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I've Got News for You (Feargal Sharkey song)

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"I've Got News for You"
Single by Feargal Sharkey
from the album Songs from the Mardi Gras
B-side"I Can't Begin to Stop"
Released25 February 1991
GenrePop
Length4:52
LabelVirgin Records
Songwriter(s)Feargal Sharkey, Dennis Morgan
Producer(s)Barry Beckett
Feargal Sharkey singles chronology
"If This is Love"
(1988)
"I've Got News for You"
(1991)
"Women & I"
(1991)

"I've Got News for You" is a song by Irish singer Feargal Sharkey, released on 25 February 1991 as the first single from his third studio album, Songs from the Mardi Gras.[1] It was written by Sharkey and Dennis Morgan, and produced by Barry Beckett. The song reached No. 12 in the UK and No. 8 in Ireland.[2][3]

A music video was filmed to promote the single, while Sharkey also performed the song on the UK TV music show Top of The Pops. The B-side, "I Can't Begin to Stop", was exclusive to the single. It was also written by Sharkey and Morgan, and produced by Beckett.[4]

Background

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"I've Got News for You" was inspired by Sharkey's own personal life and the end of his relationship with Rebecca Landemere, a woman for whom he left his wife Ellen for in 1986. He told The Sunday People in 1991, "I'm lucky. I'm a songwriter and writing about Rebecca helped get all those emotions off my chest. I didn't shed a single tear at the end. Instead I off-loaded all my emotions, and all my unhappiness, into 'I've Got News for You'. I will never write a song like that again in my life. It is just too damn personal."[5]

Critical reception

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Upon its release, Tim Peacock of Sounds described "I've Got News for You" as "a wishy-washy afterhours ballad of the first water". He added, "Admittedly, Feargal sounds like he's given it all he's got, but despite a gargantuan sax solo, this just drifts around like an ageing lounge lizard. Sad."[6] Julian Cope of New Musical Express considered it "really duff" with a lyric that "doesn't make much sense".[7] John Mangan of The Age commented, "This one is a syrupy ballad with more than a hint of the '50s. It's agonisingly predictable, but your man does have a decent voice."[8] Evening Herald stated, "Despite the obvious pop appeal of his pristine single "I've Got News for You", [Sharkey's] album is shockingly ordinary."[9] Music & Media wrote, "Sharkey comes back stronger than before. A soul-jewel."[10]

Formats

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7" single
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."I've Got News for You"Feargal Sharkey, Dennis Morgan4:18
2."I Can't Begin to Stop"Sharkey, Morgan5:02
12" single
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."I've Got News for You"Sharkey, Morgan4:52
2."Loving You"Sharkey, Jo Callis4:15
3."A Good Heart"Maria McKee4:39
4."You Little Thief (Special Remix)"Benmont Tench6:13
CD single
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."I've Got News for You"Sharkey, Morgan4:52
2."Loving You"Sharkey, Callis4:15
3."After the Mardi Gras"Sharkey, Greg Barnhill4:29
4."Cold Cold Streets"Danny Kortchmar, David Lasley, Sharkey5:20
Cassette single
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."I've Got News for You"Sharkey, Morgan4:52
2."I Can't Begin to Stop"Sharkey, Morgan5:02

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart (1991) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[11] 193
Irish Singles Chart[3] 8
UK Singles Chart[2] 12

References

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  1. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 23 February 1991. p. vi. ISSN 0265-1548.
  2. ^ a b "FEARGAL SHARKEY | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  3. ^ a b "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". The Irish Charts. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  4. ^ "Feargal Sharkey - I've Got News For You (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  5. ^ Pringle, Gill (16 June 1991). "A good heart is very hard to find". The Sunday People. p. 9. Retrieved 6 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ Peacock, Tim (2 March 1991). "Singles". Sounds. p. 32.
  7. ^ Cope, Julian (2 March 1991). "Singles". New Musical Express. p. 18.
  8. ^ Mangan, John (3 May 1991). "Singles". The Age.
  9. ^ "It's a Sharkey shocker!". Evening Herald. 12 April 1991.
  10. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music & Media. 9 March 1991.
  11. ^ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 18 August 2017". Imgur.com. Retrieved 2017-08-18.