Peaches (The Stranglers song)
{{short description|1977 single by the Stranglers}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Peaches
| cover = Peaches_stranglers.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = the Stranglers
| album = Rattus Norvegicus
| A-side = Go Buddy Go
| released = {{Start date|1977|5|6|df=y}}{{cite magazine|date=30 April 1977|title=Peaches on the streets|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/70s/77/Record-Mirror-1977-04-30.pdf|magazine=Record Mirror|page=4|access-date=29 June 2024}}
| recorded =
| studio = T.W. Studios, Fulham
| venue =
| genre = Reggae punk{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Stranglers/r0EjEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1|title=The Stranglers: Every Album, Every Song|first=Martin|last=Hutchinson|date=September 20, 2024|access-date=March 26, 2025|publisher=Sonicbond Publishing}}
| length = {{duration|m=4|s=03}}
| label = United Artists
| writer = *Jean-Jacques Burnel
| producer = Martin Rushent
| prev_title = (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
| prev_title2 = London Lady
| prev_year = 1977
| title2 = Go Buddy Go
| next_title = Something Better Change
| next_title2 = Straighten Out
| next_year = 1977
| misc = {{Extra album cover
| header = 2014 reissue vinyl alternative sleeve
| type = single
| cover = Peaches - the Stranglers 2014.jpg
| border =
| alt =
| caption =
}}
{{External music video|header=Official audio|{{YouTube|j2w0rbp6J9Y|"Peaches" (1996 Remaster)}}}}
{{External music video|header=Official audio|{{YouTube|nOjFQEOeiog|"Go Buddy Go" (1996 Remaster)}}}}
}}
"Peaches" is a song by English rock band the Stranglers, released in 1977 as the second single from their debut album Rattus Norvegicus. Notable for its distinctive bassline, the track peaked at No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart.{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 535}}
Lyrics and response
The lyrics to "Peaches" featured coarse sexual language and innuendo to a degree that was unusual for the time. The song's narrator is girl-watching on a crowded beach one hot summer day. It is never made clear if his lascivious thoughts (such as "there goes a girl and a half") are an interior monologue, comments to his companions, or come-on lines to the attractive women in question. The critic Tom Maginnis wrote that Hugh Cornwell sings with "a lecherous sneer...spill[ing] into macho parody or even censor-baiting territory".
{{cite web
| url = {{AllMusic|class=song|id=t708922|pure_url=yes}}
|website=Allmusic
| title = Peaches song review
| author = Maginnis, Tom
| access-date = 16 September 2013
}}
The single was a double A-side with "Go Buddy Go".{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonee00patr|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonee00patr/page/959 959]|year=1995|title=The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll|publisher=Fireside|isbn=978-0-684-81044-7|author=Patricia Romanowski}} The latter was played on UK radio at the time and also was performed on the band's first BBC TV Top of the Pops appearance, because the sexual nature of the lyrics of "Peaches" caused the BBC to censor it.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wow-vinyl.com/thesingle.asp?c=20&d=109|title=Peaches – The Stranglers|website=Wow-vinyl.com}} Still, "Peaches" was ranked at No. 18 among the top "Tracks of the Year" for 1977 by NME,{{Cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/bestalbumsandtracksoftheyear/1977-2-1045409 |title=Albums and Tracks of the Year |date=2016 |work=NME |access-date=8 December 2016 }} and it reached No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart. The radio cut was re-recorded with less explicit lyrics: "clitoris" was replaced with "bikini", "oh shit" with "oh no" and "what a bummer" with "what a summer". The catalogue number of the radio version was FREE 4.{{cn|date=January 2025}}
Legacy
In a 2022 feature, Guitar World named "Peaches" as having the 4th best bassline of all time.[https://www.guitarworld.com/features/the-40-best-basslines-of-all-time The 40 best basslines of all time]. Guitar World. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
"Peaches" plays over the opening credits of Jonathan Glazer's 2000 film Sexy Beast.
An edited version of "Peaches", minus the lyrics, was used as the closing theme tune to many of the TV chef Keith Floyd's Floyd on... television shows and during a party scene in the 1997 film Metroland. The song is also on the soundtrack of the video game Driver: Parallel Lines (2006). It was used by Adidas in advertising in the Netherlands in 2002.
The song is heard in episode nine of series two of the TV series Gotham, the opening sequence of a 2006 Hollyoaks episode, and the 2011 film Killer Elite.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}
Dub Pistols covered the song on their 2007 album, Speakers and Tweeters, with Rodney P on guest MC vocals and Terry Hall of the Specials singing the chorus.
The song is used in episode 16 (2011) of the BBC series Being Human, when the hungry "teenage" vampire Adam stalks three teenage girls into a game arcade.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
The song was featured twice in the Back to Mine series of "after hours grooving" DJ mix albums, with Liam Howlett and Audio Bullys both including it. Simon Franks of the latter referred to it as "raw UK old school".Back to Mine: Audio Bullys liner notes
The single was re-issued, with "Go Buddy Go", on green vinyl and with a new sleeve for the 2014 Record Store Day.{{cite web|url=http://recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/6965 |title=SpecialRelease |website=Record Store Day |access-date=13 August 2015}}
Personnel
The Stranglers
- Hugh Cornwell – lead vocals, electric guitar
- Jet Black – drums
- Jean-Jacques Burnel – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Dave Greenfield – organ, synthesizer, backing vocals
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1977) !Peak |
| scope="row"| Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite book|first= David |last= Kent |author-link= David Kent (historian) |year= 1993 |title= Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |edition= illustrated |publisher= Australian Chart Book |location= St Ives, N.S.W. |page=|isbn= 0-646-11917-6}}
|54 |
|---|
| {{singlechart|UKsinglesbyname|8|artist=The Stranglers|accessdate=7 August 2017|rowheader=true}} |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{discogs master|87649|type=single}}
{{The Stranglers}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peaches (The Stranglers Song)}}
Category:Song recordings produced by Martin Rushent
Category:United Artists Records singles
Category:Controversies in the United Kingdom
Category:Obscenity controversies in music
Category:Songs written by Hugh Cornwell
Category:Songs written by Jean-Jacques Burnel
Category:Songs written by Dave Greenfield