Song Of The Week: “A Girl Like You” by Edwyn Collins

By Houston Roby

Sometimes the DIY approach is the way to go. Pull those bootstraps!

Edwyn Collins started his first record label in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1979 in order to release singles by his own band, Orange Juice. Those singles sold poorly, but in enough quantity to gain the attention of Polydor Records, at the time the home of The Who, Slade, and The Jam. After a couple of years gaining exposure and building an audience, Orange Juice scored a UK Top 10 hit with “Rip It Up” in 1983. That song proved to be a fluke, however, and subsequent singles failed to make an impression.

The band broke up and Edwyn went solo, making a couple of albums for indie label Demon in the late 80’s. Collins assembled studio bands for these projects but still found no joy on the charts, on the radio, or on Demon’s end of year sales lists. Things weren’t looking good for our hero.

In the early 90’s, Collins took a lengthy break to regroup. In 1994, he built his own recording studio, drafted former Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook, and began laying down tracks for a new album, playing most of the instruments himself. A small indie label called Setanta agreed to release the finished album, and agreed to Edwyn’s first choice for a single, even though the label head didn’t think it would be a hit.

How wrong he was (maybe that’s why no one’s heard of Setanta).

Released as a single at the end of 1994, “A Girl Like You” did well on its own, but then moved like gangbusters after appearing on the soundtrack for the movie Empire Records. The song reached the Top 5 in the UK and the Top 40 in the US. The success eventually gave Collins enough capital to start up his own record label again. Bootstraps, baby!

So talk metaphorically, allegorically even … with Edwyn Collins.

While we’re here, let’s throw in “Rip It Up” by Orange Juice. Many UK bands in the early 80’s found themselves influenced by the seemingly opposed genres of punk and funk: Duran Duran, Gang Of Four, A Certain Ratio (to name a few). In 1983, Orange Juice joined the club, revamping their sound with a funky, Chic-inspired guitar rhythm and a burbling Roland synthesizer. Collins would go on to live by the lyrics: “Rip it up and start again.”

5 thoughts on “Song Of The Week: “A Girl Like You” by Edwyn Collins”

    • It’s a fabulous song. I seem to recall that it took me years to track down because I’d hear it in a movie or briefly on the radio but didn’t know the title or artist. I was very happy upon eventually finding out!

  2. Great storytelling! I didn’t know that he has ties to Scotland or that he’s been in music since the late ’70s.

    I’ve always liked this song. It’s got a certain sound — a signature. Did I understand correctly that he recorded most or all of the tracks himself?

    • Thanks! I knew about Edwyn’s first group, but I’m surprised all the time to learn about artists who had been around for a decade or two before hitting big.
      Yes, other than the drummer he just overdubbed himself playing all the instruments. He did a pretty good job because it sounds like band!

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