| "You Caught Me Out" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byKirsty MacColl | ||||
| B-side | "Boys" | |||
| Released | 27 October 2023 | |||
| Recorded | 1979 | |||
| Length | 3:25 | |||
| Label | Universal Music Recordings | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Liam Sternberg | |||
| Kirsty MacColl singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative Cover | ||||
 White label pressing of the intended 1979 release onStiff. | ||||
"You Caught Me Out" is a song written byKirsty MacColl,Pete Briquette andSimon Crowe. It was originally recorded by MacColl in 1979, withLiam Sternberg as the producer, but the intended single release later that year was shelved. In 2023, it was issued as a limited edition 7-inch single. Versions have also been recorded by Australian singerChristie Allen and British-American singer/actressTracey Ullman.
After signing toStiff, Maccoll released her debut single "They Don't Know" in June 1979. The song was a radio hit, but a strike at the label's distributors resulted in the single's failure to enter theUK Singles Chart. Despite the setback, MacColl soon recorded a follow-up, "You Caught Me Out", on which she collaborated with members of the Irish rock bandThe Boomtown Rats.[1] MacColl co-wrote the song with the band's bassist Pete Briquette and drummer Simon Crowe, and they recorded the track with her, alongside the band's keyboardistJohnnie Fingers. Guitar was provided byBrinsley Schwarz ofBrinsley Schwarz.[2]
The release date for "You Caught Me Out" was changed multiple times and the song underwent various mixes, with earlier ones being deemed unsatisfactory by Stiff and subsequently rejected. MacColl toldSmash Hits in 1981, "There were so many people mixing it that in the end it became a joke. People literally used to come up to me in pubs and say 'You don't know me but I mixed your single'."[1]
When "You Caught Me Out" was intended for release during October 1979, it was included as one of a number of singles which Stiff were set to push that Autumn under a new sales representation deal withVirgin. The upcoming release of the single was announced in the 1 October 1979 issue ofRecord Business.[3] Stiff pressed a limited number of promotional and white label copies of the single,[4] but its release was soon shelved as relations between MacColl and Stiff became strained. MacColl was dissatisfied with the level of artistic control she had and left the label in February 1980.[1] She subsequently signed withPolydor.[5]
MacColl's recording of "You Caught Me Out" was given its first official release on the 2005 box-setFrom Croydon to Cuba: An Anthology.[6] It has appeared on two other MacColl compilations: the 2005 download-only releaseThe Stiff Years and the 2006 Japanese compilationStiff Singles Collection.[7][8] A different mix of the song was included on the 2007 various artists releaseThe Big Stiff Box Set.[9]
The intended 1979 single release was set to have "Boys" as the B-side, a track written by MacColl and George Lloyd. Until the single's 2023 limited edition release, the song had not seen an official release but had surfaced onYouTube.[10]
In September 2023, it was announced that "You Caught Me Out" would be released byUniversal Music Recordings as a limited edition seven-inch single on 27 October 2023, alongside a new 161-track collectionSee That Girl. The single sleeve features a previously unpublished photograph of MacColl with Simon Crowe and Pete Briquette, taken by Adrian Boot.[11]
In 2006, John C. Hughes ofPopdose noted the "driving, punky feel" of MacColl's version, in comparison to Ullman's, which he considered "even more hyper", with "the organ higher in the mix, the beat more insistent [and] the vocals more histrionic".[12]
Production
Other
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Physical Singles Chart (OCC)[16] | 6 |
| UK Singles Sales Chart (OCC)[16] | 58 |
| UK Vinyl Singles Chart (OCC)[16] | 5 |
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