"Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" | ||||
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Single by Haircut One Hundred | ||||
from the album Pelican West [1] | ||||
B-side | "Boat Party" | |||
Released | October 1981 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:02 | |||
Label | Arista | |||
Songwriter(s) | Nick Heyward | |||
Producer(s) | Bob Sargeant | |||
Haircut One Hundred singles chronology | ||||
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"Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" is the debut single by British new wave band Haircut One Hundred, released in October 1981 by Arista Records. It is from their debut album Pelican West , released in 1982. The song reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1981 [3] and was certified silver by the BPI for sales in excess of 200,000 copies. [4]
The song was written by group vocalist Nick Heyward. The writing credits of the B-side, "Boat Party", are attributed to Haircut One Hundred, although the song features guitar riff patterns similar to "Favourite Shirts". Both tracks were recorded at the Roundhouse Studios in Chalk Farm, London, soon after the band had signed to Arista. These recordings are the only ones with Pat Hunt, later replaced by Blair Cunningham, on drums. [5]
"Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" was released in October 1981 on 7" and 12" formats. Writing in the October 1981 issue of Smash Hits , critic Fred Dellar described the single as doing "for jazz-funk what Dexy's once did for R&B". He described it as a "slight" song, although "the musicianship is both impeccable and exciting." [6]
This original 12" mix is different to the one later released on The Best of Nick Heyward & Haircut One Hundred (1989), Pelican West Plus (1992) and The Greatest Hits of Nick Heyward & Haircut One Hundred (1996), which featured longer 12" mixes.
The single initially entered the UK top 40 at No. 40 at the end of October 1981. It then reached its peak position of No. 4 within three weeks, remaining at the same position for a further week, kept off the top spot by such artists as Queen and David Bowie, Julio Iglesias, the Police and Earth, Wind & Fire. The single spent a total of eight weeks in the top 40 and 14 in the top 100. [3] The group appeared on Top of the Pops for the first time to perform the song on 29 October 1981, when the single had reached No. 40 in the UK charts. They performed the song on the show for the second and final time on 12 November 1981, when it was at the No. 9 position.[ citation needed ] It reached its peak of No. 4 on 15 November 1981. [7]
Chart (1981–82) | Peak position |
---|---|
United Kingdom (OCC) | 4 |
Australia (Kent Music Report) [8] | 97 |
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 50 |
US Billboard Disco Top 80 [9] | 41 |
"Golden Brown" is a song by the English rock band the Stranglers released as a 7-inch single on EMI's Liberty label in 1982, noted for its distinctive harpsichord instrumentation. It was the second single released from the band's sixth studio album La folie (1981) and peaked at No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, the band's highest ever placing in that chart. It has also been recorded by many other artists.
Haircut One Hundred are a British pop group formed in 1980 in Beckenham, London, by Nick Heyward, Les Nemes and Graham Jones. In 1981 and 1982, the band scored four UK top-10 singles: "Favourite Shirts ", "Love Plus One", "Nobody's Fool", and "Fantastic Day".
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Nicholas Heyward is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He came to international attention in the early 1980s as the lead singer and songwriter for Haircut One Hundred. He and the band parted ways after their first album, after which he continued as a solo artist.
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"Love Plus One" is a 1982 single by the British new wave band Haircut One Hundred from their debut album Pelican West. It was the band's biggest hit in their native UK, where it reached No. 3 and was certified gold by the BPI for sales in excess of 400,000 copies.
Pelican West is the debut studio album by the British new wave band Haircut One Hundred, released on 26 February 1982 by Arista Records. It peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 31 on the Billboard 200, and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
"Fantastic Day" is a song by British new wave band Haircut One Hundred, released as the third and final single from their debut album Pelican West. The song reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1982.
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