| "Valerie" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single bythe Zutons | ||||
| from the albumTired of Hanging Around | ||||
| Released | 19 June 2006 (2006-06-19)[1] | |||
| Recorded |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:56 | |||
| Label | Deltasonic | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Producer | Stephen Street | |||
| The Zutons singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Valerie" onYouTube | ||||
"Valerie" is a song by Englishindie rock bandthe Zutons from their second studio album,Tired of Hanging Around (2006). The song was later covered byMark Ronson, with lead vocals provided byAmy Winehouse, reaching number two on theUK Singles Chart in 2007.
In an interview withThe Scotsman in May 2008, lead singerDave McCabe described the writing process of the song: "I could tell you I was inspired by gazing out across theMersey or walking pastMacca's old house, but the truth is I got the idea in a cab on the way to my mum's. The whole song was written before I got there, so 20 minutes, max[imum]".[2]
The song's title and theme refer to a then-unnamed American friend of McCabe's who was in trouble fordriving under the influence. The band's drummer, Sean Payne, called it a "musical postcard to her, saying he is having a hard time and can she come over and see him".[3] In an interview withVice magazine in June 2019, the subject of the song was revealed to be celebrity makeup artist Valerie Star.[4] She explained that she met McCabe and how she got arrested for driving on a suspended license.[5]
The song was used byITV during the2006 FIFA World Cup, alongsidePrimal Scream's "Country Girl" andKasabian'scover ofDavid Bowie's 1977 song "Heroes". The song was also featured as a playable track inLego Rock Band.
Both the original and theMark Ronson version featured in British soap operaEmmerdale during the wedding ofEric andVal Pollard in 2008.
The music video was directed by Scott Lyon. It is set in a prison and showsthe Zutons trying to escape.
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[11] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
| "Valerie" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byMark Ronson featuringAmy Winehouse | ||||
| from the albumVersion | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | 15 October 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 2007 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:37 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters |
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| Producer | Mark Ronson | |||
| Mark Ronson singles chronology | ||||
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| Amy Winehouse singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Valerie" onYouTube | ||||
English musiciansMark Ronson andAmy Winehouse covered "Valerie" for Ronson's second studio albumVersion (2007). Released as the album's third single on 15 October 2007, the track was first performed by Winehouse onJo Whiley'sLive Lounge show onBBC Radio 1. Singer and directorJordan Galland plays the electric piano on this single.Rolling Stone called the cover Winehouse's only "notable recording" afterBack to Black.[15] Winehouse had previously recorded a slower-tempo version of the song, which appeared as a bonus track on the deluxe edition ofBack to Black. The song has been featured in27 Dresses andAmy (2015), adocumentary film biography of Winehouse, a U.S. advertisement forAmazon Echo,[16] and the demonstration launch video for the Google Nest Audio.[17]
After "Valerie" became a success in the summer of 2006, it found an unlikely fan in Amy Winehouse, who was invited to contribute to a new project with Mark Ronson. He claimed Winehouse did not listen to anything written after 1967 and that she was struggling to come up with something that would fit the sessions for Ronson's upcoming albumVersion. After Ronson explained that the album would consist of soul covers of guitar records, Winehouse told him that she might try "Valerie", but Ronson found it very difficult to hear her voice singing that song in his head. "I wasn't sure how it would work, but she went into the studio and tried it. I loved it", he said.[3]
Ronson's production of the cover is based around the beat fromthe Jam's 1982 song "Town Called Malice". Winehouse also recorded a jazzier, acoustic version for Radio 1'sLive Lounge, which was issued at the same time as the Ronson collaboration and a success in its own right, possibly due to download confusion, though it was the Ronson version that got airplay.[3]
The single peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, where it spent 19 consecutive weeks inside the top 20. With sales of 329,490, it became the UK's ninth biggest-selling single of 2007.[18] The single spent 36 consecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart between September 2007 and May 2008. It re-entered the chart in late June 2008 to take its total to 39 weeks.
The song was released in early 2008 in theNetherlands, quickly gaining airplay and sales. It is Winehouse's most successful song in that country, peaking at number one for four consecutive weeks.[19][20]
As of January 2015, Ronson and Winehouse's version of "Valerie" had sold 658,353 copies in the United Kingdom, according to theOfficial Charts Company.[21]
The song has become something of a mixed blessing for McCabe. He said, "I certainly have to try hard sometimes to not think about 'Valerie'. The days it's in my head are when I have to put down the guitar and just forget about writing".[2]
The single's music video, directed byRobert Hales, was filmed in London on 28 August 2007.[22] It shows Ronson and a group of jazz musicians playing the intro song with American rapperWale (who also appears as a vocalist on Ronson's cover ofMethod Man andMary J. Blige's "You're All I Need to Get By" alongsideTawiah, a track on the digital deluxe edition ofVersion and theBBC Radio 1 40th anniversary compilation albumRadio 1: Established 1967)freestyling over it,[23] before moving on to the next number before briefly halting it when they notice that Winehouse is not present, then inviting a woman from the audience – an Amy fan sporting her famousbeehive hairstyle – onto their stage to "sing" the song, soon joined by other similarly coiffed women, in the style of groupkaraoke, all lip synching to Winehouse's voice.
Weekly charts[edit]
Solo Amy Winehouse version
| Year-end charts[edit]
Solo Amy Winehouse version
Decade-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[72] | 3× Platinum | 210,000‡ | ||
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[73] | Platinum | 60,000‡ | ||
| Germany (BVMI)[74] | Platinum | 300,000‡ | ||
| Italy (FIMI)[75] | Gold | 50,000‡ | ||
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[76] | 6× Platinum | 180,000‡ | ||
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[77] | Platinum | 60,000‡ | ||
| United Kingdom (BPI)[78] | 4× Platinum | 2,400,000‡ | ||
| Solo Amy Winehouse version | ||||
| Italy (FIMI)[79] | Gold | 25,000‡ | ||
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[80] | Platinum | 60,000‡ | ||
| United Kingdom (BPI)[81] | Platinum | 600,000‡ | ||
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||||
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When Ronson performed his version of the song during his set at the 2007BBC Electric Proms, after Winehouse was unavailable,The View frontmanKyle Falconer stepped in on vocals.[82] Falconer later appeared as a vocalist on Ronson's 2010 single "The Bike Song" (a track co-written by the Zutons' frontmanDave McCabe) alongside American rapperSpank Rock.[83]
James Morrison andPanic! at the Disco both covered the song onBBC Radio 1'sLive Lounge in 2008. It was sung byNiamh Perry on the fourth round ofBBC'sI'd Do Anything in 2008.
It was covered in a parody onToday FM'sGift Grub, prior toMunster's appearance in the 2008Heineken Cup final, as "Flannery", afterMunster hooker,Jerry Flannery. The Zutons' version of the song is referenced in the 2010 song "She Said" byPlan B.
Glee covered Ronson and Winehouse's version of the song in the episode "Special Education", as one of the two songs for the season 2 Sectionals, withSantana Lopez (Naya Rivera) singing the lead andBrittany Pierce (Heather Morris) andMike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.) performing a choreographed dance duet. During the100th episode of the series they redo the song as a duet with Santana and Brittany singing, backed up by the dancing of Mike and new New Directions member Jake Puckerman (Jacob Artist).
SingerBruno Mars paid tribute to Winehouse by performing her version of the song at the2011 MTV Video Music Awards.
Louis Tomlinson of boy bandOne Direction covered the song during a concert of their 2011Up All Night Tour.[84]
Dionne Bromfield (Winehouse's goddaughter), Aura Dione, Ivy Quainoo, Caro Emerald and Ina Müller performed the song as a tribute to Winehouse at the2012 Echo Awards Presentation in Germany.
Syracuseindie rock bandRa Ra Riot covered the song in their 2012 and was released as a single.
EastEnders actressRita Simons sang the song onChildren in Need 2013.
The Original Pinettes Brass Band included the song (as "Baby") on their 2013 debut studio albumFinally.
American bluegrass bandthe Brothers Comatose covered the song for their 2016 albumCity Painted Gold. Argentine jazz singerKaren Souza covered the song on her 2017 releaseVelvet Vault.
Covered bySmith & Myers on their EPVolume 1 in 2020.
Japanese R&B singeriri included a cover of the song on her first compilation album2016–2020, released in 2021.
Filipino groupLola Amour covered the song withLeanne and Naara during their Looking Back online concert in 2022. The band often performs the song live, using a break in the song to introduce the members during their concerts.
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