My Side of Town (Lutricia McNeal song)

"My Side of Town" is a song by American singer Lutricia McNeal, released as the second single from her debut studio album of the same name (1997) and the follow-up to her 1996 international hit "Ain't That Just the Way". "My Side of Town" charted within the top 40 of the charts of Iceland, the Netherlands, and Sweden in 1997. In 1999, it reached number one in New Zealand.

"My Side of Town"
Single by Lutricia McNeal
from the album My Side of Town
Released	1997
Genre	Dance-pop swingbeat R&B
Length	3:14 (album version) 3:07 (radio edit)
Label	CNR Music Do It Yourself EastWest
Songwriter(s)	Lutricia McNeal Jay G. Daniel Bäckström Daniel Papalexis Rami Yacoub Josef Larossi
Producer(s)	Daniel Bäckström Daniel Papalexis Rami Yacoub Josef Larossi
Lutricia McNeal singles chronology
"Ain't That Just the Way" (1996) "My Side of Town" (1997) "Stranded" (1998)
Music video
"My Side of Town" on YouTube

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Jaime Sunao Ikeda picked "My Side of Town" as one of two standout tracks from the album.^[1] Adrian Thrills from Daily Mail described it as a "impressive on up-tempo number" and "calypso-flavoured".^[2]

Chart performance

"My Side of Town" did not match the chart success of "Ain't That Just the Way" in Europe, but it peaked at number 17 in the Netherlands,^[3] number 30 in Sweden,^[4] number 31 in Iceland,^[5] and number 73 in Germany.^[6] It did not chart in the United Kingdom, where "Ain't That Just the Way" peaked at number four, but her success in the UK would continue with "Stranded".^[7]

In 1998, McNeal's music began to gain popularity in New Zealand, with two hits, "Ain't That Just the Way" and "Stranded", reaching the top three; "My Side of Town" followed these hits. It first appeared on the Recorded Music NZ (then RIANZ) chart at number 43 on January 24, 1999, then reached number seven three weeks later. It dropped out of the top 10 for the next three weeks, then rose 12 places to the number-one position on March 14. "My Side of Town" spent 12 weeks on the New Zealand chart, making its last appearance at number 29 on April 11, 1999.^[8] Despite its success, this song was McNeal's last top-20 in New Zealand.^[8]

Music video

Two different music videos were made for the song. One of them was directed by Stuart Gosling.^[9] He would also be directing the video to "Stranded".

Track listings

Maxi-CD single, Netherlands (1997)^[10]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"My Side of Town" (radio edit)	3:07
2.	"My Side of Town" (extended version)	4:45
3.	"My Side of Town" (EZ's extended mix)	4:01
4.	"My Side of Town" (My Side of the House mix)	4:01
5.	"My Side of Town" (original album version)	3:14

Maxi-CD single, Germany (1997)^[11]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"My Side of Town" (original version)	3:14
2.	"My Side of Town" (EZ's extended mix)	4:01
3.	"My Side of Town" (My Side of the House mix)	4:01
4.	"My Side of Town" (original extended version)	4:01
5.	"My Side of Town" (EZ's radio edit)	4:01

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1997–1999) Peak position Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[12] 6 Germany (GfK)[6] 73 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[5] 31 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[3] 17 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 18 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[8] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[4] 30

Year-end charts Chart (1997) Position Romania (Romanian Top 100)[14] 92

References

1. Sunao Ikeda, Jaime. "Lutricia McNeal - Ain't That Just the Way". AllMusic. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
2. Thrills, Adrian (July 17, 1998). "Spirited Crows soar ever higher; It's Friday! Music!". Daily Mail.
3. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 28, 1997" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
4. "Lutricia McNeal – My Side of Town". Singles Top 100.
5. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (23.10.1997 – 30.10.1997)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). October 24, 1997. p. 22. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
6. "Lutricia McNeal – My Side of Town" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
7. "Lutricia McNeal". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
8. "Lutricia McNeal – My Side of Town". Top 40 Singles.
9. "Lutricia McNeal: My side of town". Mvdbase.com. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
10. My Side of Town (Dutch maxi-CD single liner notes). Lutricia McNeal. CNR Music. 1997. 5300219.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
11. My Side of Town (German maxi-CD single liner notes). Lutricia McNeal. EastWest Records. 1997. 0630-17274-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
12. "Lutricia McNeal – My Side of Town" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
13. "Lutricia McNeal – My Side of Town" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
14. "Romanian Top 100: Top of the Year 1997" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on September 22, 2005.