A Girl Like You (Edwyn Collins song)

"A Girl Like You"
Single by Edwyn Collins
from the album Gorgeous George
Released 1995
Format CD single, CD maxi
Recorded 1994
Genre Alternative rock, dance-rock, blue-eyed soul
Length 3:59
Label Setanta
Writer(s) Edwyn Collins
Producer(s) Edwyn Collins
Certification Silver (SNEP)
Gold (BVMI)

"A Girl Like You" is a song by Scottish singer-songwriter Edwyn Collins from his third solo studio album Gorgeous George (1994). The song samples the drums track of Len Barry's 1965 single "1-2-3".[1]

"A Girl Like You" was featured in the Empire Records soundtrack and second in the Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle soundtrack. On TV, it was featured in the Cleopatra 2525 episode "Run Cleo Run", Spin City episode "The Commitments", as well as in a Marks & Spencer advert in 2012. Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song as a bonus track on their 2007 video game Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Black Keys have covered the song at various performances during their 2014 "Turn Blue World Tour."

Music videos

There are two different music videos for this song. The US video was in turn an avant-garde tribute to its lyrics (e.g. when Collins sings the lyrics "you made me acknowledge the devil in me", a child's painting of the devil is overlaid over his face). The international video shows Collins singing over videos and silhouettes of dancers.

Production

The Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook played vibraphone on the recording.

Chart performance

Copyright controversy

On 30 September 2009, Collins' manager posted to Collins' Myspace page[2] to discuss how Collins owned the copyright to the song and wanted to make it available to anyone as a free download but Myspace only allowed major labels to assert the rights to tracks hosted on their site.

A later posting notes that, after the story was picked up by major news outlets, the song was once again available on the Myspace music player.[3]

Track listings

CD single
  1. "A Girl Like You" – 3:59
  2. "A Girl Like You" (Macramé remix by Youth) – 5:42
French CD single
  1. "A Girl Like You" – 3:59
  2. "Out Of This World" (Remixé par St-Etienne) – 4:58
CD maxi
  1. "A Girl Like You"
  2. "Don't Shilly Shally"
  3. "Something's Brewing"
  4. "Bring It on Back"
CD maxi
  1. "A Girl Like You"
  2. "If You Could Love Me" (acoustic version)
  3. "Don't Shilly Shally" (spotter's 86 demo version)
  4. "You're on Your Own"

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[4] 6
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[5] 7
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[7] 5
Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[8] 1
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[9] 16
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[10] 11
France (SNEP)[11] 4
Germany (Media Control Charts)[12] 3
Ireland (IRMA)[13] 8
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 16
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 18
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[16] 36
Norway (VG-lista)[17] 7
Poland (LP3)[18] 9
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 4
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 9
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[21] 4
US Billboard Hot 100[22] 32
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[22] 7
US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[22] 32
US Cash Box[23] 28
Chart (2012) Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[24] 56

Year-end charts

Chart (1995) Position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[25] 38
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[26] 21
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[27] 10
France (SNEP)[28] 19
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 31

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
France (SNEP)[30] Silver 168,000[31]
Germany (BVMI)[32] Gold 250,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Preceded by
"Zombie" by The Cranberries		 Belgian Ultratop 50 Flanders number-one single
18 February 1995 – 18 March 1995 (5 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Love Me for a Reason" by Boyzone
Belgian VRT Top 30 Flanders number-one single (first run)
18 February 1995 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"The Reason Is You" by Nina
Preceded by
"The Reason Is You" by Nina		 Belgian VRT Top 30 Flanders number-one single (second run)
4 March 1995 (1 week)

References

  1. ↑ "Edwyn Collins's A Girl Like You sample of Len Barry's 1-2-3". WhoSampled. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  2. ↑ Downloads and the Featured Artists Coalition at the Wayback Machine (archived 9 October 2009). Myspace. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  7. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Radio 2 Top 30 : 4 maart 1995" (in Dutch). Top 30. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2827." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "Edwyn Collins: A Girl Like You" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  13. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Edwyn Collins". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  14. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  15. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  16. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  17. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". VG-lista. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  18. ↑ "A GIRL LIKE YOU – Edwyn Collins" (in Polish). LP3. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  19. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". Singles Top 60. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  20. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  21. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1995-07-22" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 "Gorgeous George – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  23. ↑ CASH BOX Top 100 Pop Singles – Week ending NOVEMBER 11, 1995 at the Wayback Machine (archived 2 September 2012). Cash Box magazine. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  24. ↑ "Edwyn Collins: Artist Chart History" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  25. ↑ "Jahreshitparade 1995" (in German). Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  26. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1995" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  27. ↑ "Rapports annuels 1995" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  28. ↑ (French) Classement Singles – année 1995 at the Wayback Machine (archived 14 February 2009). SNEP. Disque en France. Retrieved 1 May 2004.
  29. ↑ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1995" (in German). Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  30. ↑ "French single certifications – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You" (in French). InfoDisc. Select EDWYN COLLINS and click OK
  31. ↑ "Les Singles en Argent" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  32. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Edwyn Collins; 'A Girl Like You')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.