A Public Affair (song)

"A Public Affair"
Single by Jessica Simpson
from the album A Public Affair
Released	June 29, 2006 (2006-06-29) (See release history)
Format	Digital download
Genre	Dance-pop Disco
Length	3:21
Label	Epic
Writer(s)	Jessica Simpson, J. Austin, G. Kurstin, S. Watters, L. Biancanello, L.Mendez, N. Ashford, V.Simpson
Producer	Lester Mendez
Jessica Simpson singles chronology
"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" (2005) "A Public Affair" (2006) "I Belong to Me" (2006)
Music video "A Public Affair" on YouTube

"A Public Affair" is a song recorded by American recording artist Jessica Simpson. It was co-written by Simpson and produced by Lester Mendez, for Simpson's fourth studio album of the same title. It was released as the album's first single (second overall) on June 29, 2006 by Epic Records. Musically, the song is a dance track with disco influences. It samples Madonna's song Holiday's melody and interpolates Marvin Gaye classic "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". Lyrically, the song speaks about having fun with friends.

"A Public Affair" received mixed reviews from critics, with many criticizing its close similarity with "Holiday". The song reached the top ten in Canada and Ireland and made the top twenty in US, Australia and UK. The song also topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play charts, becoming Simpson's first number one on the chart. The song ranked at number 51 on Top 100 Pop Songs of 2006 by About.com.

Composition

"A Public Affair" lasts for three minutes and twenty-one seconds. Musically, it is a moderate dance-pop groove song with disco influences. It also exhibits elements of pop rock and teen pop genres. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by EMI Music Publishing, the song is written in the key of D major. The song is set in common time with 130 beats per minute. Simpson's vocals in the song span from a low note of A₃ to a high note of B₄.

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor of Billboard magazine called the song's production "wildly adventurous" and "maddeningly catchy", and the song itself "A perfect record." Teen People called the song a fun, frothy dance track reminiscent of early Madonna; some in the media have criticized the unoriginality of the song because of its strong similarity to Madonna's "Holiday".^{[citation needed]}

Commercial release

The Yahoo! Music download of the song gained media attention because it was made available in MP3 format, without Digital Rights Management, which is normally used to restrict copying of commercially released singles. However, the price to download the song was $1.99, higher than the $0.99 norm for most DRM-restricted tracks. The increased price was rationalized not by the DRM-free format, but by offering users the ability to "personalize" the song with a specific name. The single was released in United States, Canada and Australia in 2006. Later the song was released in Europe in February 2007.

Chart performance

The single debuted at number thirty-nine on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, Simpson's second highest debut after "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". It had previously debuted at number twenty on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which represents the twenty-five singles below the Hot 100's number 100 position that have not yet appeared on the Hot 100. Digital download sales were moderate until the release of the single's music video. In late July "A Public Affair" joined Ashlee Simpson's song "Invisible" in the top ten on the U.S. iTunes Store's list of most popular songs, the first time in iTunes history that two siblings had different songs in the top ten. The song peaked in its fifth week on the Hot 100. In October, 2006 the song peaked #1 on Hot Dance Club Play. "A Public Affair" was certified Gold in US for obtaining more than 500,000 downloads. In Canada, "A Public Affair" became Simpson's third single in reached Top-ten after "I Wanna Love You Forever" and "Take My Breath Away", peaking at number 8.

"A Public Affair" was Simpson's seventh single to reachthe Top-twenty in Australia, debuting in the number 18 on ARIA chart, the next week peaked at number 17. The single stayed on the chart for ten weeks.

In the 2007 the single was released in Ireland and reached at number 9 in the first week, became the second single of Simpson to reach the top 10 in Ireland. The single also reached the Top 20 in the United Kingdom in February 2007, at #20, and also reached the Top 10 in the UK Physical Chart, at #6.

Music video

The skating rink as shown in the music video.

The song's music video was shot on June 23, 2006 and the late evening of June 24, 2006 at the Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale, California. It features appearances by Christina Applegate, Christina Milian, Eva Longoria, Maria Menounos, Andy Dick and Ryan Seacrest. It introduces Australian Reshad Strik, whose participation precipitated many comments on his resemblance to Nick Lachey, Simpson's ex-husband. The video was directed by Brett Ratner.

Yahoo! Launch had managed to make a "Fans Version Only" version of the video as well, which instantly reached number one.

On July 19, Simpson visited Total Request Live to world premiere the video.

The following day the video entered the TRL countdown at number six, the highest debut for any Simpson video; on its third day on the countdown, it reached number two.

The video spent a total of 28 days on the TRL countdown, making it her most successful video to date on TRL. The video reached number eight on Canada's MuchMusic chart.

In the chart Billboard Hot Videoclip Tracks peaked at the number 5.

Track listings and formats

• Australian CD single

1. "A Public Affair" [Radio Edit]
2. "A Public Affair" [Extended Version]
3. "A Public Affair" [Karaoke Version]

• US MAXI Single

1. "A Public Affair" [Radio Edit]
2. "A Public Affair" [Extended Version]
3. "A Public Affair"[Instrumental Version]
4. "A Public Affair" [Remix]

• UK/German CD single

1. "A Public Affair"
2. "A Public Affair" [ Alex Greggs Remix]

Remixes and other versions

• A Public Affair [Album Version] - 3:19
• A Public Affair [Cass and Dubbs Mix] - 3:15
• A Public Affair [Johnny Budz Radio Edit] - 3:17
• A Public Affair [Frank Pellegrino Radio Mix] - 3:43
• A Public Affair [Extended Mix] - 5:47
• A Public Affair [Jellybeans Soulful House Party Dub Mix] - 7:16
• A Public Affair [Alex Gregg Remix] - 3:48
• A Public Affair [Frank Pellegrino Electro Pop Club Mix] - 8:59
• A Public Affair [Johnny Budz Public House Mix] - 6:28
• A Public Affair [Frank Pellegrino Vocal Dub Mix] - 9:28
• A Public Affair [Jellybeans House Party Mix] - 7:49

Release history

Region	Date
Australia	June 26, 2006
United States	June 29, 2006
Canada	June 29, 2006
Japon	July 29, 2006
United Kingdom	February 5, 2007
Germany	February 16, 2007

Charts

Chart (2006–2007)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	17
Canadian Singles Chart	8
Czech Airplay Chart	19
European Hot 100 Singles	63
German Singles Chart	72
Hungarian Singles Chart	32
Irish Singles Chart	9
Romanian Top 100	67
Slovakia Singles Chart	74
South Korea GAON (International Chart)	111
Swedish Singles Chart	36
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	20
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	14
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	1
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	11
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	16

Annual charts

Country	Position
US Pop 100 Songs	92

Certifications

Country	Certification	Sales
U.S.	Gold	500,000