Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves
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| "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" | |||||||||||
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| Single by Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin | |||||||||||
| from the album Be Yourself Tonight and Who's Zoomin' Who? | |||||||||||
| Released | October, 1985 | ||||||||||
| Format | 7" single, 12" single, cassette single | ||||||||||
| Recorded | 1985 | ||||||||||
| Genre | Pop, rock, R&B | ||||||||||
| Label | RCA Records | ||||||||||
| Producer | David A. Stewart | ||||||||||
| Eurythmics singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" is a hit duet recorded between British pop duo Eurythmics and American soul/R&B musician Aretha Franklin, released as a single by RCA Records in October 1985. It was featured on both Eurythmics' Be Yourself Tonight and Franklin's Who's Zoomin' Who? albums.
"Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" was very successful as a dance song, reaching number 10 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. The single reached the Top 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, peaking at number 18, and the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number nine.
The song can be considered to be a modern feminist anthem. Apart from the Eurythmics and Franklin, the original version features three of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers in Stan Lynch on drums, Benmont Tench on organ, and Mike Campbell on lead guitar, plus session bassist Nathan East.
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[edit] Lyrics
"Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" was written by Eurythmics members Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart.[1] It was intended as a feminist anthem.
It was criticized for containing some clichés about women in its lyrics by the A.V. Club.[2]
[edit] Music video
A music video was filmed at Detroit's Club Taboo on Woodbridge which Aretha co-owned.
[edit] Track listings
7"
- A: "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" [single edit]
- B: "I love you like a ball and chain"
12"
- A: "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" [album version]
- B1: "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (ET Mix)
- B2: "I love you like a ball and chain"
[edit] Cover versions
- The song was performed by the cartoon character Lisa Simpson (as sung by actress Yeardley Smith) along with the Wilson sisters on The Yellow Album released in 1998.
- In 2005, The Pointer Sisters recorded a cover version of the song with Belgian singer Natalia. The single was released only in Belgium in October 2005 and reached number two on the Belgian singles chart.
- Dutch singer Raffaëla Paton, winner of the 3rd season of the reality series Idols Netherlands, recorded a cover of the song with Idols runner-up Floortje Smit. Their rendition was included on Paton's 2006 debut album Raffaëla.
- Hazell Dean recorded a cover version of this song with american Diva Marina in 1998 on MRK Records. The recording was not a commercial success.[3]
[edit] Live cover performances
- In 1998, the Spice Girls performed a live cover version of the song on their Spiceworld Tour, as a duet between Melanie C (Sporty Spice) and Melanie B (Scary Spice).
- In 2011 Christina Aguilera, Martina McBride, Florence Welch, Jennifer Hudson & Yolanda Adams covered this song at 53rd Grammy Awards.
[edit] References in other media
- On an episode of The Simpsons, Milhouse Van Houten sang a line from the song while playing with Bart Simpson in drag.
- The song was performed by Xena (as played by Lucy Lawless) and the Amazons on the Xena, Warrior Princess episode, "Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire".
- The song is used during a scene in The First Wives Club.
- The song was also used in scenes with Christina Applegate of a episode of Married... with Children.
- The song is referenced in an episode of Red Dwarf, in which Kryten, a droid who has been re-classified as a woman announces "If you need me, I'll be with my fellow sisters, doing it for ourselves!"
- This song was also sung by Miranda Hart in her sitcom Miranda in the episode Let's Do It.
- In a Bea strip in the 2004 Dennis The Menace annual, Bea sings this song.
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
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| Belgian Singles Chart[citation needed] | 17 |
| Canadian Singles Chart[4] | 33 |
| Dutch Singles Chart[5] | 17 |
| German Singles Chart[6] | 22 |
| Irish Singles Chart[7] | 5 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart[8] | 6 |
| Polish Singles Chart[citation needed] | 29 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[9] | 20 |
| UK Singles Chart[10] | 9 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11] | 18 |
| U.S. Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart[11] | 10 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales Chart[12] | 36 |
[edit] References
- ^ "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves Lyrics". http://www.rhapsody.com/eurythmics/ultimate-collection/sisters-are-doin-it-for-themselves/lyrics.html.
- ^ Jason Heller, Genevieve Koski, Leonard Pierce, Tasha Robinson, Kyle Ryan, Emily Withrow, and Claire Zulkey. "A soundproofed room of one’s own: 17 well-intended yet misguided feminist anthems". The A.V. Club March 15, 2010
- ^ HazellDean.net
- ^ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=53gtrvbfj0gk7r9b4sd40dtvu0&q1=Eurythmics+Franklin+Themselves&q2=Top+Singles&interval=30
- ^ http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Eurythmics+and+Aretha+Franklin&titel=Sisters+Are+Doin%27+It+For+Themselves&cat=s
- ^ http://musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Eurythmics/single
- ^ http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement
- ^ http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Eurythmics+and+Aretha+Franklin&titel=Sisters+Are+Doin%27+It+For+Themselves&cat=s
- ^ http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Eurythmics+and+Aretha+Franklin&titel=Sisters+Are+Doin%27+It+For+Themselves&cat=s
- ^ http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=12687
- ^ a b http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/eurythmics/chart-history/4567?f=359&g=Singles
- ^ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/eurythmics-p4207/charts-awards/billboard-singles
[edit] External links
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