Teardrops (song)
Encyclopedia
"Teardrops" is a pop
song on Womack & Womack's fourth studio album
, Conscience
(1988). The songwriters were listed as Dr Rue & The Gypsy Wave Banner, a pseudonym of Cecil and Linda Womack, who also served as the producers of the track alongside Chris Blackwell
. Released as the album's lead single during the third quarter of 1988 (see 1988 in music
), it charted highly around the world, reaching number one in Australia
and the Netherlands
, number two in Germany
and Switzerland
, and number three in the UK.
In 1993, singers Elton John
and k.d. Lang
covered "Teardrops" for John's album Duets
. 1997 the British group Lovestation covered the song , with German
pop band No Angels
and Australia
n singer Kate Alexa
releasing their own cover version
s as singles in 2007 and 2008, respectively. In 2009, the Sugababes
re-recorded the track for the 50 Years of Island Records compilation. It has also been covered by The xx
. The song was also featured on the soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto IV
on the fictional in-game station "Vice City FM".
pop
quartet No Angels
entered recording studios in Berlin
to re-record the song for the second half of the third single from their fourth studio album, Destiny
(2007). Co-produced by Tobias Gustafsson, Vincent Pontare, and Michel Zitron, "Teardrops" was released alongside "Amaze Me
" on October 19, 2007 (see 2007 in music
).
The song was previewed on RTL
's news programme Punkt 6 on August 22, and by August 27 a thirty-seconds clip of the song had leaked onto the internet — the same week "Teardrops" was serviced to radio stations. The quartet premiered the single on the television live show ZDF Fernsehgarten
on September 9, 2007.
for "Teardrops" was directed by Marcus Sternberg and shot in a filming studio between August 20 and 22, 2007 in Berlin
, Germany
. Shot over twenty hours back-to-back with the video for "Amaze Me
", the edited clip worldpremiered on September 29, 2007 on the Universal Music website. The clip received its first official airing in the week of September 29 on German music network iMusic1.
The group has declared the filming of the "mammoth shoot" as "extremely exhausting", referring to its extraordinary length and a delay of several hours, caused by various technical defects. Lucy Diakovska has described the plotless clip as a "funky disco-dance-energy-video", reflecting another facet of the band in music and style. Inspired by a concept developed by all four members and based on Sternberg's treatment, the music video was eventually conceived as a stylistic counterpart to "Amaze Me".
n singer Kate Alexa
covered the song for her upcoming second studio album
and was produced by Molly Meldrum and features the America
n rapper Baby Bash
. It was released as the album's first single in Australia on 3 March 2008 as a CD single
and digital download
. Alexa states that even though the song was released the same year she was born, she has always been a massive fan of the song. The song was released to Australian radio on 1 February 2008 and peaked at number sixty-four on the airplay chart.
The songs producer, Molly Meldrum, suggested that Alexa should cover the song. Alexa states "I was looking to do a single between albums, and Molly came up with the idea of doing "Teardrops". At first, I was a little sceptical because the original is such a classic and I love it so much. But then Molly and I spoke about how we could do it." American rapper, Baby Bash, heard what Alexa was doing with the song through a friend of Alexa's manager and decided to take part in the song. Alexa states "He's a very cool guy. He came in and did the rap in one take, and it fitted perfectly. It’s got such an incredible feel and groove and we wanted to keep that vibe. But we also wanted to do something different, and the rap takes the track to a whole new place."
The song debuted on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in early March 2008 at number twenty-eight. It went to peak at number twenty-six the following week which was the song's peak position. It also charted at number seven on the Physical Singles chart and number eight on the Australian Artists Chart. "Teardrops" spent six weeks on the chart, five of which were in the top fifty. The music video
for the song was filmed on 14 January 2008 at the Love Machine in South Yarra, Victoria
, Australia
.
record label Island Records released the album Island Life - 50 Years of Island Records, the Sugababes covered the track "Teardrops". The song debuted on the Romanian Top 100
at #63 and charted 3 weeks later at #40.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
song on Womack & Womack's fourth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
, Conscience
Conscience (Womack & Womack album)
Conscience is the fourth album by Womack & Womack, released in 1988, containing the hit single "Teardrops".- Track listing :All tracks by Cecil Womack and Linda Womack ....
(1988). The songwriters were listed as Dr Rue & The Gypsy Wave Banner, a pseudonym of Cecil and Linda Womack, who also served as the producers of the track alongside Chris Blackwell
Chris Blackwell
Christopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...
. Released as the album's lead single during the third quarter of 1988 (see 1988 in music
1988 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....
), it charted highly around the world, reaching number one in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, number two in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and number three in the UK.
In 1993, singers Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
and k.d. Lang
K.D. Lang
Kathryn Dawn Lang, OC , known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress...
covered "Teardrops" for John's album Duets
Duets (Elton John album)
Duets is the twenty-fourth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1993. Duets was released on a single CD and also as a double vinyl LP in the UK, with a slightly different running order. It was initially a Christmas project of Elton John's, but that soon grew into an...
. 1997 the British group Lovestation covered the song , with German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
pop band No Angels
No Angels
The No Angels are an all-female pop trio from Germany, consisting of band members Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, and Jessica Wahls. Critically acclaimed, the band has won dozen of awards and prizes since their establishment in the early 2000s, including three ECHOs, a World Music Awards, a NRJ...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n singer Kate Alexa
Kate Alexa
Kate Alexa Gudinski is an Australian pop singer and the daughter of Australian music promoter Michael Gudinski, AM. Alexa first hit the spotlight in 2004 when her song "Always There" was featured in the Channel 7 series Home & Away...
releasing their own cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s as singles in 2007 and 2008, respectively. In 2009, the Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
re-recorded the track for the 50 Years of Island Records compilation. It has also been covered by The xx
The xx
The xx are an English indie pop band, formed in London in 2005. The band's members met while studying at Elliott School, the same school that produced Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet. They became a trio when their second guitarist and keyboardist, Baria Qureshi, departed in late 2009. In September...
. The song was also featured on the soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system...
on the fictional in-game station "Vice City FM".
Music video
In the music video, Womack & Womack, studio musicians and background singers sing part of the song in a recording studio.Charts
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 4 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
1 |
| French Singles Chart | 4 |
| German Singles Chart | 2 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
4 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 14 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
3 |
Lovestation version
In 1997, British group Lovestation released the song as a single. Unlike the original, this version is inspired by the music style of the 1990s. In 2000, they released another version of the cover that did not have the same success in the British charts. A few extra lines have been incorporated into this version.Track listings
CD Single- Teardrops (Perky Park Radio) 0:47
- Teardrops (Original 7" Mix) 4:00
- Teardrops (Hip Hop Mix) 6:30
- Teardrops (Perky Park Summer Experience Mix) 6:15
- Teardrops (Serious Danger Mix) 7:10
Charts
| Chart (1998/1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
49 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
52 |
| German Singles Chart | 66 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 47 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
14 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
10 |
No Angels version
In early June 2007, GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
quartet No Angels
No Angels
The No Angels are an all-female pop trio from Germany, consisting of band members Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, and Jessica Wahls. Critically acclaimed, the band has won dozen of awards and prizes since their establishment in the early 2000s, including three ECHOs, a World Music Awards, a NRJ...
entered recording studios in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
to re-record the song for the second half of the third single from their fourth studio album, Destiny
Destiny (No Angels album)
Destiny is the fourth studio album by German pop group No Angels, released by Polydor Records and Universal Music Domestic on April 13, 2007...
(2007). Co-produced by Tobias Gustafsson, Vincent Pontare, and Michel Zitron, "Teardrops" was released alongside "Amaze Me
Amaze Me
"Amaze Me" is a pop ballad performed by German pop group No Angels. It was written by British songwriters Steve Mac and Karen Poole, and produced by Boogieman and Roland Spremberg for the band's fourth studio album Destiny ....
" on October 19, 2007 (see 2007 in music
2007 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame...
).
The song was previewed on RTL
RTL Television
Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...
's news programme Punkt 6 on August 22, and by August 27 a thirty-seconds clip of the song had leaked onto the internet — the same week "Teardrops" was serviced to radio stations. The quartet premiered the single on the television live show ZDF Fernsehgarten
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
on September 9, 2007.
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Teardrops" was directed by Marcus Sternberg and shot in a filming studio between August 20 and 22, 2007 in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Shot over twenty hours back-to-back with the video for "Amaze Me
Amaze Me
"Amaze Me" is a pop ballad performed by German pop group No Angels. It was written by British songwriters Steve Mac and Karen Poole, and produced by Boogieman and Roland Spremberg for the band's fourth studio album Destiny ....
", the edited clip worldpremiered on September 29, 2007 on the Universal Music website. The clip received its first official airing in the week of September 29 on German music network iMusic1.
The group has declared the filming of the "mammoth shoot" as "extremely exhausting", referring to its extraordinary length and a delay of several hours, caused by various technical defects. Lucy Diakovska has described the plotless clip as a "funky disco-dance-energy-video", reflecting another facet of the band in music and style. Inspired by a concept developed by all four members and based on Sternberg's treatment, the music video was eventually conceived as a stylistic counterpart to "Amaze Me".
Formats and tracklistings
These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "Teardrops".- CD/Digital single ("Teardrops" edition)
- "Amaze Me" (album version) - 3:48
- "Teardrops" (single version) - 3:13
- "Teardrops" (Mozart&FriendsMozart & FriendsMozart & Friends is a record production and songwriting team working in genres of Pop, R&B and Hip hop. The team was founded in 2006 and is consisting of producers and songwriters located in different countries:...
club mix) - 3:45 - "Teardrops" (Mozart&Friends psychedelic mix) - 3:44
- "Teardrops" (Mozart&Friends house mix) - 5:26
- "Teardrops" (video)
- CD/Digital Single ("Amaze Me" edition)
- "Amaze Me" (album version) - 3:47
- "Teardrops" (single version) - 3:13
- "Ain't Gonna Look the Other WayA New Day... Live in Las VegasA New Day... Live in Las Vegas is Céline Dion's first English live album, released on June 14, 2004. It's her 11th English longplay and 32nd in total.-Album information:A New Day.....
" - 3:50 - "Amaze Me" (remix) - 3:47
- "Amaze Me" (instrumental) 3:47
- "Amaze Me" (video)
Kate Alexa version
In early 2008, AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n singer Kate Alexa
Kate Alexa
Kate Alexa Gudinski is an Australian pop singer and the daughter of Australian music promoter Michael Gudinski, AM. Alexa first hit the spotlight in 2004 when her song "Always There" was featured in the Channel 7 series Home & Away...
covered the song for her upcoming second studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
and was produced by Molly Meldrum and features the America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n rapper Baby Bash
Baby Bash
Ronnie Ray Bryant , better known by his stage name Baby Bash , is a Mexican-American rapper. From 1995 to 1998, he performed under the stage name Baby Beesh, as part of the Vallejo, California group Potna Duece, after which he changed the last part of the name to Bash...
. It was released as the album's first single in Australia on 3 March 2008 as a CD single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
and digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
. Alexa states that even though the song was released the same year she was born, she has always been a massive fan of the song. The song was released to Australian radio on 1 February 2008 and peaked at number sixty-four on the airplay chart.
The songs producer, Molly Meldrum, suggested that Alexa should cover the song. Alexa states "I was looking to do a single between albums, and Molly came up with the idea of doing "Teardrops". At first, I was a little sceptical because the original is such a classic and I love it so much. But then Molly and I spoke about how we could do it." American rapper, Baby Bash, heard what Alexa was doing with the song through a friend of Alexa's manager and decided to take part in the song. Alexa states "He's a very cool guy. He came in and did the rap in one take, and it fitted perfectly. It’s got such an incredible feel and groove and we wanted to keep that vibe. But we also wanted to do something different, and the rap takes the track to a whole new place."
The song debuted on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in early March 2008 at number twenty-eight. It went to peak at number twenty-six the following week which was the song's peak position. It also charted at number seven on the Physical Singles chart and number eight on the Australian Artists Chart. "Teardrops" spent six weeks on the chart, five of which were in the top fifty. The music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the song was filmed on 14 January 2008 at the Love Machine in South Yarra, Victoria
South Yarra, Victoria
South Yarra is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Stonnington and Melbourne...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Track listing
- CD single/digital download
- "Teardrops" (Meldrum radio edit) — 3:17
- "Teardrops" — 4:16
- "It's Alright" — 3:35
- "It's Alright" (karaoke version) — 3:36
Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 26 |
Sugababes version
On 1 June, the SugababesSugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
record label Island Records released the album Island Life - 50 Years of Island Records, the Sugababes covered the track "Teardrops". The song debuted on the Romanian Top 100
Romanian Top 100
The Romanian Top 100 is the national airplay-based singles chart of Romania. It is weekly and it started running in 1996. It is recognized as an official chart by the European division of Billboard, Music & Media....
at #63 and charted 3 weeks later at #40.