Come On Eileen

"Come On Eileen" is a song by the English group Dexys Midnight Runners (credited to Dexys Midnight Runners and the Emerald Express), released in the United Kingdom in June 1982^[4] as a single from their second studio album Too-Rye-Ay. It reached number one in the United States and was their second number one hit in the UK, following 1980's "Geno". The song was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley and was credited to Kevin Rowland, Jim Paterson and Billy Adams, although Rowland later stated that the essence of the tune should be attributed to Kevin Archer.^[5]

"Come On Eileen"
Single by Dexys Midnight Runners and the Emerald Express
from the album Too-Rye-Ay
B-side	"Dubious" (7-inch in most countries & 12-inch) "Let's Make This Precious" (US 7-inch) "Liars A to E (New Version)" (12-inch)
Released	June 25, 1982 (UK) January 1983 (US)
Genre	New wave[1] Celtic folk[2] blue-eyed soul[2] pop[2] pop rock[3]
Length	4:12 (single version) 4:07 (without fiddle intro) 4:47 (with a cappella coda) 3:48 (video version) 3:28 (special DJ edit)
Label	Mercury
Songwriter(s)	Kevin Rowland Jim Paterson Billy Adams
Producer(s)	Clive Langer Alan Winstanley
Dexys Midnight Runners singles chronology
"The Celtic Soul Brothers" (1982) "Come On Eileen" (1982) "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)" (1982)

"Come On Eileen" won Best British Single at the 1983 Brit Awards, and in 2015 the song was voted by the British public as the nation's sixth favourite 1980s number one single in a poll for ITV.^[6] It was ranked number eighteen on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '80s"^[7] and was Britain's best-selling single of 1982.^[8]

Composition

According to Kevin Rowland, there was actually no real Eileen: "In fact she was composite, to make a point about Catholic repression."^[9]

Music video

The 1982 music video was directed by Julien Temple and filmed in the inner south London district of Elephant and Castle in the vicinity of the corner of Brook Drive and Hayles Street, then Austral Street and Holyoak Road. The character of "Eileen" in the music video, as well as on the single cover, is played by Máire Fahey, sister of Siobhan Fahey from Bananarama.^[10]

Archival footage of Johnnie Ray arriving at London Heathrow Airport in 1954 was featured in the video.^[11]

Chart success

In a 2000 poll by Channel 4, the song was placed at number 38 in the 100 greatest number one singles of all time.^[12] Similar polls by the music channel VH1 placed the song at number three in their "100 Greatest One Hit Wonders" of all time,^[13] number 18 in their "100 Greatest Songs of the '80s"^[7] and number one in their "100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '80s".^[14] (While the group had a previous number one single in the UK with "Geno" in 1980 as well as several other Top 40 singles, "Come On Eileen" was their only US hit.) As of June 2013, "Come On Eileen" had sold 1.33 million copies in the UK.^[15]

The song reached number one in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 charts during the week ending 23 April 1983. "Come On Eileen" prevented Michael Jackson from having back-to-back number one hits in the US: "Billie Jean" was the number one single the previous seven weeks, while "Beat It" was the number one song the ensuing three.

Weekly charts Chart (1982–1983) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[16] 1 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[17] 9 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[18] 1 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19] 2 France (IFOP)[20] 5 Germany (GfK)[21] 6 Ireland (IRMA)[22] 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[23] 4 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[24] 7 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[25] 1 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[26] 1 Spain (AFYVE)[27] 17 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[28] 1 UK Singles (OCC)[29] 1 US Billboard Adult Contemporary[30] 31 US Billboard Hot 100[30] 1 US Billboard Top Tracks[30] 6 US Cash Box[31] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1982) Rank Australia (Kent Music Report)[32][33] 12 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[34] 8 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[35] 32 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[36] 28 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[37] 34 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[38] 5 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[39] 1 Chart (1983) Rank US Billboard Hot 100[40] 13 US Cash Box[41] 12

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[42]	Gold	50,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[43]	Gold	50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[44]	Gold	45,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[45]	Gold	300,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[46]	3× Platinum	1,800,000‡
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

"Come On England" version

In 2004, the band 4–4–2 was formed to cover the song as "Come On England" with altered lyrics to support the England national football team during their appearance in the 2004 European Championships.^[47]

See also

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s
• List of best-selling singles by year in the United Kingdom
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1983
• List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1983
• List of number-one singles of 1982 (Ireland)
• List of number-one singles from the 1980s (New Zealand)
• List of number-one singles of the 1980s (Switzerland)
• List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1980s