"My Girl" is a song by British ska/pop group Madness from their debut album, One Step Beyond.... It was written by Mike Barson. The song was released as a single on 21 December 1979 and spent 10 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 3. The song was reissued on 27 July 1992 following the success of the reissued "It Must Be Love". It reached number 27 in the UK Singles Chart.

Song history

Mike Barson was working driving a van and delivering bananas teamed with a co-worker who was always talking about “My girl did this” and “My girl did that”. Barson used this phrasing to write a song about his own experiences with his girlfriend at the time, photographer Kerstin Rodgers. Barson originally performed lead vocals on the song and sang on the original demo. The song first made its way into the band's set when they were performing as The Invaders. The first performance of the song came in July 1978, when the band performed at a shop in Camden Lock called Blind Alley where band member Mark Bedford was working; at the time the song was simply titled "New Song". Suggs took over the vocal duties from Barson before long, and sang the album version of the song. When the group performed the song on Top of the Pops in January 1980, they were the first band of the new decade performing on the TV show.

Music video

The music video for "My Girl" features Madness performing the song at the Dublin Castle, Camden. For the video, the stage was extended especially, in order to ensure that the band could perform comfortably.

Critical reception

Mike Nicholls of Record Mirror noted the contrast between "My Girl" and the band's previous single, "One Step Beyond". He felt "My Girl" to be a "Cockney/Dury-style lament" and "more indicative of the Kilburn and the High Roads side of Madness' sound".

Other versions

A demo version of "My Girl" was released on the B-side of the 12" version of "The Return of the Los Palmas 7", featuring Mike Barson on vocals. In 2006, The Ordinary Boys released a live recording of the song at the Brixton Academy featuring Suggs, as the B-side to their single "Nine-2-Five". On 2 May 2008, Graham McPherson (Suggs) and Carl Smyth (Chas Smash) performed a new arrangement by Pet Shop Boys live at Heaven in London; they appeared as part of Pet Shop Boys' live set during Can You Bear It?, the benefit evening for Dainton Connell's family. A Pet Shop Boys version of the song appears on the Pet Shop Boys' Christmas EP, along with a remix of the song. Barson wrote a follow-up song, "My Girl 2", which was recorded by Madness and released as a single in 2012. Though it contains the phrase "my girl", "My Girl 2" is otherwise musically and lyrically quite distinct from "My Girl".

Appearances

In addition to its single release and appearance on the album One Step Beyond... "My Girl" also appears on the Madness collections Divine Madness (a.k.a. The Heavy Heavy Hits), Complete Madness, It's... Madness, Total Madness and The Business. Audio Bullys included it on their 2003 instalment of the Back to Mine series of 'after hours grooving' DJ mix albums, with Tom Dinsdale referring to it as "Classic Madness", adding "everyone should be able to relate to this tune".

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "My Girl".

1979 release

1992 release

Chart performance

Certifications and sales

My Guy's Mad at Me

Tracey Ullman covered Madness's "My Girl" in 1984. The lyric and title were changed to "My Guy's Mad at Me". Madness' Mark Bedford played bass on the track. Her version was in the UK Top 40 at the same time as Madness' "Michael Caine" and peaked at number 23. The music video featured the British politician Neil Kinnock, at the time the Leader of the Opposition. The single was also released as a 7" picture disc, with a picture of Ullman and Kinnock sitting at a table.

Formats and track listings

Chart performance