the 1986 BBC Omnibus documentary Video Jukebox.[2]
Track listing
7" vinyl
| Side one | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Sweetest Girl" | Green Gartside | 4:20 |
- Horns:- Gary Barnacle
- Backing Vocals:- Afrodiziak
| Side two | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Jennie (A Portrait Of)" | Lee Thompson, Daniel Woodgate | 3:24 |
12" vinyl
| Side one | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Sweetest Girl" (Dub Mix) | Gartside | 7:01 |
| Side two | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Sweetest Girl" (Extended Mix) | Gartside | 6:34 |
| 2. | "Jennie (A Portrait Of)" | Thompson, Woodgate | 3:05 |
Chart performance
| Chart (1986) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[3][4] | 35 |
| Irish Singles Chart[5] | 29 |
References
- ↑ "Chart Stats - Scritti Politti - Sweetest Girl". Retrieved 10 January 2009.
- ↑ "Collections Search | BFI | British Film Institute". Collections-search.bfi.org.uk. 1986-05-09. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
- ↑ "everyhit.com search results". Retrieved 10 January 2009.
- ↑ "Chart Stats - Madness - The Sweetest Girl". Retrieved 10 January 2009.
- ↑ "irishcharts.ie search results". Retrieved 10 January 2009.
External links
- The Sweetest Girl on YouTube - Madness version