Girl U Want#Robert Palmer version

"Girl U Want" was allegedly inspired by the song "My Sharona" by the Knack,{{cite web|last=Prato |first=Greg |url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/girl-u-want-t3595803 |title=Girl U Want |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=2012-05-10}} although Devo bassist and co-writer Gerald Casale has denied this claim.{{cite web|title= Interview with Gerald Casale of DEVO (6-12-05) |work= earcandymag.com |url= https://www.earcandymag.com/devo-2005.htm |date=July 2005 |first= DJ | last = Ivan}} The lyrics, in typical Devo style, describe a relationship marked by unrequited love/lust for a woman. "Girl U Want" was first performed in December 1979 in a similar arrangement to the album version.

In the music video for "Girl U Want", Devo performs for a group of young women in the style of a performance from The Ed Sullivan Show, with two robotic backup dancers, one male and one female. Further implying the televised nature of the performance, the color in the video is deliberately altered to make the red of the band's energy dome headgear look almost purple. The band wears the silver naugahyde suits from the cover of Freedom of Choice, and mime the song with Moog Liberation synthesizers.

During the video, the camera focuses on the girls in the audience exaggeratedly enjoying the performance, including one girl who is visually implied to "wet" herself, which transitions to a scene of General Boy controlling the backup dancers. At one point, Mark Mothersbaugh pulls aside the curtain behind the band to show an overweight man on a vibrating exercise machine, attempting to drink a milkshake to the ecstatic reaction of the audience. As the video ends, girls in the audience are shown holding signs with icons, including an electrical outlet.

Record World said that "A snakey guitar winds around the boisterous lead vocals that proclaim the winning hook."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=July 26, 1980|accessdate=2023-02-20|title=Single Picks|page=15|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/80s/80/Record-World-1980-07-26.pdf}}

Steve Huey of AllMusic noted the song in a review of the album, stating: "Several tunes – like the oft-covered 'Girl U Want' – have a geeky (but pragmatic) romantic angst that was new to Devo albums, although the band's view of relationships is occasionally colored by their cultural themes of competition and domination." Huey also highlighted "Girl U Want" as an album standout by labeling it an AMG Pick Track.{{cite web|last=Huey |first=Steve |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/freedom-of-choice-mw0000189668 |title=Freedom of Choice - Devo : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=2013-02-22}} Greg Prato of AllMusic reviewed the song itself, stating it was "definitely one of the most overlooked gems to surface from the early-'80s new wave movement".{{cite web|last=Prato |first=Greg |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/girl-u-want-mt0028673354 |title=Girl U Want - Devo |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=May 4, 2022}}

Ultimate Classic Rock critic Dave Swanson rated "Girl U Want" as Devo's 7th best song, saying that the song is "about as catchy as Devo songs come" and that "the lyrics are a typical balance of the traditional crashing into the unexpected."{{cite web|title=Top 10 Devo Songs|author=Swanson, Dave|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|accessdate=2022-06-09|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/devo-songs/|date=July 11, 2013}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Girl U Want

| cover = Robert Palmer Girl U Want Single 1994.jpg

| type = single

| artist = Robert Palmer

| album = Honey

| B-side = No Fuss

| released = 27 June 1994{{cite magazine|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=39|date=25 June 1994}}

| recorded =

| studio = Logic Studios (Milan, Italy)

| venue =

| genre =

• Pop rock
• hard rock

| length = 2:23

| label = EMI

| writer =

• Gerald Casale
• Mark Mothersbaugh

| producer = Robert Palmer

| prev_title = Witchcraft

| prev_year = 1992

| next_title = Know by Now

| next_year = 1994

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|VepXyXzfLhg|"Girl U Want"}}|header=Audio video}}

}}

In 1994, "Girl U Want" was covered by English singer Robert Palmer. Produced solely by Palmer, the song was released as the lead single from his twelfth studio album, Honey (1994), by EMI Records, and reached number 57 on the UK Singles Chart.{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/16930/robert-palmer |title=ROBERT PALMER - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company |website=officialcharts.com |access-date=16 July 2018}}

A music video was filmed and directed by Howard Greenhalgh to promote the single.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soYcEpWfSrI |title=Robert Palmer - Girl U Want |publisher=YouTube |date=2014-07-24 |access-date=2016-10-16}} Palmer also performed the song on the UK music show Top of the Pops on June 16, 1994.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp/artists/p/palmer_robert/clips/girl_u_want.shtml |title=BBC Online - Top of the Pops - Video Archive |website=Bbc.co.uk |date=1994-06-16 |access-date=2012-05-10}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp/videoclips/artist/index_p.shtml |title=Top of the Pops - Videoclips |website=Bbc..co.uk |access-date=2012-05-10}}

In a review of Honey, Lesley Mathew of AllMusic said, "Palmer himself sounds as inhumanly suave as ever, though much of the material is a prescription for déjà vu. Tracks like the funk-lashed cover of Devo's 'Girl U Want' are dead ringers for the stuff on the Riptide album."{{cite web|last=Mathew |first=Leslie |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/honey-r204198/review |title=Honey – Robert Palmer |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=2012-05-10}} People described Palmer's version as "head-banging new wave".{{cite web|url=http://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-honey-vol-42-no-13/|title=Picks and Pans Review: Honey|website=People.com|access-date=16 July 2018}}

• 7-inch single

1. "Girl U Want" – 2:23
2. "No Fuss" – 3:11

• CD single (UK/Netherlands release)

1. "Girl U Want" – 2:23
2. "Girl U Want (The Pinaxa Mix)" – 3:02
3. "No Fuss" – 3:11

• CD single (Japan release)

1. "Girl U Want" – 2:23
2. "Know by Now" – 4:10
3. "Girl U Want (The Pinaxa Mix)" – 3:02

Production

• Robert Palmer – producer
• Pino "Pinaxa" Pischetola – mixing, remixer of "The Pinaxa Mix"

Sleeve

• Howard Greenalgh – art montage
• Nigel Parry – photography
• Bill Smith Studio, London – design

In 1981, Devo recorded an instrumental easy listening version of the song for a fan club distributed cassette tape. This version was popular enough to be performed live, with vocals, on the 1982 tour. In 1992, Soundgarden recorded the song. In 1995, a reunited Devo, joined by Bulimia Banquet vocalist Jula Bell, recorded a slowed-down version for the action comedy film Tank Girl.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uv-9mJCTkk|title=Tank Girl Opening Credits (OP)|last=veorens|date=7 August 2009|access-date=16 July 2018|publisher=YouTube}} The version with Bell and Devo singing is heard in the film's opening sequence, but the version on the soundtrack album is Devo without Bell. That same year, "Girl U Want" played during the ending credits of the parody film Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde. Another re-recording of "Girl U Want" was used for the music videogame Rock Band. In 2006, Devo re-recorded the song once again for Radio Disney's Devo 2.0 project, the track appearing as "Boy U Want", featuring 13-year-old Nicole Stoehr singing altered lyrics over the familiar backing tracks by Devo.{{cite web|url=https://nerdist.com/the-strange-saga-of-dev2-0-disney-devo-cover-band/|title=The Strange Saga of Disney's Preteen Devo Cover Band |date=25 August 2017|website=Nerdist.com|access-date=16 July 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1525358/are-they-not-kids-yes-they-are-and-theyre-giving-devo-a-disney-makeover/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406055635/http://www.mtv.com/news/1525358/are-they-not-kids-yes-they-are-and-theyre-giving-devo-a-disney-makeover/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 6, 2015|title=Are They Not Kids? Yes, They Are — And They're Giving Devo A Disney Makeover|website=Mtv.com|access-date=16 July 2018}} Freelance Whales recorded a slow ballad version of "Girl U Want" in 2011 as the B-side of the rare vinyl-exclusive Split 7" EP in collaboration with Foals.{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/2981097-Foals-Freelance-Whales-Split-|title=Foals / Freelance Whales – Split (2011, Clear Vinyl, Vinyl) - Discogs|website=Discogs|access-date=17 March 2023}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3063 Songfacts.com on "Girl U Want"]
• {{Discogs master|263331}}
• {{YouTube|Ga_eP6vIHnQ|"Girl U Want (From the Tankgirl Soundtrack)"}}

{{Devo Discography}}

{{Robert Palmer}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Devo songs

Category:1980 singles

Category:1994 singles

Category:Robert Palmer (singer) songs

Category:Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh

Category:Songs written by Gerald Casale

Category:Songs written by Mark Mothersbaugh

Category:1980 songs

Category:Warner Records singles

Category:EMI Records singles