Lovely Head

"Lovely Head"
Single by Goldfrapp
from the album Felt Mountain
Released May 15, 2000 (2000-05-15)
November 5, 2001 (re-issue)
Format CD, 12-inch
Recorded September 1999 – February 2000 in Wiltshire, England
Genre Baroque pop, trip hop, electronica
Length 3:41
Label Mute
Songwriter(s) Alison Goldfrapp, Will Gregory
Producer(s) Goldfrapp, Gregory
Goldfrapp singles chronology
"Lovely Head"
(2000)		 "Utopia"
(2000)

"Lovely Head"
(2000)		 "Utopia"
(2000)

"Lovely Head" is an electronic song performed by British group Goldfrapp. The song was written and produced by Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory for the duo's debut album Felt Mountain (2000). It was released as the album's first single in May 2000 but did not chart. In November 2001, the song was re-issued as a double A-side single with "Pilots (On a Star)" and reached number sixty-eight on the UK singles chart.[1]

In 2002, "Lovely Head" appeared in the Guy Ritchie film Swept Away.[2] It appeared in Jan Kounen's 99 francs (2007), as well as in Pawel Pawlikowski's My Summer of Love (2004). During 2001 the song was used in a TV and cinema advertising campaign for UK mobile phone company One2One, which featured Gary Oldman.

"Lovely Head" is used as the background music in most scenes of BBC animated television series Monkey Dust that contain the character Clive Pringle.

Background and writing

Goldfrapp began work on "Lovely Head" in September 1999 in a rented bungalow in the Wiltshire countryside.[3] Alison Goldfrapp contributed the song's lyrics, and William Gregory and Goldfrapp composed the music together.[4] The duo recorded the song outside their bungalow, drawing inspiration from nature.[5] The song was originally titled "Your Lovely Head".[6] "Lovely Head" features high lonesome whistling and cold vocals set to harpsichord and strings. What is often mistaken for a theremin synth in the song is, in fact, Alison's vocals piped through a Korg MS-20 which modulates and distorts them. This technique can be seen here during a live performance at Somerset House. It was inspired by Welsh singer Shirley Bassey and Italian film director Sergio Leone.[7]

In August 2009, American music magazine Pitchfork listed Lovely Head in their Top 500 tracks of the 2000s at number 493.[8]

Formats and track listings

Credits and personnel

Charts

Chart (2001) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[1] 68

References

  1. 1 2 "Chart Stats: Goldfrapp" Archived 2012-07-24 at Archive.is. ChartStats.com. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  2. ↑ "Soundtracks for Swept Away". IMDB.com. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  3. ↑ Simpson, Dave. "The Friday Interview: 'The Mercury prize? Oh God, that would be great. I deserve something'". The Guardian. 4 May 2001. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  4. ↑ Flinn, Sean. "Scaling Felt Mountain" Archived 2009-02-05 at the Wayback Machine.. Choler Magazine. 25 January 2002. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 "Goldfrapp > Full Discography > Lovely Head". Mute Records. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  6. ↑ "Lovely Head" (UK promotional CD single #247). Mute Records. 29 May 2000.
  7. ↑ Reno, Brad. "Goldfrapp". Trouser Press. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  8. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7685-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-500-201/
  9. ↑ "Lovely Head (Pulsar vs Goldfrapp)" (Japanese promotional CD single #10172). Samurai Records. 2000.
  10. ↑ Goldfrapp Felt Mountain (2000) liner notes Mute Records
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