Youth of Today (song)

"Youth of Today"
Single by Musical Youth
from the album The Youth of Today
B-side	"Gone Straight"
Released	12 November 1982 (1982-11-12) [1]
Recorded	1982
Genre	Reggae reggae-pop
Length	2:56 (7" version) 5:28 (12" version)
Label	MCA
Songwriter(s)	Freddie Waite Musical Youth
Producer(s)	Peter Collins
Musical Youth singles chronology
"Pass the Dutchie" (1982) "Youth of Today" (1982) "Never Gonna Give You Up" (1983)

"Youth of Today" is a song by British-Jamaican reggae band Musical Youth, released in November 1982 as the second single from their debut album The Youth of Today . It peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart, and was a top 10 hit in the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland. ^[2]

Reception

Reviewing for Smash Hits , Neil Tennant wondered "if it was a good idea for Musical Youth to have to produce a follow-up quite so quickly. This is warm and bouncy but lacks the array of hooks the formidable array of hooks that "Pass The Dutchie" possessed". ^[3] John Shearlaw for Record Mirror described it as "a more or less original composition strongly reminiscent of Pat Kelly ('I'm In Love With You') that stays sweet and neat but is nothing like hard enough to bash the charts. Or indeed the ears". ^[4]

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Don Letts and was filmed in London in October 1982. ^[5]

Track listings

7" single ^[6]

1. "Youth of Today" – 2:56
2. "Gone Straight" – 3:08

12" maxi-single ^[6]

1. "Youth of Today" (Special 12" Club Version) – 5:28
2. "Gone Straight" – 5:22

Charts

Chart (1982–83)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [7]	99
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [8]	7
Ireland (IRMA) [9]	9
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [10]	4
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [11]	19
Spain (AFYVE) [12]	12
UK Singles (OCC) [2]	13
West Germany (GfK) [13]	29

References

1. "School's out for Musical Youth" (PDF). Record Mirror : 9. 6 November 1982. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
2. "Musical Youth: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
3. "Singles". Smash Hits : 25. 11–24 November 1982. Retrieved 19 March 2022– via flickr.com.
4. "Singles" (PDF). Record Mirror : 18. 13 November 1982. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
5. ""Youth of today"". mvdbase.com. Archived from the original on 2005-11-05. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
6. "Discography - Musical Youth". musicalyouth.net. Archived from the original on 2012-02-06. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 212. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
8. "Musical Youth – Youth of Today" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
9. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Youth of Today". Irish Singles Chart.
10. "Musical Youth – Youth of Today" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
11. "Musical Youth – Youth of Today". Top 40 Singles.
12. Salaverri, Fernando (2015). Sólo éxitos 1959–2012 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN   978-84-8048-866-2.
13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Musical Youth – Youth of Today" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.