"You're a Lady" | ||||
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Single by Peter Skellern | ||||
from the album You're a Lady | ||||
B-side | "Manifesto" | |||
Released | 11 August 1972 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1972 | |||
Length | 4:39 | |||
Label | Decca | |||
Songwriter(s) | Peter Skellern | |||
Producer(s) | Peter Sames | |||
Peter Skellern singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"You're a Lady" at TopPop on YouTube |
"You're a Lady" is the debut single by British singer-songwriter Peter Skellern. The song became Skellern's first and biggest hit, reaching #3 on the UK Singles Chart, #7 on the Irish Singles Chart and #50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. [2]
Skellern performed the song live on many occasions prior to his retirement in 2001. [3] It became a constant feature of his double act with Richard Stilgoe, and renditions of the song feature on their albums Who Plays Wins (1985) [4] and A Quiet Night Out (2000). [5]
Skellern wrote "You're a Lady" in the summerhouse at his home in Shaftesbury, Dorset. He kept his piano there so as not to bother anyone with his practice. [6] The song has been described as "a breathless love song". [6] Skellern's vocals and piano accompaniment are supplemented by the Congregation, a choral pop ensemble who had already had their own top ten UK hit with "Softly Whispering I Love You", [7] and by the Hanwell Band, heard unaccompanied in the introductory bars.
Skellern once played with the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain as a child, and he sought to recapture his "speechless amazement" at their sound by using the brass band on the record. [6] The euphonium, played by John Luckett, is prominently featured. [8] Skellern wanted the song to evoke the North of England, saying: "I wanted people to see the wet cobblestones and the Lowry paintings when they heard 'You're a Lady'". [9]
The single was placed on Radio Luxembourg on a pay-for-play basis, but was then picked up by Terry Wogan on his BBC Radio 2 programme. The single went on to sell over 800,000 copies [10] and the song was also the first track on Skellern's 1972 album of the same name. [11] The song's great success and the demands that came with it led Skellern to a six-month period, a couple of years later, where he "got drunk every day". [9]
Chart (1972/73) | Peak position |
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Australia (Kent Music Report) [12] | 2 |
Irish Singles Chart [13] | 7 |
United Kingdom (Official Charts Company) | 3 |
US Billboard Hot 100 | 50 |
Chart (1972) | Position |
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UK [14] | 54 |
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)Peter Skellern plays from Roundhead Studios in Auckland on Afternoons with Jim Mora.