George (song)

Last updated

"George"
HeadlessChickensGeorge.jpg
Single by Headless Chickens
from the album Greedy
A-side "Cruise Control" (Eskimos in Egypt mix)
B-side
  • "Bestiary"
  • "Milton Babbit's Rarotongan Holiday"
Released1994
RecordedSeptember 1994
Studio York St. (Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand)
Genre Alternative rock [1]
Length4:12
Label Flying Nun
Songwriter(s) Headless Chickens
Producer(s) Malcolm Welsford, Headless Chickens
Headless Chickens singles chronology
"Mr. Moon"
(1993)
"George" / "Cruise Control"
(1994)
"Magnet"
(1997)
Music video
"George" on YouTube

"George" is a song by New Zealand rock band Headless Chickens, released as the lead single from their third studio album, Greedy , in 1994. Charting as a double A-side with the Eskimos in Egypt mix of their 1991 song "Cruise Control", [2] the single reached number one in the band's native New Zealand for four weeks in 1994 and 1995 and received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ). "George" was nominated for Single of the Year at the 1995 New Zealand Music Awards, losing to Purest Form's "Message to My Girl". [3] In 1997, the song was released in Australia, where it peaked at number 67 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

Contents

Music video

The music video for "George" was directed by Stephen McGlashan and Marcus Ringrose. [1] It features the band performing the song in black-and-white while various coloured, ominous clips are show, including one of a tattooed man crawling across concrete. NZ On Screen called the video "strong", noting how the tone matches the song's "menacing" lyrics. [1] The song's video, along with the clip for the Eskimos in Egypt mix of "Cruise Control", was nominated for Best Video at 1995 New Zealand Music Awards but lost to the video for Supergroove's "Can't Get Enough". [3]

Track listing

CD and cassette single [4] [5]

  1. "George"
  2. "Cruise Control" (Eskimos in Egypt mix)
  3. "Bestiary"
  4. "Milton Babbit's Rarotongan Holiday"

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the CD single and the Greedy liner notes. [4] [6]

Studios

Charts

Chart (1994–1997)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [7] 67
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [8] 1

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ) [9] Gold5,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Something Good (Bic Runga song)</span> 2002 single by Bic Runga

"Something Good" is a song written, produced, and performed by New Zealand singer Bic Runga. The song was released in New Zealand in 2002 and reached number four on the RIANZ Singles Chart. In 2003, "Something Good" received the Best Solo Video award from Juice TV. On 21 June 2004, the song was released in the United Kingdom as a maxi-single but failed to chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emotion (Samantha Sang song)</span> 1977 single by Samantha Sang

"Emotion" is a song written by Barry and Robin Gibb. It was first recorded by Australian singer Samantha Sang, whose version reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978. The Bee Gees recorded their own version of the song in 1994 as part of an album called Love Songs, which was never released, but it was eventually included on their 2001 collection titled Their Greatest Hits: The Record. In 2001, "Emotion" was covered by the American R&B girl group Destiny's Child. Their version of the song was an international hit, reaching the top ten on the US Hot 100 chart and peaking in the top five on the UK Singles Chart. English singer Emma Bunton also covered the song on her 2019 album My Happy Place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moonshine (Savage song)</span> 2005 single by Savage

"Moonshine" is a song by New Zealand rapper Savage featuring Senegalese-American singer Akon, released in March 2005 as the second single from Savage's debut studio album, Moonshine (2005). It was also included on Savage's 2008 album, Savage Island. The song spent seven weeks atop of the New Zealand Singles Chart and placed third overall on New Zealand's year-end chart for 2005. In Australia, the song was released in November 2005 and reached number nine on the ARIA Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Absolutely Everybody</span> 1999 single by Vanessa Amorosi

"Absolutely Everybody" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Vanessa Amorosi, released as the second single from her debut album, The Power (2000), on 15 November 1999 by Transistor Music Australia. The song reached number six in Australia and number 10 in New Zealand, and when released in Europe the following year, it peaked at number seven in the United Kingdom, number one in Hungary, and the top 10 in five other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Power of Love (Jennifer Rush song)</span> 1984 single by Jennifer Rush

"The Power of Love" is a song co-written and originally recorded by American singer-songwriter Jennifer Rush in 1984. It was released as the fifth single from her debut album, Jennifer Rush (1984), and has since been covered by Air Supply, Laura Branigan, and Celine Dion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Headless Chickens</span> New Zealand band

The Headless Chickens was a New Zealand band. Going against the grain of the Dunedin sound that dominated the Flying Nun Records roster at the time, the Headless Chickens made extensive use of electronic instruments in their music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Fingernails, Red Wine (song)</span> 2006 single by Eskimo Joe

"Black Fingernails, Red Wine" is a song by Australian alternative rock band Eskimo Joe, released in May 2006 as the lead single their third studio album of the same name. The song became their first song to peak inside the Australian Singles Chart top 10, peaking at number six. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2006, the song won ARIA Award for Single of the Year and was ranked number two on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2006. At the 2007 West Australian Music Industry Awards, the song won Most Popular Single/EP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swear It Again</span> 1999 single by Westlife

"Swear It Again" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife. The ballad was released on 19 April 1999 in the United Kingdom as the first single from their debut album, Westlife (1999). The song peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks, giving Westlife their first of 14 UK number-one singles. "Swear It Again" is Westlife's only single to have charted in the US, peaking at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and ranking number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie (song)</span> 2002 single by Goodshirt

"Sophie" is a song by New Zealand band Goodshirt. The track became the band's only New Zealand number-one single in May 2002 and was the 18th-highest-selling single of the year there.

<i>ChickensHits</i> 2002 compilation album by Headless Chickens

ChickensHits is a "greatest hits album" released in 2002 by the New Zealand band, Headless Chickens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juice (Headless Chickens song)</span> 1992 single by Headless Chickens

"Juice" is a song by New Zealand rock band Headless Chickens, released as a single in 1992. The track was originally titled "Dreamchild", having been written and performed by Fiona McDonald for Strawpeople. When McDonald later joined the Headless Chickens, the song was reworked and renamed "Juice". It was released as a double A-side with "Choppers" and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, staying on the chart for 15 weeks. In Australia, the track was voted in at number 44 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993. In 1994, a 12-inch vinyl disc was issued in the United Kingdom featuring two remixes by Ollie J.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crawl (Atlas song)</span> 2007 single by Atlas

"Crawl" is the first commercially available single by New Zealand rock band Atlas, released in 2007 from their debut album, Reasons for Voyaging. It stayed atop New Zealand's RIANZ Singles Chart for seven weeks and was certified gold for selling over 5,000 copies in New Zealand. A music video directed by Olly Langridge was created for the song. In a 2009 interview with New Zealand news media site Stuff, vocalist Sean Cunningham said, "Believe it or not, when we were writing 'Crawl' we didn't know it was a catchy song."

Fiona Maude McDonald is a New Zealand pop singer and television personality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Are You In?</span> 2002 single by Incubus

"Are You In?" is a song by American rock band Incubus. It was released in Europe and Australia as the fourth single from their fourth studio album, Morning View (2001), on July 15, 2002. The liner notes for the album contain no lyrics to this song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Got the Feelin'</span> 1998 single by Five

"Got the Feelin'" is a song by English boy band Five. It was released in June 1998 as the third single from their debut studio album, Five (1998). It was written by Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher, Jason "J" Brown, Sean Conlon, and Abs Breen and produced by Denniz Pop and Jake Schulze. The song became a hit, peaking at No. 3 in the United Kingdom, No. 2 in New Zealand, No. 4 in Ireland, and No. 6 in Australia. It was also successful in several mainland European countries.

Chris Matthews is a New Zealand rock musician. He has been a member of numerous bands, notably Children's Hour, This Kind of Punishment and The Headless Chickens for whom he was guitarist and lead vocalist, as well as writer or co-writer of many of their songs. Among these was the 1991 single "Cruise Control", co-written by Matthews and Michael Lawry, which was voted by APRA's members as the 76th greatest New Zealand song of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calvin Harris discography</span>

Scottish DJ Calvin Harris has released six studio albums, one mix album, nine extended plays, 56 singles, 12 promotional singles and 47 music videos. As of November 2014, Harris had sold 8,176,180 singles and tracks in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cruise Control (Headless Chickens song)</span> 1991 single by Headless Chickens

"Cruise Control" is a song by New Zealand band Headless Chickens. Written by members Chris Matthews and Michael Lawry, the track was released as the second single from the band's second studio album, Body Blow (1991), in 1991 and reached number six on the New Zealand Singles Chart. Three years later, the song was remixed and re-released as the "Eskimos in Egypt" mix. This version of the song peaked at number 26 in Australia and topped the New Zealand chart as a double A-side with "George".

<i>Stunt Clown</i> 1988 studio album by Headless Chickens

Stunt Clown is the debut full-length studio album by the New Zealand rock band Headless Chickens. The album, released in 1988 through Flying Nun Records, peaked at number 18 in the New Zealand charts. Primarily produced by Rex Vizible and Roland Morris as well as the Headless Chickens themselves, Strawpeople member Mark Tierney also served production duties on the album's bonus tracks. It was reissued in 1995, affixed with the tracks featured in the band's 1986 EP that had previously been included in some international releases of Stunt Clown.

<i>A Different Hunger</i> 1999 studio album by Fiona McDonald

A Different Hunger is the only studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Fiona McDonald, released on 30 September 1999 by Flying Nun Records and Mushroom Records.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "George – Headless Chickens, Music Video Overview". NZ On Screen . Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  2. "Official Top 40 Singles – 27 November 1994". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  3. 1 2 "1995 Winners". New Zealand Music Awards. Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  4. 1 2 George / Cruise Control (New Zealand maxi-CD single liner notes). Headless Chickens. Flying Nun Records, Festival Records. 1994. FNCD302, D 11919.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. George / Cruise Control (New Zealand cassette single sleeve). Headless Chickens. Flying Nun Records, Festival Records. 1994. FNMC 302, C11919.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. Greedy (New Zealand CD album liner notes). Headless Chickens. Flying Nun Records, Mushroom Records. 1994. FNCD320, MUSH33025.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  8. "Headless Chickens – George". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  9. "New Zealand single certifications – Headless Chickens – George / Cruise Control". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 22 February 2019.