This song was co-written by Jane Wiedlin, rhythm guitarist of The Go-Go’s, and Terry Hall - who was in the process of breaking up from The Specials - and forming Fun Boy Three.
The Go-Go’s released it as a single from their début album Beauty and The Beat in 1981, and it became a minor hit in a few countries, including the UK. It achieved greater success in Australia and Canada.
I definitely prefer this take to the Fun Boy Three version that Hall himself made a year or two later.
I might claim, rightly or wrongly, that some tracks on this blog are truly revolutionary pieces of art. But this one isn’t. It’s just a decent pop tune. But it’s a record that, whenever it crops up on “shuffle”, it brings a smile to my face.
Plenty of out-and-out “pop” singers have had a go at this, including Hilary Duff. These versions are uniformly terrible.
