Valerie (The Zutons song)
| "Valerie" | ||||
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| Single by The Zutons | ||||
| from the album Tired of Hanging Around | ||||
| B-side | "April Fool", "I Will Be Your Pockets", "In the City", "Get Up and Dance" | |||
| Released | 19 June 2006 (UK) | |||
| Format | CD single, 7" single | |||
| Recorded | The Townhouse (London) Olympic Studio 2 (London) The Bunker (London) |
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| Genre | Indie rock, blues | |||
| Length | 3:56 | |||
| Label | Deltasonic | |||
| Writer(s) | Dave McCabe, The Zutons | |||
| Producer | Stephen Street | |||
| The Zutons singles chronology | ||||
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"Valerie" is a song by the English indie rock band The Zutons from the band's second studio album, Tired of Hanging Around (2006). Released as the album's second single on 19 June 2006 in the United Kingdom, along with their previous single "Why Won't You Give Me Your Love?", it gave The Zutons their joint-biggest single to date as well as their second UK Top 10 single, climbing from #41 (through download sales alone the day before physical release) to its peak at #9 in the UK Singles Chart. The music video was directed by Scott Lyon. 'Valerie' is actually Valerie Star from Tampa, FL,USA, and the song was written after a romantic entanglement between her and Dave McCabe.[citation needed]
The song was used by ITV during their coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, alongside Kasabian's cover of David Bowie's 1977 song "Heroes" and Primal Scream's 2006 song "Country Girl".
Contents |
[edit] Track listings and formats
- CD 1
- "Valerie"
- "April Fool"
- CD 2
- "Valerie"
- "I Will Be Your Pockets"
- "In the City"
- "Valerie" (Video)
- 7" single
- "Valerie"
- "Get Up and Dance"
[edit] Charts
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| European Hot 100 Singles[1] | 33 |
| Irish Singles Chart[2] | 32 |
| UK Singles Chart[2] | 9 |
[edit] Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse version
| "Valerie" | |||||||||||
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| Single by Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse | |||||||||||
| from the album Version | |||||||||||
| B-side | "California" (Live) | ||||||||||
| Released | 15 October 2007 (UK) 30 July 2008 (U.S.) |
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| Format | CD single, digital download | ||||||||||
| Recorded | 2007 | ||||||||||
| Genre | R&B, soul, jazz | ||||||||||
| Length | 3:39 | ||||||||||
| Label | Columbia | ||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Dave McCabe, The Zutons | ||||||||||
| Producer | Mark Ronson | ||||||||||
| Certification | Gold (BPI) | ||||||||||
| Mark Ronson singles chronology | |||||||||||
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English musicians Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse covered "Valerie" for Ronson's second studio album, Version (2007). Released as the album's third single on 15 October 2007, the track was originally done when Winehouse appeared on Jo Whiley's Live Lounge show on BBC Radio 1. The song was featured in the feature film 27 Dresses. Rolling Stone called the cover Winehouse's only "notable recording" after Back to Black.[3] Winehouse had previously recorded a slower-tempo version of the song, which appeared as bonus track on the deluxe edition of Back to Black.
[edit] Chart performance
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The single peaked at Number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, where it spent 19 consecutive weeks inside the Top 20. With sales of 329,490, it became the UK's ninth biggest-selling single of 2007.[4] As of 23 November 2008, the single has sold 491,890 copies in the UK, and spent 36 consecutive weeks on the Official UK Singles Chart between September 2007 and May 2008. It re-entered the chart in late June 2008 to take its total to 39 weeks.
The song was released in early 2008 in the Netherlands, quickly gaining airplay and sales. It is both Ronson's and Winehouse's most successful song in the country, peaking at Number 1 for four consecutive weeks.[citation needed]
"Valerie" was performed in a Ronson medley during the 2008 BRIT Awards ceremony on 20 February 2008, with an appearance by Winehouse, the first time the two have performed the song together. The song also received a nomination for British Single, but lost out to Take That's "Shine". This performance would allow the song to jump back to the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart.[citation needed]
At the beginning of the song, Winehouse can be heard saying, "I'm sorry Charlie Murphy, I was having too much fun." This is a reference to the famous Rick James skit from Chappelle's Show.
To date[chronology citation needed], it is Winehouse's most successful chart entry in the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany (where it jumped from number 72 to number six in one week, and is her only gold single so far, having sold over 150,000 copies). The single was also used in the film 2008 romantic comedy 27 Dresses. Singer and director Jordan Galland plays the electric piano in this single.
[edit] Music video
The single's music video, directed by Robert Hales, was filmed in London on 28 August 2007.[5] It shows Ronson and a group of jazz musicians inviting a woman from the audience onto their stage to "sing" the song (after they notice that Winehouse is not present), followed by (presumably) the woman's friends, in the style of group karaoke—although the women essentially mime to Winehouse's voice. A second video of the song has been produced for the Baby J remix, which features samples from the Winehouse/Ronson edition with a rap overlay that makes frequent reference to Ronson and Winehouse (although no mention is made of The Zutons), as does the video itself. Rapper Wale can be seen in the beginning of the video.
[edit] Track listings and formats
- CD single
- "Valerie"
- "Valerie" (Baby J Remix)
- "Valerie" (The Count & Sinden Remix)
- "California" (Live from Wireless Festival)
[edit] Charts
[edit] Year-end charts
[edit] End of decade charts
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[edit] Other versions
The song has also been covered by dance vocalist Suzi Z, with the reference to "ginger hair" removed. James Morrison and Panic at the Disco also covered the song on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge in 2008
It was performed by The X Factor series 4 contestant Alisha Bennett, on the third round of the live shows (Big Band week). She received positive reviews from the judges
It was sung by Niamh Perry on the fourth round of BBC's I'd Do Anything in 2008
Canadian Idol season 6 contestant Mookie Morris sang it the final week of the semi-finals, earning him a spot in the top ten
It was covered in a parody on Today FM's Gift Grub, prior to Munster's appearance in the 2008 Heineken Cup final, as Flannery after Munster hooker, Jerry Flannery
The Australian pop rock band Brittle covered the song for their 2008 EP Chinese Whispers.
The Zutons' version of the song is referenced in the 2010 song "She Said" by Plan B.
Glee covered the Amy Winehouse version of the song in the episode "Special Education", as one of the two songs for the season 2 Sectionals, with Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera) singing the lead.
Singer Bruno Mars paid tribute to Winehouse performing her version of the song at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.
[edit] References
- ^ "European Hot 100 Singles". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=349&cfgn=Singles&cfn=European+Hot+100+Singles&ci=3067698&cdi=8674460&cid=07%2F08%2F0006. Retrieved 2008-01-30.[dead link]
- ^ a b "Zutons – Valerie – Music Charts". αCharts.us. http://acharts.us/song/10332. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
- ^ "Amy Winehouse Album Guide". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/amy-winehouse/albumguide. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ "Top 40 Singles of the Year 2007". BBC Radio 1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/singles2007.shtml. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
- ^ "Mark Ronson f/ Amy Winehouse - "Valerie"". Elbo.ws. 15 September 2007. http://elbo.ws/video/EBcRnTd-vzU/. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ "Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse – Valerie – Music Charts". αCharts.us. http://acharts.us/song/28280. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ "European Hot 100 Singles". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=349&cfgn=Singles&cfn=European+Hot+100+Singles&ci=3090424&cdi=9621751&cid=11%2F03%2F2007. Retrieved 2008-01-28.[dead link]
- ^ "Dance Top 40 lista – 2008. 15. hét" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. http://www.mahasz.hu/m/?menu=slagerlistak&menu2=archivum&lista=dance&ev=2008&het=15&submit_=Keresés. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
- ^ "RADIO TOP100 Oficiálna" (in Slovak). IFPI. http://www.ifpicr.cz/hitparadask/index.php?a=titul&hitparada=18&titul=144761&sec=5123ace9046e5155730eebebe63322c7. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- ^ http://www.mtv.de/charts/Jahrescharts2008
- ^ Radio 1 Chart of the Decade, as presented by Nihal on Tuesday 29th December 2009
- ^ http://www.valeriestar.com/about/valerie-song-by-the-zutons
| Preceded by "Apologize" by Timbaland presents OneRepublic |
Dutch Top 40 number-one single (Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse version) 26 January 2008 – 16 February 2008 |
Succeeded by "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis |
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