Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves
Encyclopedia
"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
.
and Dave Stewart
. It was intended as a feminist anthem.
It was criticized for containing some clichés about women in its lyrics by the A.V. Club.
12"
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
duo Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
/R&B musician Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
by RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
in October 1985. It was featured on both Eurythmics' Be Yourself Tonight
Be Yourself Tonight
- Credits :Eurythmics* Annie Lennox - vocals, keyboards , keyboard sequencers on "It’s Alright "* David A...
and Franklin's Who's Zoomin' Who?
Who's Zoomin' Who?
Who's Zoomin' Who? is the ever first million-selling, Platinum-certified album by Aretha Franklin, originally released in the summer of 1985. It was the first of four Platinum records in Franklin's 50-plus year recording career....
albums.
"Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" was very successful as a dance song, reaching number 10 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
chart. The single reached the Top 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
pop singles chart, peaking at number 18, and the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, 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
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
's Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
in Stan Lynch
Stan Lynch
Stanley Joseph "Stan" Lynch is an American songwriter and record producer. He was the original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for 18 years until his departure in 1994.- Early years :...
on drums, Benmont Tench
Benmont Tench
Benjamin Montmorency Tench, III is an American keyboardist best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.-Early years:...
on organ, and Mike Campbell on lead guitar, plus session bassist Nathan East
Nathan East
Nathan Harrell East is a jazz, R&B and rock bass player and vocalist. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of California, San Diego...
.
Lyrics
"Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" was written by Eurythmics members Annie LennoxAnnie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
and Dave Stewart
David A. Stewart
David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...
. It was intended as a feminist anthem.
It was criticized for containing some clichés about women in its lyrics by the A.V. Club.
Music video
A music video was filmed at Detroit's Club Taboo on Woodbridge which Aretha co-owned.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" (E.T. Mix)
- B2: "I love you like a ball and chain"
Cover versions
- The song was performed by the cartoon character Lisa SimpsonLisa SimpsonLisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
(as sung by actress Yeardley SmithYeardley SmithYeardley Smith is a French-born American actress, voice actress, writer and painter. She is best known for her long-running role as Lisa Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons....
) along with the Wilson sisters on The Yellow AlbumThe Yellow AlbumThe Yellow Album is The Simpsons second album of originally recorded songs, released as a follow up to the 1990 album The Simpsons Sing the Blues. Though it was released in 1998, it had been recorded years earlier, after the success of the first 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.
- DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
singer Raffaëla PatonRaffaëla PatonRaffaëla Paton is a Dutch singer of Surinamese descent and the winner of the 2006 Dutch talent show Idols.-Biography:...
, winner of the 3rd season of the reality series Idols Netherlands, recorded a cover of the song with Idols runner-upRunner-upRunner-up is a term used to denote a participant which finishes in second place in any of a variety of competitive endeavors, most notably sporting events and beauty pageants; in the latter instance, the term is applied to more than one of the highest-ranked non-winning contestants, the...
Floortje SmitFloortje Smit-Career:Smit's career started in season three of the Dutch TV talent show Idols, the Dutch spin-off of Pop Idol. In a surprising twist, Smit, a big audience favorite with her girl-nextdoor image and very popular lost in the final to Raffaëla Paton...
. Their rendition was included on Paton's 2006 debut album RaffaëlaRaffaëla (album)Raffaëla is the debut album by the Dutch 2006 Idols winner Raffaëla. The album was released on April 21, 2006 in the Netherlands and contains songs Raffaëla sung during her Idols career. The album also contains two Dutch songs about pregnancy and a duet with Floortje Smit, runner-up on Idols...
. - Hazell DeanHazell DeanHazell Dean is a British dance-pop singer, who achieved her biggest success in the 1980s as a leading Hi-NRG artist. She is best known for the top ten hits "Searchin' ", "Whatever I Do " and "Who's Leaving Who"...
recorded a cover version of this song with american Diva Marina in 1998 on MRK Records. The recording was not a commercial success.
Live cover performances
- In 1998, the Spice GirlsSpice GirlsThe Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
performed a live cover versionCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the song on their Spiceworld TourSpiceworld TourThe Spiceworld Tour was a concert tour performed by the British Europop group the Spice Girls in support of their second album Spiceworld which was the soundtrack to their feature film Spiceworld: The Movie. The sell-out European/North American tour ran from February to August 1998, after which it...
, as a duet between Melanie C (Sporty Spice) and Melanie B (Scary Spice).
Chart performance
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Singles Chart | 17 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 33 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 17 |
| German Singles Chart | 22 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 5 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 6 |
| Polish Singles Chart | 29 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 20 |
| UK Singles Chart | 9 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 18 |
| U.S. Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart | 10 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales Chart | 36 |