"She Drives Me Crazy" is a song by British group

Fine Young Cannibals Fine Young Cannibals (FYC) are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham, West Midlands, in 1984 by former The Beat band bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox with singer Roland Gift (formerly of the Akrylykz). Their self-titled ...

, released in 1988 by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

as the first single from their second and final album, '' The Raw & the Cooked'' (1989). The song was written by the group's frontman Roland Gift with David Steele and produced by FYC with David Z. "She Drives Me Crazy" peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's highest-charting single in their home country. It proved a bigger hit in the United States, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for one week and becoming the first of two chart-topping singles for the band on that chart (the other being " Good Thing", released the following year). It also reached number one in several other countries, including Australia, Austria, Canada, New Zealand and Spain. Two different music videos were produced for the song, directed by Philippe Decouflé and Pedro Romhanyi. In 2018, '' Time Out'' magazine listed "She Drives Me Crazy" at No. 28 in their countdown of "The 50 Best '80s Songs". In 2023, ''Billboard'' magazine ranked it No. 77 in their "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time". American country artist

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

included a reimagined country cover version on her 2008 album '' Backwoods Barbie''.

Background and recording

Co-produced by

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associate David Z, the track was recorded in Studio B of Prince's

Paisley Park Paisley Park is a 65,000 square foot estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota, United States, once owned by American musician Prince. It was opened to the public as a museum in October 2016. History Construction of the $10 million complex began in Jan ...

complex outside of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. The unique snare drum "pop" sound was created by recording the snare drum portion separately. A speaker was then placed on top of the snare drum, and a microphone below. The original recording of the snare drum part was played back through the speaker and re-recorded.

Critical reception

Jo-Ann Greene from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

stated that "She Drives Me Crazy" "features the most unique, and instantly identifiable, beat/riff combination of the decade." The Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen noted that it, "with its synthesized drums, was a great party song -

Gift A gift or present is an item given to someone (who is not already the owner) without the expectation of payment or anything in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is intended to be free. In many cou ...

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

delivery which went into a full-fledged roar was perfect for the track. Even the guitar work fits the track - from the jangly jazz riffs to the crunch of the power chords." David Bennun from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' said that "She Drives Me Crazy" "clattered and chugged and breathed limpid desire just about as well as you could in the Eighties." Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' described it as a "subtly persuasive pop number that is sure to attract major airplay on pop and rock radio." Pop Rescue called it a "real gem with plenty of guitar, interesting vocals and beeping synth layers." Andy Strickland from ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' wrote, "Always interesting, always a few surprises and this is no exception from the bandy trio. A stuttering pop record that's too slow to dance to and too fast to smooch to. The FYCs always sprinkle some interesting sounds over their records and here we have funky guitar breaks, heavy metal chords and plenty of things going boing, clicky click ding."

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

from the magazine's DJ Directory deemed it a "haunting sparse jittery tapped then chunky rock guitar chorded whinneying falsetto 108½bpm lurcher".

Music video

Two music videos were produced for "She Drives Me Crazy", one by French choreographer, dancer, mime artist, and theatre director Philippe Decouflé and another by Pedro Romhanyi. The video received several nominations at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, including "Best Video".

Re-release

The song was re-released in 1997 in support of Fine Young Cannibals'

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

'' The Finest''. It included a remix by Roger Sanchez, as well as Mousse T. remixes of " Johnny Come Home". The single reached No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart. "She Drives Me Crazy ( Seth Troxler 'Out of Time' Remix)" was released in 2020 by

Track listings

* 7" single # "She Drives Me Crazy" – 3:35 # "Pull the Sucker Off" – 3:34 * 12" single # "She Drives Me Crazy" (David Z Remix) - 7:05 # "She Drives Me Crazy" (Driven Crazy Dub) - 5:33 # "She Drives Me Crazy (Justin Strauss Remix) - 7:39 # "She Drives Me Crazy (Single Remix) - 3:48 * CD maxi # "She Drives Me Crazy" - 3:35 # "Pull the Sucker Off" - 3:37 # "Tired of Getting Pushed Around" (The Mayhem Rhythm Remix) - 6:37 * CD maxi (1997 Re-release) # "She Drives Me Crazy" (Original 7") - 3:36 # "She Drives Me Crazy" (Roger Sanchez Radio Edit) - 3:33 # "Johnny Come Home" (Mousse T. Edit) - 4:06 # "Johnny Come Home" (Mousse T. Cocktail Mix) - 4:13

Personnel

* Roland Gift – vocals * Andy Cox – guitar * David Steele – bass, keyboards, drum machine

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1988 songs 1988 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles British funk songs British soul songs Cashbox number-one singles Dance-rock songs Fine Young Cannibals songs I.R.S. Records singles London Records singles Music videos directed by Pedro Romhanyi Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Spain RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by David Steele (musician) Songs written by Roland Gift