9 to 5 (Sheena Easton song)

"9 to 5 (Morning Train)"
Single by Sheena Easton
from the album Take My Time
B-side	"Moody (My Love)"
Released	16 May 1980 (UK) February 1981 (USA)
Format	7"
Recorded	1980
Genre	Pop
Length	3:20
Label	EMI
Writer(s)	Florrie Palmer
Producer(s)	Christopher Neil
Certification	Gold Single,[1] (RIAA)
Sheena Easton singles chronology
"Modern Girl" (1980) "9 to 5 (Morning Train)" (1980) "One Man Woman" (1980)

"9 to 5" or "Morning Train" is the title of a popular song written by British songwriter Florrie Palmer and recorded by Sheena Easton in 1980, becoming her biggest hit. It peaked at number three in the United Kingdom in August 1980 and was released in the United States in February 1981 (retitled "Morning Train" to avoid confusion with Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”), where it reached number one and became a gold single in the UK for Easton.

Background

Easton had released one single prior to "9 to 5": "Modern Girl". This had failed to chart highly, but after exposure on the BBC documentary, The Big Time, Pop Singer, both "9 to 5" and "Modern Girl" were propelled into the top ten at the same time, making her the second female artist (after Ruby Murray) to achieve this feat. ^[2] "9 to 5" became a top three hit and was one of the best-selling singles of the year.^[3]

Early in 1981, EMI Records decided to launch Easton in the US and released "9 to 5" as her debut single. The title of the song was changed to "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" to avoid confusion with the Dolly Parton song of the same name, which charted nearly simultaneously with Easton's record. Easton's song went to #1 on both the U.S. pop and adult contemporary charts; it remained at the top for two weeks on Billboard's pop chart. On Billboard's 1981 year-end charts, it came in as the twelfth-biggest pop and thirteenth-biggest AC hit of the year 1981. It also topped the RPM magazine pop and AC charts in Canada, reigning over the former for two weeks in May 1981.

The song is about a woman who waits at home all day for her man to come home from work. The music video was filmed on the Bluebell Railway, a heritage line running between East and West Sussex in England. The video stars London and South Western Railway No. 488, a preserved LSWR 0415 Class locomotive.

Chart performance

Other versions

Easton re-recorded the song "Morning Train (9-5)", ("El Premier Tren") for her Spanish language album "Todo Me Recuerda A Ti" in 1983 for the Latin markets.

Swedish-born Norwegian singer Elisabeth Andreassen covered the song in Swedish, as "Han pendlar varje dag" ("He commutes every day") with the new lyrics by Olle Bergman, on her 1981 album Angel of the Morning.^[13] This version also stayed at Svensktoppen for 9 weeks during the period 21 February-18 April 1982, with a chart peak of #4.^[14]

Also in 1981, the Bulgarian-French singer Sylvie Vartan recorded a French cover of the song entitled "L'amour, c'est comme une cigarette" (Love is like a cigarette), with lyrics entirely unrelated to the Easton original.

The song was featured in the 8th and 9th seasons of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. In "The Bizzaro Jerry"' Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) accidentally begins working at a financial services company. The song is played during a montage of Kramer's "work" experience. In "The Butter Shave". George Costanza (Jason Alexander) gets a job at a playground equipment company and the boss thinks he's handicapped due to his use of a cane as he had learned to walk again following the events in "The Summer of George". George takes advantage of this and the song is played during a montage.

Idols South Africa winner Anke Pietrangeli covered the song on her album Tribute to the Great Female Vocalists in 2009.^[15]

John Peel's Record Box

It was revealed in the documentary John Peel's Record Box that British radio DJ John Peel loved the record so much that he kept two copies of it in a small wooden box of his 142 favourite singles.^[16]

See also

• Cashbox Top 100 number-one singles of 1981
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1981

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Sheena Easton Studio albums Take My Time You Could Have Been with Me Madness, Money & Music Best Kept Secret A Private Heaven Do You No Sound But a Heart The Lover in Me What Comes Naturally My Cherie Freedom Home Fabulous Singles "Modern Girl" "9 to 5" "One Man Woman" "Kisses" "For Your Eyes Only" "You Could Have Been with Me" "We've Got Tonight" "Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)" "Strut" "Sugar Walls" "Swear" "Jimmy Mack" "U Got the Look" "The Lover in Me" "101" "The Arms of Orion" "What Comes Naturally" Related articles Discography Book:Sheena Easton