Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)

This article is about Crystal Waters' 1991 hit song. For Don Williams' 1973 song, recorded by various artists, see I Recall a Gypsy Woman.
Not to be confused with Gypsy Woman (The Impressions song).
"Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)"
Single by Crystal Waters
from the album Surprise
A-side "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (Radio Mix) (U.S.)
B-side "Tell Me" (U.S.)
"Good Lovin'" (UK)
Released April 3, 1991
Format
Recorded 1990
Genre
Length 3:45
Label
Writer(s)
  • Neal Conway
  • Crystal Waters
  • Nathaniel S. Hardy, Jr.
Producer(s) The Basement Boys
Certification Gold United States
Crystal Waters singles chronology
"Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)"
(1991)		 "Makin' Happy"
(1991)
Music video
"Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" on YouTube

"Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (also released as "Gypsy Woman (La da dee la da da)") is a house music song by American singer Crystal Waters. It was written by Neal Conway, Nathaniel S. Hardy, Jr. and Waters and is the first single from her 1991 debut album, Surprise. The song includes the chorus of "La da dee, la da da" and a much-sampled organ refrain.

Slant Magazine ranked the song 48th in its 100 greatest dance songs list, adding: "'Gypsy Woman' sets its portrait of a crusty, haphazardly made-up bag lady begging dementedly on street corners to the Basement Boys' unforgivingly brutish, mongoloid thump."[1]

Chart performances

It peaked at number eight on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and at number two in the UK Singles Chart, and it went to number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart.

When the song was descending the charts, it appeared on the benefit album Red Hot + Dance in a new incarnation mixed by Joey Negro, who took the song into a new musical direction.

Retitled "Gypsy Woman (La Da Dee)", the song was the highest-debuting single for a new act in the UK Singles Chart at that time - its debut at three was later eclipsed by Gabrielle's "Dreams" entering at two, and then by Whigfield's "Saturday Night" debuting at number one.

In the media

In 1991, the song was spoofed in the memorable sketch "My Songs Are Mindless" performed by Kim Wayans on In Living Color, where series regular Wayans portrayed Waters referencing TV shows. Wayans skewered the song's simple rhythm and melody by singing "Hey look, there's Fred and the Flintstones/I got a song now, that's a song now/Yabba dabba doo, yabba dabba doo/Yabba dabba doo, yabba dabba doo...." The clip from the comedy show would sometimes show up mixed into Waters' own version at gay clubs with video screens.

The song is played in a fashion show at the end of the King of the Hill episode "Husky Bobby".

"Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" is also featured in the video game Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party on the Wii.

Cover versions, samples and remixes

The song's elements were used as the basis for 2 Eivissa's 1997 single "Oh La La La," which itself became an international hit.[2]

Drum & bass producer DJ Ron sampled and remixed in the track called "La Da Dee" on the La Da Dee single in 2003.[3]

The song was sampled by Styles P in 2004 on the song "Favorite Drug" from his album Time is Money, and later by T.I. on his 2006 single "Why You Wanna." At the end of the song "Bums" by Mr. Hyde and Necro, there is a quick sample of Waters saying, "homeless... She's homeless."

In 2006, it was remixed by Sami Dee and Freddy Jones and re-released as "Gypsy Woman 2006 (La-Da-Dee)" on the record label Absolute Sound France. The 12-inch (30 cm) vinyl included two remixes, as well as the a cappella vocal. The Big Room Anthem remix was featured on the 2007 Ministry of Sound annual.

In 2007, Montefiori Cocktail released an instrumental version of "Gypsy Woman".

In summer 2008, Sam Sparro recorded a cover of the song in London with his touring band. He had been performing the song in his live show during his UK/European tour since the spring. He released the song as a B-Side to his single "Pocket".

In January 2009, UK DJ Timmy Vegas released the song "Another Dimension" with Bad Lay-Dee which contains the organ sample of "Gypsy Woman", as well as a sample from Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic". The latter sample is routed through a vocoder-like instrument, which is also driven by chords of the "Gypsy Woman" organ sample.

In February 2011, Japanese singer YU-A released a cover of "Gypsy Woman" on her album 2 Girls.

"Walking" by Mary Mary on their album Something Big contains a sample of "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" by Crystal Waters.

"Crystal Caverns 1991", the first single from the album Galaxy Garden by British electronic musician Lone, samples the song.

Alexandra Burke sampled the song in her album track "Oh La La" taken from her second album Heartbreak On Hold.

MK1, a hip-hop duo, did this song, along with "Pass Out" by Tinie Tempah on week three of the ninth series of The X Factor.

Alicia Keys used big portions of "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" and renamed the track "Brand New Me (Part 2)" and released the track in January 2013.[4]

Swedish DJ Ted Nilsson's latest single "Homeless" feature the vocals of "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)". The song also features British DJs Cjay Swayne and Errol Reid. The song was released on Spinnin' Records's Spinnin' Deep imprint. Two versions of the song were recorded: the "Day" mix and the "Nite" mix and were both released on July 22, 2013.

In 2014, Vassy, Crazibiza, and Dave Aude teamed up to release a single called "Hustlin'," which samples the song and chorus. Its accompanying music video features Vassy and Waters (who received co-writing credits), which pays homage to the "Gypsy Woman" music video. The single reached number one on Billboard's Dance Club Songs Chart in December 2014.[5]

Track listings

CD single
  1. "Gypsy Woman" (strip to the bone edit) — 3:42
  2. "Gypsy Woman" (hump instrumental mix) — 4:53
Slimcase international CD maxi
  1. "Gypsy Woman" (strip to the bone edit) — 3:53
  2. "Gypsy Woman" (basement boy strip to the bone mix) — 7:31
  3. "Gypsy Woman" (hump instrumental mix) — 4:50
CD maxi single
  1. "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (Strip To The Bone Radio Edit) - 3:42
  2. "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (Basement Boy "Strip To The Bone" Mix) - 7:26
  3. "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (Red Bone Club Mix) - 7:08
  4. "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (Hump Instrumental Mix) - 4:53
  5. "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" ("Give It Up" Vocal Mix) - 8:07
  6. "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (Give It Up Bonus Beats) - 2:43
  7. "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (Original Demo Mix) - 7:00
  8. "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (Acapella) - 2:37

Charts

Peak positions

Charts (1991) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[6] 11
Austrian Singles Chart[6] 3
Canada Dance (RPM)[7] 1
Dutch Top 40[8] 1
Eurochart Hot 100 1
French SNEP Singles Chart[6] 11
German Singles Chart[9] 2
Irish Singles Chart[10] 3
Italian Singles Chart[11] 1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[6] 50
Spain (AFYVE)[12] 1
Swedish Singles Chart[6] 8
Swiss Singles Chart[6] 1
UK Singles Chart[13] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[14] 8
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[14] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[14] 25

End-of-year charts

End of year chart (1991) Position
Austrian Singles Chart[15] 23
Dutch Top 40[8] 21
Swiss Singles Chart[16] 11

Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
UK[17] Silver May 1, 1991 200,000
U.S.[18] Gold June 24, 1991 500,000

See also

Chart successions

Preceded by
"People Are Still Having Sex" by LaTour		 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
May 25, 1991 - June 8, 1991 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Good Beat" by Deee-Lite
Preceded by
"Senza una donna" by Paul Young and Zucchero		 Eurochart Hot 100 number-one single
July 6, 1991 - July 20, 1991 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams
Preceded by
"Wind of Change" by Scorpions		 Dutch Top 40 number-one single
June 22, 1991 - July 6, 1991 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"More Than Words" by Extreme
Preceded by
"Wind of Change" by Scorpions		 Swiss number one single
July 21, 1991 - July 28, 1991 (2 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams

References

  1. ↑ "100 Greatest Dance Songs". Slant Magazine. 30 January 2006. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  2. ↑ 2 Eivissa, "Oh La La La" from WhoSampled
  3. ↑ DJ Ron – "La Da Dee / Flowetical", Vinyl, UK, discogs (Retrieved 12 August 2011)
  4. ↑ [http://www.wearepopslags.com/alicia-keys-brand-new-me-part-2-new-song-gypsy-woman-la-di-dee/ We Are Pop Slags (Retrieved 26 January 2013)
  5. ↑ "Mr. Probz Rides 'Waves' to No. 1 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart" from Billboard (November 21, 2014)
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Gypsy Woman", in Australian, Austrian, French, Swedish and Swiss Singles Charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved December 30, 2007)
  7. ↑ Canadian dance peak
  8. 1 2 "Single top 100 over 1991" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  9. ↑ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 14, 2008)
  10. ↑ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 14, 2008)
  11. ↑ Italian Singles Chart Hit parade Italia (Retrieved May 30, 2008)
  12. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  13. ↑ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 14, 2008)
  14. 1 2 3 Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved August 6, 2008)
  15. ↑ 1991 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved August 6, 2008)
  16. ↑ 1991 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved August 6, 2008)
  17. ↑ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved August 6, 2008)
  18. ↑ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved August 6, 2008)

External links

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