You Caught Me Out (song)

After signing to Stiff, 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 the UK 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 band The Boomtown Rats.{{cite magazine|last1=Birch|first1=Ian|last2=Franklin|first2=Stuart|date=25 June 1981|title=A chip off the old block|magazine=Smash Hits|pages=4–5}} 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 keyboardist Johnnie Fingers. Guitar was provided by Brinsley Schwarz of Brinsley Schwarz.{{cite web |url=https://www.kirstymaccoll.com/songs/kirsty-songs/you-caught-me-out/ |title=You Caught Me Out |publisher=Kirsty MacColl |access-date=9 May 2021}}

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 told Smash 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'."

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 with Virgin. The upcoming release of the single was announced in the 1 October 1979 issue of Record Business.{{cite magazine|date=1 October 1979|title=Stiff ties with Virgin for Autumn push|magazine=Record Business|page=2|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Business-UK/1979/Record-Business-1979-10-01.pdf|via=World Radio History}} Stiff pressed a limited number of promotional and white label copies of the single,{{cite web |url=https://www.kirstymaccoll.com/discography/singles/you-caught-me-out-white-label/ |title=You Caught Me Out (white label) |publisher=Kirsty MacColl |access-date=9 May 2021}} 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. She subsequently signed with Polydor.{{cite magazine |last=Peel |first=Ian |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/kirsty-maccoll-remembered |title=Kirsty MacColl Remembered |magazine=Record Collector |access-date=9 May 2021}}

MacColl's recording of "You Caught Me Out" was given its first official release on the 2005 box-set From Croydon to Cuba: An Anthology.{{cite web| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/from-croydon-to-cuba-an-anthology-mw0000386191 |title=From Croydon to Cuba: An Anthology - Kirsty MacColl |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=9 May 2021}} It has appeared on two other MacColl compilations: the 2005 download-only release The Stiff Years and the 2006 Japanese compilation Stiff Singles Collection.{{cite web| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-stiff-years-mw0001934567 |title=The Stiff Years - Kirsty MacColl |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=9 May 2021}}{{cite web| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/stiff-singles-collection-mw0001447929 |title=Stiff Singles Collection - Kirsty MacColl |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=9 May 2021}} A different mix of the song was included on the 2007 various artists release The Big Stiff Box Set.{{cite web| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-big-stiff-box-set-mw0001588854 |title=The Big Stiff Box Set - Various Artists |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=9 May 2021}}

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 on YouTube.{{cite web |url=https://www.kirstymaccoll.com/songs/kirsty-songs/boys/ |title=Boys |publisher=Kirsty MacColl |access-date=9 May 2021}}

In September 2023, it was announced that "You Caught Me Out" would be released by Universal Music Recordings as a limited edition seven-inch single on 27 October 2023, alongside a new 161-track collection See That Girl. The single sleeve features a previously unpublished photograph of MacColl with Simon Crowe and Pete Briquette, taken by Adrian Boot.{{cite web |last=Sexton |first=Paul |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/see-that-girl-collection-kirsty-maccoll/ |title='See That Girl' collection celebrates much-missed Kirsty MacColl |publisher=uDiscoverMusic |date=7 September 2023 |access-date=13 October 2023}}

In 2006, John C. Hughes of Popdose 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".{{cite web |last=Hughes |first=John C. |url=https://popdose.com/theres-no-point-in-us-making-any-more-dates-why-dont-you-play-football-with-some-of-your-mates/ |title=there's no point in us making any more dates / why don't you play football with some of your mates |date=25 April 2006 |publisher=Popdose |access-date=9 May 2021}}

• In 1980, Australian singer Christie Allen released a version of the song on her second and final studio album Detour.{{cite web| url=https://nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-a-to-k/artists-c/christie-allen/ |title=Christie Allen |date=11 November 2015 |publisher=Nostalgia Central |access-date=9 May 2021}}
• In 1984, British-American singer and actress Tracey Ullman released her version of the song on her album of the same name.{{cite web| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/you-caught-me-out-mw0000951267 |title=You Caught Me Out - Tracey Ullman |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=9 May 2021}} Ullman's version, which was produced by Peter Collins, was released as a single in Japan in 1985, with the non-LP track "Falling In And Out Of Love" as the B-side.{{cite AV media notes|title=You Caught Me Out|author=Tracey Ullman|year=1985|type=7" single|publisher=Stiff|id=VIPX-1792}}

;7" single

1. "You Caught Me Out" - 3:25
2. "Boys" - 1:50

• Kirsty MacColl – vocals
• Brinsley Schwarz – guitar
• Johnnie Fingers – keyboards
• Pete Briquette – bass
• Simon Crowe – drums

Production

• Liam Sternberg – production
• Mick Glossop – engineering

Other

• Adrian Boot – photography (2023 release)

{{Reflist}}

{{Kirsty MacColl}}

{{Tracey Ullman}}

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Category:1979 songs

Category:1979 singles

Category:1985 singles

Category:2023 singles

Category:Kirsty MacColl songs

Category:Christie Allen songs

Category:Tracey Ullman songs

Category:Songs written by Kirsty MacColl

Category:Songs written by Pete Briquette

Category:Song recordings produced by Peter Collins (record producer)

Category:Stiff Records singles