Get Down (Gilbert O'Sullivan song)

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"Get Down"
Get Down - Gilbert O'Sullivan.jpg
Single by Gilbert O'Sullivan
from the album I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter
B-side "A Very Extraordinary Sort of Girl"
Released9 March 1973 [1]
Recorded1973
Genre Pop Rock
Length2:39
Label MAM
Songwriter(s) Gilbert O'Sullivan
Producer(s) Gordon Mills
Gilbert O'Sullivan singles chronology
"Out of the Question"
(1973)
"Get Down"
(1973)
"Ooh, Baby"
(1973)
Official audio
"Get Down" on YouTube

"Get Down" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, from his 1973 album I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter . Released as a single, it spent two weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart in April 1973, [2] was also a number-one hit in Ireland for three weeks and was a top-ten hit in the United States and Canada. The song was originally used by O'Sullivan as a piano warm-up tune, [3] but was eventually extended into a full song and released as a single; O'Sullivan recorded and released the song as a change from his more melancholy pieces.

Contents

Believed to be an order from O'Sullivan to his dog ("Get Down!"), the singer is actually referring to a girl in the song behaving as a dog jumping on him, hence the request to "get down". [4]

The distinctive electric piano riff was performed by Laurie Holloway. [5]

In 2006 British dance group Malibu Sneakers recorded a dance version of the song entitled "Get Down Again". [6] In 2008 it was released as a vinyl 12", including a vocal remix by Raul Rincon. [7]

The song was used in the 2013 film The Harry Hill Movie . [8]

According to Rick Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band, the song was the inspiration for the 1975 disco hit "Get Down Tonight". [9]

Personnel

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1973)Peak
position
Argentina [10] 6
Australia (KMR) [11] 6
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [12] 3
Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders) [13] 2
Canada (RPM) Top Singles [14] 3
Canada (RPM) Adult Contemporary [15] 1
Denmark (Tracklisten)4
France (SNEP) [16] 8
Ireland (IRMA) [17] 1
Italy (FIMI) [18] 10
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [19] 3
New Zealand ( Listener ) [20] 7
Norway (VG-lista) [21] 4
South Africa (Springbok) [22] 3
Spain (AFYVE) [23] 3
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [24] 2
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [25] 1
U.S. (Billboard Hot 100) [26] 7
U.S. (Billboard Easy Listening) [27] 3
U.S. ( Cash Box Top 100) [28] 4
West Germany (GfK) [29] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1973)Rank
Australia [11] 34
Canada [30] 67
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [31] 38
Switzerland [32] 5
UK [33] 14
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [34] 66
U.S. Cash Box [35] 40

Maison Ikkoku

This song, along with another one of O'Sullivan's songs, "Alone Again (Naturally)", were featured as the opening and ending for episode 24 of the Japanese anime hit Maison Ikkoku . At the time, O'Sullivan was signed to production company Kitty Film's associated record label, Kitty Records, which wanted to use the anime's popularity as a way to promote the singer's career in Japan. According to series director Kazuo Yamazaki, the reason the songs were dropped after only one episode was that they were unpopular with viewers; due to copyright issues, they were not included on the English-language American release of the anime, replaced by the previously used Japanese theme songs. The anime was based upon the popular manga of the same name by Rumiko Takahashi.

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<i>Im a Writer, Not a Fighter</i> 1973 studio album by Gilbert OSullivan

I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter is the third studio album by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, originally released by MAM Records in September 1973. After becoming one of the most successful performers worldwide in 1972, O'Sullivan pursued new directions with the album, taking influence from rock music and funk and incorporating an array of then-new electric keyboards, as well as emphasizing a new rhythmical focus. The album was recorded "on and off" with producer Gordon Mills at the latter's studio, and although several overdubs were recorded in the United States, O'Sullivan referred to the album as an ultimately "very ad hoc home-based" project.

<i>A Stranger in My Own Back Yard</i> 1974 studio album by Gilbert OSullivan

A Stranger in My Own Back Yard is the fourth studio album by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, originally released in October 1974 by MAM Records. Peaking at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart, it was O'Sullivan's fourth and, to date, final top ten album, although it received positive reviews from critics. After the funk-inflected I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter, A Stranger in My Own Back Yard marked a return to the style of O'Sullivan's first two albums. The album's only single, "A Woman's Place", was O'Sullivan's first since his breakthrough to miss the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. Union Square Music reissued the album on the Salvo label in 2012 as part of the Gilbert O'Sullivan - A Singer & His Songs collection.

References

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