Some Girls (Rachel Stevens song)
Encyclopedia
"Some Girls" is a synthpop
song written by Richard X
and Hannah Robinson
for British singer Rachel Stevens
. It is included in the 2004 re-release of Stevens' debut album Funky Dory
and her second studio album Come and Get It. The song's music features a schaffel
beat influenced by glam rock
, and its lyrics describe a pop singer who performs sexual favors in her efforts to achieve stardom.
The song was released as a charity record
for Sport Relief
on 12 July 2004 (see 2004 in music
). It received positive reviews from music critics. The single was commercially successful, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart
. Paul Weiland directed the accompanying music video
, in which Stevens leads a parade of women out of the sewers and down the streets of London
. American dance
musician Henri released a cover version
of "Some Girls" as a single in 2006.
The song was recognized as the Best Pop Record of 2004 through the Popjustice £20 Music Prize
.
in mind as potential performers. Warp Records
and Simon Fuller
of 19 Entertainment
contacted Richard X by email to ask that he give the song to Geri Halliwell
or Stevens, respectively, to record. He agreed to have Stevens record the song after Richard Curtis
asked about using the song for Sport Relief 2004. Richard X later stated that he was surprised Sport Relief chose such a sexually suggestive song. When Halliwell found out that the writers were having Stevens record the song, she locked herself in her car in an attempt to change their minds, and she later wrote Richard X a love song. The aftermath of the decision for Stevens to record the song became the subject of another song written by Richard X and Robinson, "Me Plus One
" from Annie's 2004 album Anniemal
.
The lyrics of "Some Girls" describe a pop singer's dreams of stardom. She performs fellatio
on a man promising to make her a star. Stevens stated that she had not interpreted the lyrics to be about oral sex when she recorded the song. Richard X explained that he wanted to illustrate how the music industry treats people, so he and Robinson based some of the song's lines on anecdotes that they had heard.
The song uses Richard X's "icy" synthpop sound. The synthesizer used was a Fairlight
synthesizer previously owned by pop group the Thompson Twins
. It also features the German schaffel beat popularized by glam rock. Reviewers compared the song's glam-influenced sound to T.Rex's 1971 single "Hot Love" and the work of Adam Ant
. They also noted similarities between "Some Girls" and the more recent electronic glam music on Goldfrapp
's 2003 album Black Cherry.
included it in its "Best Music of 2004" selection, where Adrien Begrand commented that "Stevens might have no singing voice to speak of, but did she ever score a slice of pop genius with her single 'Some Girls', on which the ever-crafty Richard X brazenly hijacks a contagious German schaffel beat and tarts it up with a killer hook in the chorus that never, ever leaves your head". In his review for The Guardian
, Alexis Petridis
referred to the song as "remarkable" for turning Stevens' detached vocal delivery into a strength. Kelefa Sanneh
of The New York Times
stated that Richard X's production allowed Stevens' vocals to "[melt] into the icy beat". Ranking "Some Girls" the twentieth best single of 2004, Stylus Magazine
's Nick Southall praised the song's chorus for how "that double-enunciation on 'wanna-wanna' was delightfully sexy (in a strictly non-threatening way)" and "the melody breathlessly tried to race past its own ends". Pitchfork Media
listed the song twenty-fourth on its "Top 50 Singles of 2004" & #258 on the "Top 500 songs of the 2000's", with Scott Plagenhoef praising its "sharp production" and "Adam Ant-esque 'whoa's".
's "Lola's Theme
" kept the song from topping the chart; noting the song's lyrics about an exasperated singer whose "dreams of number one last forever", The Guardian remarked that the song's chart performance was "as if [it were] following a script". BBC Radio 1
and 2
added "Some Girls" to their C playlists in late June 2004, and in early July, Radio 1 moved the song to its B playlist. The song quickly picked up airplay and was the most played song for the week of 24 July. "Some Girls" remained on the UK Singles Chart for twelve weeks. The song ended the year as the fortieth best-selling single in the UK. Largely due to the success of "Some Girls", Funky Dory re-entered the UK Albums Chart
at number thirteen in August 2004, selling 14,561 copies that week. The song was somewhat less successful in Ireland, where it debuted at number fifteen. It peaked at number thirteen after four weeks and remained on the chart for a total of twelve weeks.
in South London
. Athletes Colin Jackson
, Pat Cash
, and Audley Harrison
make appearances in the music video. The video received heavy play from MTV Hits and The Box. Richard X strongly disapproved of the music video. In an interview with the NME
, he stated, "That video is crap", and he briefly commented on his official website that seeing it "made [him] want to give up [his] life".
The video opens with shots of a dank underground sewer. Stevens and a group of women walk through the sewer and put on sunglasses before climbing out of manholes and shafts. A large crowd of women, with Stevens leading them, parades down the streets as men observe the spectacle. The women begin spraying each other with bottles of water, before Stevens returns to the sewer. Throughout the video, sequences of Stevens and a group of backup dancers performing in the sewer are shown.
's 2002 song "When You Walk Away". Her version did not achieve mainstream success. It did, however, reach number six on the U.S. Billboard
Hot Dance Club Play
and remain on the chart for fifteen weeks. A club mix, dub, and radio edit by Norty Cotto are included on the CD maxi single release.
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
song written by Richard X
Richard X
Richard Philips, best known by his stage name Richard X, is a British songwriter and music producer. Gaining attention as a pioneer of the bootleg craze, Richard X has earned success as a producer and remixer. He has helmed hit singles for artists including Annie, Kelis, Liberty X, Rachel Stevens...
and Hannah Robinson
Hannah Robinson
Hannah Robinson is a British songwriter. Her best known compositions include the "Some Girls", a UK #2 for British pop star Rachel Stevens and Ladyhawke's "My Delirium". She also a vocalist and in 2006 achieved a #1 on the U.S...
for British singer Rachel Stevens
Rachel Stevens
Rachel Lauren Stevens is an English singer-songwriter, actress, presenter, dancer, television personality and model. She is a former member of the successful pop group S Club, and launched a solo recording career in 2003, releasing seven singles and two albums in the UK between 2003 and 2005...
. It is included in the 2004 re-release of Stevens' debut album Funky Dory
Funky Dory
Funky Dory is the solo debut album by British pop–dance singer Rachel Stevens. It was released by Polydor Records on September 29, 2003 in the United Kingdom. The album was produced by various record producers including Bloodshy & Avant and Richard X...
and her second studio album Come and Get It. The song's music features a schaffel
Schaffel
Schaffel is a term used to describe a style in progressive electronic music in which the beat is shuffled hard...
beat influenced by glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
, and its lyrics describe a pop singer who performs sexual favors in her efforts to achieve stardom.
The song was released as a charity record
Charity record
A charity record is a release of a song for a specific charitable cause. Some of the earliest charity records came from the Music for UNICEF Concert, with ABBA's Chiquitita and the Bee Gees' Too Much Heaven among them released as singles, with all the royalties going to UNICEF...
for Sport Relief
Sport Relief
Sport Relief is a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, which brings together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries...
on 12 July 2004 (see 2004 in music
2004 in music
See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....
). It received positive reviews from music critics. The single was commercially successful, reaching number two 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 ...
. Paul Weiland directed the accompanying music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, in which Stevens leads a parade of women out of the sewers and down the streets of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. American dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
musician Henri released a cover version
Cover version
In 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 "Some Girls" as a single in 2006.
The song was recognized as the Best Pop Record of 2004 through the Popjustice £20 Music Prize
Popjustice £20 Music Prize
The Popjustice £20 Music Prize is an annual prize awarded by a panel of judges organised by music website Popjustice to the singer of the best British pop single of the past year....
.
Background and writing
"Some Girls" was written by producer Richard X and songwriter Hannah Robinson. They spent several days working on the song, with girl group Girls AloudGirls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
in mind as potential performers. Warp Records
Warp Records
Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....
and Simon Fuller
Simon Fuller
Simon Fuller is a British artist manager, television producer and creator of the Idol franchise, first seen as Pop Idol in the UK. Fuller is also the co-creator and executive producer of the Fox TV reality show So You Think You Can Dance and other U.S...
of 19 Entertainment
19 Entertainment
19 Entertainment, based in Los Angeles, United States, is a creator and producer of entertainment properties based around the areas of Music and Television / Film, including American Idol in the United States, Pop Idol in the United Kingdom as well as versions of the Idol series in more than...
contacted Richard X by email to ask that he give the song to Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell
Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell is an English pop singer-songwriter, author and actress. After coming to international prominence in the late 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career in 1998 and released her album Schizophonic...
or Stevens, respectively, to record. He agreed to have Stevens record the song after Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
asked about using the song for Sport Relief 2004. Richard X later stated that he was surprised Sport Relief chose such a sexually suggestive song. When Halliwell found out that the writers were having Stevens record the song, she locked herself in her car in an attempt to change their minds, and she later wrote Richard X a love song. The aftermath of the decision for Stevens to record the song became the subject of another song written by Richard X and Robinson, "Me Plus One
Me Plus One (Annie song)
"Me Plus One" is a pop song written by producer Richard X and songwriter Hannah Robinson for Norwegian singer Annie's 2004 debut album Anniemal. The song was written about former Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell. The lyrics refer to a "wannabe senorita" who needs to realise she's "got to let it go"...
" from Annie's 2004 album Anniemal
Anniemal
Anniemal is the debut album of Norwegian electropop singer Annie. It was first released by 679 Recordings in September 2004. Annie began recording music in 1999 with her boyfriend, Tore Kroknes, who died in 2001...
.
The lyrics of "Some Girls" describe a pop singer's dreams of stardom. She performs fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
on a man promising to make her a star. Stevens stated that she had not interpreted the lyrics to be about oral sex when she recorded the song. Richard X explained that he wanted to illustrate how the music industry treats people, so he and Robinson based some of the song's lines on anecdotes that they had heard.
The song uses Richard X's "icy" synthpop sound. The synthesizer used was a Fairlight
Fairlight
Fairlight is a digital audio company based in Sydney, Australia. In 1979 they created the Fairlight CMI, the first digital audio sampler, quickly used by artists such as Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, and Jean Michel Jarre. They are now a manufacturer of media solutions tools such as digital audio...
synthesizer previously owned by pop group the Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins
The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
. It also features the German schaffel beat popularized by glam rock. Reviewers compared the song's glam-influenced sound to T.Rex's 1971 single "Hot Love" and the work of Adam Ant
Adam Ant
Adam Ant is an English musician who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s...
. They also noted similarities between "Some Girls" and the more recent electronic glam music on Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo, formed in 1999 in London, England, that consists of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory ....
's 2003 album Black Cherry.
Critical reception
"Some Girls" received positive reviews from music critics. PopMattersPopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
included it in its "Best Music of 2004" selection, where Adrien Begrand commented that "Stevens might have no singing voice to speak of, but did she ever score a slice of pop genius with her single 'Some Girls', on which the ever-crafty Richard X brazenly hijacks a contagious German schaffel beat and tarts it up with a killer hook in the chorus that never, ever leaves your head". In his review for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for UK newspaper The Guardian, as well as a regular and contributor to the magazine GQ.Petridis began his career writing for Varsity whilst a student at the University of Cambridge...
referred to the song as "remarkable" for turning Stevens' detached vocal delivery into a strength. Kelefa Sanneh
Kelefa Sanneh
Kelefa T. Sanneh is an American journalist and music critic. From 2000 to 2008, he wrote for the New York Times, covering the rock 'n' roll, hip-hop, and pop music scenes...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
stated that Richard X's production allowed Stevens' vocals to "[melt] into the icy beat". Ranking "Some Girls" the twentieth best single of 2004, Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
's Nick Southall praised the song's chorus for how "that double-enunciation on 'wanna-wanna' was delightfully sexy (in a strictly non-threatening way)" and "the melody breathlessly tried to race past its own ends". Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
listed the song twenty-fourth on its "Top 50 Singles of 2004" & #258 on the "Top 500 songs of the 2000's", with Scott Plagenhoef praising its "sharp production" and "Adam Ant-esque 'whoa's".
Commercial performance
"Some Girls" was commercially successful in the United Kingdom. It debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart. ShapeshiftersShapeshifters (band)
The Shapeshifters are Simon Marlin and Max Reich, a house music production duo based in London, England. They have a recording contract with Defected Records, and were previously signed to Positiva...
's "Lola's Theme
Lola's Theme
Lola's Theme is a disco house song, released by the UK based production duo Shapeshifters in 2004.- Background :The name "Lola's Theme" was originally a working title for this record; Lola is Simon Marlin's wife and it was while listening to her record collection that the initial idea for the track...
" kept the song from topping the chart; noting the song's lyrics about an exasperated singer whose "dreams of number one last forever", The Guardian remarked that the song's chart performance was "as if [it were] following a script". BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
and 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
added "Some Girls" to their C playlists in late June 2004, and in early July, Radio 1 moved the song to its B playlist. The song quickly picked up airplay and was the most played song for the week of 24 July. "Some Girls" remained on the UK Singles Chart for twelve weeks. The song ended the year as the fortieth best-selling single in the UK. Largely due to the success of "Some Girls", Funky Dory re-entered the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
at number thirteen in August 2004, selling 14,561 copies that week. The song was somewhat less successful in Ireland, where it debuted at number fifteen. It peaked at number thirteen after four weeks and remained on the chart for a total of twelve weeks.
Music video
The song's music video was written by Richard Curtis and directed by Paul Weiland. It was filmed at Borough MarketBorough Market
Borough Market is a wholesale and retail food market in Southwark, London, England. It is one of the largest food markets in London, and sells a large variety of foods from all over the world.-Information and History:...
in South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
. Athletes Colin Jackson
Colin Jackson
Colin Ray Jackson CBE is a British former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. Over his career representing Great Britain and Wales he won an Olympic silver medal, became world champion three times, went undefeated at the European Championships for 12 years and...
, Pat Cash
Pat Cash
Patrick Hart "Pat" Cash is a retired Australian professional tennis player who won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1987.-Early career:...
, and Audley Harrison
Audley Harrison
Audley Harrison is a British professional boxer from Harlesden, England who fights in the heavyweight division. At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney he became the first British fighter to win an Olympic gold medal in the superheavyweight division. He stands and usually weighs around .Harrison turned...
make appearances in the music video. The video received heavy play from MTV Hits and The Box. Richard X strongly disapproved of the music video. In an interview with the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, he stated, "That video is crap", and he briefly commented on his official website that seeing it "made [him] want to give up [his] life".
The video opens with shots of a dank underground sewer. Stevens and a group of women walk through the sewer and put on sunglasses before climbing out of manholes and shafts. A large crowd of women, with Stevens leading them, parades down the streets as men observe the spectacle. The women begin spraying each other with bottles of water, before Stevens returns to the sewer. Throughout the video, sequences of Stevens and a group of backup dancers performing in the sewer are shown.
Cover version
In 2006, American dance vocalist Henri covered "Some Girls" as a follow-up to her 2005 debut single, a cover version of CherCher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
's 2002 song "When You Walk Away". Her version did not achieve mainstream success. It did, however, reach number six on the U.S. Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
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...
and remain on the chart for fifteen weeks. A club mix, dub, and radio edit by Norty Cotto are included on the CD maxi single release.
Tracklist and formats
- Rachel Stevens enhanced CD single
- "Some Girls" – 3:33
- "Spin That Bottle" – 3:23
- "Some Girls" (The Sharp Boys Hot Fridge vocal) – 8:35
- "Some Girls" (CD-ROM video)
- Remixes
- "Some Girls" (Richard X Extended Mix)
- "Some Girls" (Europa XL Dub)
- "Some Girls" (Europa XL Vocal Mix)
- Henri CD maxi single
- "Some Girls" (The Alumni Radio Mix) – 3:29
- "Some Girls" (Norty Cotto Champagne Club Mix) – 7:33
- "Some Girls" (Norty Cotto Dub Mix) – 6:35
- "Some Girls" (Norty Cotto Dance Radio Mix) – 3:40