"Sign Your Name" | ||||
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Single by Terence Trent D'Arby | ||||
from the album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby | ||||
B-side | "Greasy Chicken" | |||
Released | December 28, 1987 (UK) [1] May 1988 (US) [2] | |||
Recorded | 1987 | |||
Genre | Soul | |||
Length | 4:37 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Terence Trent D'Arby | |||
Producer(s) | Martyn Ware, Terence Trent D'Arby, Howard Gray | |||
Terence Trent D'Arby singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Sign Your Name" on YouTube |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Number One | [3] |
"Sign Your Name" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Terence Trent D'Arby (now known as Sananda Maitreya), released as the fourth single (third in the US) from his debut album, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby (1987). The song was an international success, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart in early 1988 and number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was remixed by Lee "Scratch" Perry for some European releases. The music video was directed by Vaughan Arnell and was premiered in January 1988. [4] The music video features model Kelly Brennan. [5]
Max Bell from Number One noted that the song finds D'Arby "in his quiet, sensitive, loving disguise, as opposed to his crafty, naughty, whoopsadaisy ma'am alter ego." He also felt that "Sign Your Name" "testifies at least to a knowledge of soul", and concluded, "From a Heaven 17 influenced beginning a fair single starts to brood but this could be a sucker punch rather than a knockout." [3] Roger Morton from Record Mirror commented, "'Bop shoo wop wop/Bop shoo wap wap'. Terence has joined Showaddywaddy? Sadly not. This is the fourth single from the Hardline album, a crooner not a rasper, with some fine quavering from Tel's tonsils and a rhythm closely related to that of Scritti Politti's 'The Sweetest Girl'." [6] Another editor, James Hamilton, wrote in his dance column, "Moodily shuffling sad 109/54+1⁄2-0bpm lament, not really for floors". [7]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [29] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
"Sign Your Name" | ||||
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Single by Sheryl Crow | ||||
from the album 100 Miles from Memphis | ||||
Released | September 15, 2010 | |||
Genre | Pop rock, soul | |||
Length | 5:38 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Songwriter(s) | Terence Trent D'Arby | |||
Producer(s) | Sheryl Crow, Doyle Bramhall II, Justin Stanley | |||
Sheryl Crow singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Sheryl Crow - Sign Your Name (Official Music Video)" on YouTube |
Sheryl Crow released her rendition of the song in 2010 as the second single from her eighth studio album, 100 Miles from Memphis . It features Justin Timberlake on background vocals. [30] The music video, directed by Wayne Isham, was released on September 16, 2010 through Crow's VEVO account. [31]
Chart (2010) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Adult Album Alternative ( Billboard ) [32] | 18 |
Sananda Francesco Maitreya, who started his career with the stage name Terence Trent D'Arby, is an American singer and songwriter who came to fame with his debut studio album, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby (1987). The album included the singles "If You Let Me Stay", "Sign Your Name", "Dance Little Sister", and "Wishing Well".
Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby is the debut studio album by Terence Trent D'Arby. It was first released in the United Kingdom on July 13, 1987 on Columbia Records, and debuted at number one there, spending a total of nine weeks (non-consecutively) at the top of the UK Albums Chart. It also hit number one in Switzerland and number two in New Zealand and The Netherlands. It was eventually certified 5× Platinum. Worldwide, the album sold a million copies within the first three days of going on sale.
Andrew Roachford is a British singer-songwriter and the main force behind the band Roachford, who scored their first success in 1989 with the hits "Cuddly Toy" and "Family Man". He has also had a successful solo career.
Terence Trent D'Arby's Symphony or Damn* is the third studio album by Terence Trent D'Arby, released in 1993 through Columbia Records. This album marked something of a comeback after the disappointing performance of his previous album Neither Fish nor Flesh, and was generally well received by many critics, with Q magazine rating it five stars upon its release.
Terence Trent D'Arby's Vibrator* is the fourth album by Terence Trent D'Arby, released in 1995 on Columbia Records. It was self-written, produced, and arranged, and features the single "Holding On to You", which peaked at number 20 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Listen to Your Heart" is a song by Swedish rock duo Roxette, originally released in Sweden in September 1988 as the second single from the duo's second studio album, Look Sharp! (1988). It was written by Per Gessle with former Gyllene Tider guitarist Mats "M.P." Persson. The song went on to become one of the most successful singles of 1989, reaching number one in both the United States and Canada around November 1989. The track was the first song to reach number one in the US without a commercially released 7-inch single.
"Return of the Mack" is a song written and recorded by British R&B singer Mark Morrison, released by WEA and Atlantic as the third single from his debut album by the same name (1996). The song was produced by Morrison with Phil Chill and Cutfather & Joe, and topped the UK Singles Chart a month after its release, then became a European and Australian hit. In the United States, it reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and went platinum. The music video for the song, directed by Jake Nava, was released in the United Kingdom in March 1996 and in the United States in February 1997. Billboard magazine featured "Return of the Mack" in their lists of "Billboard's Top Songs of the '90s" in 2019 and "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time" in 2023.
"Crazy" is a song written by English singer-songwriter Seal and English songwriter Guy Sigsworth. Produced by Trevor Horn, it was released by ZTT Records on 26 November 1990 as the lead single from Seal's debut studio album, Seal (1991). The song became his first commercial hit, reaching No. 2 in the United Kingdom, while becoming his first top ten single in the United States. It has since been covered by several artists, including Alanis Morissette, whose version was released as a single from her 2005 compilation album, The Collection.
Characters is the twenty-first studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released in late 1987. The album features six singles including the Grammy-nominated "Skeletons" and "You Will Know", which both reached number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. The album also contained a duet with Michael Jackson, "Get It", that was a minor hit.
"Wishing Well" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Terence Trent D'Arby. The second single from the 1987 album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, the song reached number one on both the Soul Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 on May 7, 1988. "Wishing Well" was certified "Gold", indicating sales of 500,000, by the Recording Industry Association of America in October 1991. Written by D'Arby and Sean Oliver, D'Arby said "Wishing Well" was written "when I was in a half-asleep, half-awake state of mind", and that he "liked the feel of the words". Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 paired with D'Arby in production of the song, which was released on CBS Records. Once released, "Wishing Well", along with D'Arby's debut single "If You Let Me Stay", went into "heavy rotation" on MTV. D'Arby performed the song live at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards, where he lost the Grammy Award for Best New Artist to Jody Watley. When the single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, it had charted for 17 weeks, the longest progress to number one in the US charts since Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams " in 1983.
"Delicate" is a song by American singer-songwriter Terence Trent D'Arby featuring English singer Des'ree, released on June 7, 1993 by Columbia Records as the third single from his third studio album, Symphony or Damn (1993). It was written, arranged and produced by D'Arby, and peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, the song reached numbers 74 and 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. Its music video was directed by Andy Morahan.
"If You Let Me Stay" is the debut single by American singer Terence Trent D'Arby first released in the UK in February 1987. It was taken from his debut album, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby.
"Nite and Day" is the debut single by Al B. Sure! from his debut album In Effect Mode (1988). It reached number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart. The B-side of the record is the French version of the song, "Nuit et Jour".
"This Side of Love" is a song by American singer and songwriter Terence Trent D'Arby taken from his second album, Neither Fish Nor Flesh (1989). The song was composed and produced by D'Arby, and he played several of the instruments on the recording. Critics have likened it to the work of musicians such as Sly and the Family Stone and Prince, and have noted its unpolished and compelling sound.
"Let Her Down Easy" is a song written and produced by American singer-songwriter Terence Trent D'Arby for his third studio album, Symphony or Damn (1993). It was released as the fourth single in November 1993 by Columbia and reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart and number six in New Zealand.
"679" is the second single by American rapper and singer Fetty Wap from his self-titled debut album. The song features rap duo Remy Boyz, which consists of rappers Monty and P-Dice. "679" peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming his second highest-charting single after "Trap Queen". The album version of the song omits P-Dice's verse, featuring only Monty. The Remy Boyz version is included on his 2014 mixtape Up Next.
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American singer Terence Trent D'Arby has released 12 studio albums, four greatest hits compilation albums, four live albums, one extended play, and 31 singles. D'Arby has earned one platinum album. His début album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby (1987) peaked at number 4 in the US, and while receiving positive reviews, it became a huge success in Europe. The album featured the number 1 single "Wishing Well", which sold over 500,000 copies and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Follow up albums were less successful. After Columbia Records parted ways with the artist in the mid-1990s, D'Arby later changed his stage name to Sananda Maitreya. He went on to release 8 studio albums, and 4 live albums, under his own independent record label Treehouse Publishing.
"Dance Little Sister" is a song by Terence Trent D'Arby, the third single from the 1987 album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby.