Warwick Avenue (song)

"Warwick Avenue" is a song by Welsh singer Duffy from her debut album Rockferry (2008). The title refers to Warwick Avenue tube station in London. It was written by Jimmy Hogarth, Eg White, and Duffy and produced by Hogarth. It was released in May 2008 as the third single (second in North America) from the album, but had already charted by March and April due to download sales. It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart due to strong download and physical sales and has sold 249,165 copies in the UK to date. The B-side to the 7" single is "Loving You", and was written by Duffy, Richard J. Parfitt of the 60ft Dolls and Owen Powell of Catatonia.

"Warwick Avenue"
Single by Duffy
from the album Rockferry
B-side
  • "Put It in Perspective"
  • "Loving You"
Released26 May 2008 (2008-05-26)
Recorded2007
Genre
Length3:46
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Duffy singles chronology
"Mercy"
(2008)		 "Warwick Avenue"
(2008)		 "Stepping Stone"
(2008)
Music video
"Warwick Avenue" on YouTube

This song was number forty-one on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.[1]

An official remix exists featuring a verse by American rapper Wale.

Single promotion, performances and cultural use
Warwick Avenue Tube Station

The song has been used as background music to several British soap operas. It was used at the end of an episode of Hollyoaks which aired on 10 October 2008, and was used in the 11 March 2009 episode of Waterloo Road. It also appears in the Activision game Band Hero and was performed by Jenny Douglas on Over the Rainbow.

Duffy performed the song at the 2009 BRIT Awards, where she won the awards for Breakthrough Artist, MasterCard British Album, and Best British Female, the most awards for a female artist in one night.

Music details

The song is played in the key of Bb Major at a tempo of 84bpm. The vocal range is G3-D5.[2]

Critical reception

The song received mostly positive reviews from critics. Digital Spy called it "cooler than a polar bear's freezer", "probably the finest cut from her debut LP", and "a classy affair", whilst also awarding the song four stars out of five.[3]

Awards and recognition
Year Award Category Result
2008 2008 MTV Video Music Awards Best UK Music Video Nominated
Rolling Stone Best Songs of 2008 41st

Chart performance

"Warwick Avenue" entered the UK Singles Chart at number eighty-three, more than two months before its release (because of digital downloads from Duffy's Rockferry release). It then began a gradual chart climb, before peaking at number three, and spending six weeks in the top ten.[4] During its first chart run it managed to spend a very successful number thirty-two weeks on the chart, last seen at number ninety-eight. Due to her ongoing success and the popularity of the song, "Warwick Avenue" re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number seventy-five, before rising to number seventy-four and falling to number eighty-seven the following week. This brought its total chart run in the United Kingdom to 35 weeks.[4] On 28 December 2008, the UK Singles Chart landed this at number thirty-one for the year-end chart.

Music video

The music video for "Warwick Avenue" premiered on 23 April 2008, on Channel 4 and was directed by Daniel Wolfe. The video is almost entirely composed of a single shot; it starts with Duffy leaving Warwick Avenue tube station in the back of a black taxi, crying as she is singing the song. The video finishes with Duffy still in the car, wiping her tears, which had ruined her make-up. The taxi scene was only meant to be one scene from the whole video but the director felt that it was best to use this scene only when Duffy cried real tears. He continued to film it as the whole music video.

The video was later nominated for a MTV Video Music Award in 2008 in the Best UK Video category,[5] but lost to "Shut Up and Let Me Go" by the Ting Tings.

Formats and track listings

UK CD single

  1. "Warwick Avenue"
  2. "Put It In Perspective"

UK 7" vinyl single

  1. "Warwick Avenue"
  2. "Loving You"(Richard J. Parfitt, Owen Powell)

Australian digital download single

  1. "Warwick Avenue"
  2. "Put It In Perspective"
  3. "Loving You"

German maxi single

  1. "Warwick Avenue"
  2. "Put It In Perspective"
  3. "Loving You"
  4. "Warwick Avenue Video"

iTunes B-side single

  1. "Put It In Perspective"
  2. "Loving You"

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[33] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Gold 400,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history
Region Date
United Kingdom 26 May 2008
Europe 4 July 2008
United States 5 August 2008
Australia 1 September 2008 (digital)
France 12 September 2008
gollark: But I think you underestimate the range of available activities.
gollark: If they really get so bored that they don't want to live, they can die or something.
gollark: Obviously also abolish aging...
gollark: We should ABOLISH (unwanted) DEATH.
gollark: Death is actually quite bad. When you die, people are unhappy about it. When you die, you can no longer do interesting things.

References
  1. "The 100 Best Songs of 2008". Rolling Stone (25 December 2008). Retrieved 2008-12-25
  2. "Duffy: Warwick Avenue Sheet Music". sheetmusicdirect.com. © Copyright 2006 EMI Music Publishing Limited (50%)/Universal Music Publishing Limited (25%)/Universal Music Publishing MGB Limited (25%).
  3. Alex Fletcher (26 May 2008). "Duffy: 'Warwick Avenue'". digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  4. Chart information from Official Charts Company
  5. 2008 MTV Video Music Awards – Best UK Video MTV Music Video Nominations Best UK Video Warwick Avenue
  6. "Austriancharts.at – Duffy – Warwick Avenue" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  7. "Ultratop.be – Duffy – Warwick Avenue" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  8. "Ultratop.be – Duffy – Warwick Avenue" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  9. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 200840 into search. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  10. "Danishcharts.com – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". Tracklisten. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  11. "Euro Digital Song Sales Chart (The week of June 14, 2008)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  12. "Duffy: Warwick Avenue" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  13. "Lescharts.com – Duffy – Warwick Avenue" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  14. "Offiziellecharts.de – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  15. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Warwick Avenue". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  16. "Duffy on the FIMI charts" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  17. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 29, 2008" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Duffy – Warwick Avenue" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  19. "Charts.nz – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  20. "Norwegiancharts.com – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". VG-lista. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  21. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  22. "Swedishcharts.com – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  23. "Swisscharts.com – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  24. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  25. "Jaaroverzichten 2008" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  26. "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts 2008" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  27. "Classement Singles - année 2008" (in French). Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  28. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2008". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  29. "Jaaroverzichten - Single 2008" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  30. "Årslista Singlar - År 2008" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  31. "Swiss Year-End Charts 2008" (in German). Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  32. "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 - 2008". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  33. "Danish single certifications – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  34. "British single certifications – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 October 2016. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Warwick Avenue in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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