A Girl Like You (Edwyn Collins song)

"A Girl Like You" is a song by Scottish singer-songwriter Edwyn Collins from his third solo studio album, Gorgeous George (1994). The song samples the drum track of Len Barry's single "1-2-3" (1965).[4] It was released as a single and became a worldwide hit, reaching number one in Flemish Belgium and Iceland and the top ten in several countries, including Australia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. In North America, "A Girl Like You" reached number 16 on Canada's RPM Top Singles chart and number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

"A Girl Like You"
Single by Edwyn Collins
from the album Gorgeous George
B-side"If You Could Love Me"
Released5 December 1994 (CD1) (Australia)[1]
12 December 1994 (CD2) (Australia)[2]
5 June 1995 (United Kingdom re release)
Recorded1994
GenreAlternative rock[3]
Length3:59
LabelSetanta
Songwriter(s)Edwyn Collins
Producer(s)Edwyn Collins
Edwyn Collins singles chronology
"If You Could Love Me"
(1995)		 "A Girl Like You"
(1994)		 "Make Me Feel Again"
(1995)

Production

The Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook played vibraphone on the recording. Vic Godard performed backing vocals on the outro. The song had started out as "a more thrashy kind of guitar thing" and there had been a suggestion that Iggy Pop might record a version for the US market but before that could happen Collins' version was gaining airplay.[5]

On 30 September 2009, Collins' manager posted to Collins' page on Myspace[6] to discuss how Collins owned the copyright to the song and wanted to make it available to anyone as a free download, but Myspace only allowed major labels to assert the rights to tracks hosted on their site.

A later posting notes that, after the story was picked up by major news outlets, the song was once again available on the music player via Myspace.[7]

Music videos

There are two different music videos for this song. The video in the United States showed an avant-garde depiction of its lyrics (e.g. when Collins sings the lyrics "you made me acknowledge the devil in me", a child's painting of the devil overlays his face). The international video shows Collins singing over videos and silhouettes of dancers.

Track listings

Charts and certifications

Appearances

The song appeared on the soundtrack of the 1995 movie Empire Records.[48] It can be heard in a 1995 episode of EastEnders during the night club scene in Spain as well as several September 1995 and October 1995 episodes during scenes at the Queen Vic with Samantha Mitchell. It was also featured in season 1, episode 5 of Lucifer ("Sweet Kicks").[49]

See also

References
  1. "New Releases – Product Available from: 05/12/94". Imgur (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  2. "New Releases – Product Available from: 12/12/94". Imgur (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  3. McGovern, Kyle (18 August 2014). "100 Best Alternative rock songs of 1994". Spin. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  4. MacGregor, David (9 December 2013). "Baubles, Labels, and Sliding Doors: Kid Canaveral interview Edwyn Collins". The Skinny. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  5. Love, Damien (20 October 1995). "Poor old northern soul". The List. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  6. "Downloads and the Featured Artists Coalition". Archived from the original on 9 October 2009.. Myspace. 30 September 2009.
  7. "Featured Content on Myspace". Myspace. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  8. "Australian-charts.com – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  9. "Austriancharts.at – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  10. "Ultratop.be – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  11. "Ultratop.be – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  12. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2827." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  13. "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 2799." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  14. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 37. 16 September 1995. p. 18. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  15. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 37. 16 September 1995. p. 16. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  16. "Edwyn Collins: A Girl Like You" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  17. "Lescharts.com – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  19. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (30.7. '95 – 5.8. '95)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 29 July 1995. p. 20. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  20. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Edwyn Collins". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  21. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 4, 1995" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  22. "Dutchcharts.nl – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  23. "Charts.nz – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  24. "Norwegiancharts.com – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". VG-lista. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  25. "A GIRL LIKE YOU – Edwyn Collins" (in Polish). LP3. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  26. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  27. "Swedishcharts.com – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  28. "Swisscharts.com – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  29. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  30. "Gorgeous George – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  31. "Edwyn Collins Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  32. "CASH BOX Top 100 Pop Singles – Week ending NOVEMBER 11, 1995". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012.
  33. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  34. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1995". Imgur (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  35. "Jahreshitparade 1995" (in German). Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  36. "Jaaroverzichten 1995" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  37. "Rapports annuels 1995" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  38. "1995 in Review – Year End Sales Charts – Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 1995" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 51/52. 23 December 1995. p. 14. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  39. "Classement Singles – année 1995". Disque en France (in French). Archived from the original on 14 February 2009.
  40. "Jahrescharts – 1995". Offiziellecharts.de (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019.
  41. "Árslistinn 1995". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 1996. p. 25. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  42. "Årslista Singlar – År 1995" (in Swedish). Topplistan. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  43. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1995" (in German). Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  44. "Les Singles / Titres Certifiés "Argent"" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  45. "Les Singles en Argent". InfoDisc (in French). Archived from the original on 16 October 2014.
  46. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Edwyn Collins; 'A Girl Like You')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  47. "British single certifications – Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type A Girl Like You in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  48. Borzillo, Carrie (5 August 1995). "A&M soundtrack plants hopes with the Gin Blossoms". Billboard. Vol. 107 no. 31. p. 103. ISSN 0006-2510.
  49. "Listen to Edwyn Collins 'A Girl Like You' from 'Lucifer'". Leo Sigh. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
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