Greatest Day (Take That song)

"Greatest Day"
Single by Take That
from the album The Circus
Released 24 November 2008
Recorded 2008
Genre Pop
Length 4:01
Writer(s) Take That
Producer Take That, John Shanks
Certification Silver[1]
Take That singles chronology
"Rule the World"
(2007)		 "Greatest Day"
(2008)		 "Up All Night"
(2009)

"Greatest Day" is the lead single taken from British pop group Take That's fifth studio album, The Circus.

Contents

Song information

"Greatest Day" was written by Take That themselves and was produced by John Shanks. The song was written and recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill and was mixed in Los Angeles at the Jim Henson Studios.[2] Take That performed the song at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 on 6 November 2008, the first pan-European live performance by the band,[3] preceding the single's release on 24 November 2008.[4] The band also performed the song live at Children in Need 2008 on the BBC on 14 November 2008, before donating £250,000 to the charity.[5] The song moves in 104 BPM and has a key signature of C sharp major. Gary Barlow revealed on an episode of The Xtra Factor 2011 that it took him 3-4 hours to write this song.

Brit Awards 2009

Take That performed 'Greatest Day' at the 2009 Brit Awards. They performed the song live whilst upon a UFO stage prop but as the prop descended into the audience they were claimed to have lip synced. It was revealed after in Take That/Take Two that the technical people said they couldn't sing live as they were on the UFO stage prop. This was because of where they were positioned, which was right in front of the speakers, and if they had then the mics would have fed back.

Chart performance

'Greatest Day' debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart upon its release, and became the band's 11th number-one single.[6][7][8] It stayed at the top spot for one week before being succeeded by Leona Lewis.[9] In Ireland, the single peaked at number two.[10]

Music video

The video for "Greatest Day" was filmed on location in Los Angeles on top of a 60 storey building in the downtown area. It was directed by Meiert Avis, who previously shot videos for U2, Damien Rice, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.[2] The band shot the video while visiting producer John Shanks in the city who was mixing the album.[11] The video premiered on AOL on 22 October 2008.[12]

Track listings

UK CD Single[13]
  1. "Greatest Day" (Radio Mix) - 4:01
  2. "Sleepwalking" - 3:07
German CD Single[14]
  1. "Greatest Day" (Radio Mix) - 4:01
  2. "Sleepwalking" - 3:07
  3. "Here" - 3:41
  4. "Greatest Day" (Video) - 4:01

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart[15] 43
Czech Republic Singles Chart[16] 76
Danish Singles Chart[17] 28
Dutch Singles Chart[18] 30
Europe (Hot 100)[19] 8
German Singles Chart[20] 27
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[21] 10
Irish Singles Chart (IRMA)[10] 2
Swedish Singles Chart[22] 41
UK Singles Chart (The Official Charts Company)[23] 1

End-of-year charts

Chart (2008) Position
UK Singles Chart 49

End-of-year charts

Chart (2009) Position
UK Singles Chart[24] 100
Preceded by
"If I Were a Boy" by Beyonce		 UK Singles Chart number-one single
30 November 2008 – 7 December 2008 (1 week)		 Succeeded by
"Run" by Leona Lewis

Covers

The song was covered by singer-songwriter Frank Turner. A recording of it can be found on his album The Second Three Years.

Official Versions

References

  1. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1186597
  2. ^ a b "Take That: Greatest Day". Inthenews.co.uk. http://www.inthenews.co.uk/News/entertainment/music/take-that-greatest-day-$1245935.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-11. 
  3. ^ "Take That to perform at 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards". Accliverpool.com. http://www.accliverpool.com/news/ema_22_10.asp. Retrieved 2008-11-11. 
  4. ^ "Take That to perform at MTV awards in Liverpool - Wrexham Chronicle". Wrexhamchronicle.co.uk. http://www.wrexhamchronicle.co.uk/entertainment-wrexham/entertainment-news/2008/10/22/take-that-to-perform-at-mtv-awards-in-liverpool-59067-22092206. Retrieved 2008-11-11. 
  5. ^ "'Greatest' Children in Need show". BBC News. 15 November 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7728182.stm. Retrieved 4 May 2010. 
  6. ^ http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/take%20that%20have%20greatest%20day%20with%20number%20one%20single_1088097
  7. ^ http://www.mtv.co.uk/channel/mtvuk/music/464680-take-that-greatest-day-number-one-charts
  8. ^ http://www.inthenews.co.uk/entertainment/music/take-that-have-greatest-day-with-number-one-single-$1252135.htm
  9. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a137775/leona-knocks-take-that-off-no1.html
  10. ^ a b Irish IRMA Chart Archive
  11. ^ Jeremy Clarkson (1 November 2008). "Take That are back for good - Times Online". London: Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5029909.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2. Retrieved 2008-11-11. 
  12. ^ "Dean Piper’s World » Take That’s Greatest Day video to premiere on AOL!". Deanpiper.com. http://www.deanpiper.com/index.php/2008/10/21/take-thats-greatest-day-video-to-premiere-on-aol/. Retrieved 2008-11-11. 
  13. ^ http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=453949
  14. ^ http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=458126
  15. ^ DutchCharts
  16. ^ IFPI
  17. ^ DutchCharts
  18. ^ DutchCharts
  19. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/take-that/chart-history/34158?f=349&g=Singles
  20. ^ http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Take+That/24880/single
  21. ^ http://www.mahasz.hu/?menu=slagerlistak&menu2=archivum
  22. ^ DutchCharts
  23. ^ Chart Stats Greatest Day
  24. ^ "Charts Plus Year end 2009" (PDF). Charts Plus. http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/UKChartsPlusYE2009.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-19. 
Take That
Studio albums
Other albums
Compilation albums
Singles
Tours
Television
Take That: For the Record  · An Audience With Take That: Live  · Take That's Countdown To Midnight  · Take That Come To Town  · Look Back, Don't Stare
See also
Take That singles
Take That & Party (1991-1992)
Everything Changes (1993-1994)
Nobody Else (1994-1995)
Greatest Hits (1996)
Beautiful World (2006-2007)
The Circus (2008-2009)
"Greatest Day" · "Up All Night" · "The Garden" · "Said It All"  · "Hold Up a Light"
Progress (2010-2011)
"The Flood" · "Kidz" · "Happy Now"
Progressed (2011)