"Peaches" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by the Stranglers | ||||
from the album Rattus Norvegicus | ||||
A-side | "Go Buddy Go" | |||
Released | 6 May 1977 [1] | |||
Studio | T.W. Studios, Fulham | |||
Length | 4:03 | |||
Label | United Artists | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Martin Rushent | |||
The Stranglers singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
2014 reissue vinyl alternative sleeve | ||||
Official audio | ||||
"Peaches" (1996 Remaster) on YouTube |
"Peaches" is the second single by the Stranglers,taken from their debut studio album Rattus Norvegicus (1977). Notable for its distinctive bassline,the track peaked at No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart. [2]
The lyrics to "Peaches" featured coarse sexual language and innuendo to a degree that was unusual for the time. The song's narrator is girl-watching on a crowded beach one hot summer day. It is never made clear if his lascivious thoughts (such as "there goes a girl and a half") are an interior monologue,comments to his companions,or come-on lines to the attractive women in question. The critic Tom Maginnis wrote that Hugh Cornwell sings with "a lecherous sneer...spill[ing] into macho parody or even censor-baiting territory". [3]
The single was a double A-side with "Go Buddy Go". [4] The latter was played on UK radio at the time and also was performed on the band's first BBC TV Top of the Pops appearance,because the sexual nature of the lyrics of "Peaches" caused the BBC to censor it. [5] Still,"Peaches" was ranked at No. 18 among the top "Tracks of the Year" for 1977 by NME , [6] and it reached No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart. [2] The radio cut was re-recorded with less explicit lyrics:"clitoris" was replaced with "bikini","oh shit" with "oh no" and "what a bummer" with "what a summer". The catalogue number of the radio version was FREE 4.
In a 2022 feature, Guitar World named "Peaches" as having the 4th best bassline of all time. [7]
"Peaches" plays over the opening credits of Jonathan Glazer's 2000 film Sexy Beast . [3]
An edited version of "Peaches",minus the lyrics,was used as the closing theme tune to many of the TV chef Keith Floyd's Floyd on... television shows and during a party scene in the 1997 film Metroland . The song is also on the soundtrack of the video game Driver:Parallel Lines (2006). It was used by Adidas in advertising in the Netherlands in 2002.
The song is heard in episode nine of series two of the TV series Gotham ,the opening sequence of a 2006 Hollyoaks episode,and the 2011 film Killer Elite. [ citation needed ]
Dub Pistols covered the song on their 2007 album,Speakers and Tweeters,with Rodney P on guest MC vocals and Terry Hall of the Specials singing the chorus.
The song is used in episode 16 (2011) of the BBC series Being Human ,when the hungry "teenage" vampire Adam stalks three teenage girls into a game arcade.[ citation needed ]
The song was featured twice in the Back to Mine series of "after hours grooving" DJ mix albums,with Liam Howlett and Audio Bullys both including it. Simon Franks of the latter referred to it as "raw UK old school". [8]
The single was re-issued,with "Go Buddy Go",on green vinyl and with a new sleeve for the 2014 Record Store Day. [9]
The Stranglers
Chart (1977) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [10] | 54 |
UK Singles (OCC) [11] | 8 |
The Stranglers are an English rock band. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 20 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades,the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the UK punk scene.
"Golden Brown" is a song by 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). The single peaked at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart,making it the band's highest-charting single in the country. It has also been recorded by many other artists.
Rattus Norvegicus is the debut studio album by English punk rock band the Stranglers,released on 15 April 1977.
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Greatest Hits 1977–1990 is a compilation album by the Stranglers,released in November 1990 by Epic Records. It contains hit singles selected from their back catalogue from both EMI and Epic Records.
Dreamtime is the ninth studio album by the Stranglers,released in 1986 by Epic Records. The title track was inspired by a belief of the aboriginal peoples of Australia called Dreamtime.
10 is the tenth studio album by English rock band the Stranglers,released in March 1990 by Epic Records. It was the last to feature guitarist/lead singer Hugh Cornwell. 10 peaked at No. 15 and spent four weeks in the UK Albums Chart.
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Jean-Jacques Burnel is an English musician,producer and songwriter,best known as the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist with the English rock band the Stranglers. He is the only original member to remain in the band.
Peaches:The Very Best of The Stranglers is a compilation album by The Stranglers,released in 2002 by EMI. It reached No. 21 in the UK Albums Chart in June 2002.
"Grip",or "(Get A) Grip",is a single by the Stranglers from the album Rattus Norvegicus. It was the Stranglers' first single,released as a double A-side with "London Lady" in January 1977,and reached number 44 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Hanging Around" is a song by English rock band the Stranglers,released on their 1977 debut album Rattus Norvegicus. The song was written by the band's guitarist,Hugh Cornwell,and is notable for its driving bassline and its lyrics about urban alienation.
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"(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello and recorded by Costello with his backing band the Attractions. The song appeared on Costello's 1978 second album,This Year's Model. Written by Costello while working as a computer programmer,the song was lyrically inspired by films Costello had been watching as well as childhood trips to Chelsea. Musically the song featured influence from bands such as the Who and the Kinks and is notable for Bruce Thomas's prominent bassline.
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