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"Situation"
Artwork for 1982 US release
Single by Yazoo
from the album Upstairs at Eric's
A-side"Only You"
B-side"Remix (12-inch)"
Released1982
Genre
Length
  • 2:22 (UK B-side)
  • 3:44 (US 7-inch single)
  • 5:40 (US 12-inch single)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Yazoo singles chronology
"Don't Go"
(1982) 		"Situation"
(1982) 		"The Other Side of Love"
(1982)
"Situation"
A 19-second sample of "Situation" demonstrating the synthesizer hook and the laugh that has been sampled by other artists.
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"Situation" is a 1982 single by British synth-pop band Yazoo. The song was originally released in the UK as the B-side to Yazoo's debut single, "Only You", which went to number two on the UK Singles Chart. Released as a single in North America, the song peaked at number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, and hit the top 40 in Canadian charts, peaking at number 31. In late-summer 1982 it became Yazoo's first song to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, remaining at number one on this chart for four weeks. It also crossed over to the Black Singles chart, peaking at number 31.

Its most well-known version is the US 12-inch remix by François Kevorkian. This version was included on the US version of Yazoo's debut album, Upstairs at Eric's (1982), and is the version of the song which receives the most radio airplay in the United States (where the song, despite its modest showing on the Hot 100, is still played on alternative, variety-hits and dance-oriented radio stations).

In 1990, and again in 1999, the song was remixed by several noted DJs, including Peter Rauhofer and Richard "Humpty" Vission. The 1999 remixes were released to dance clubs. In October of that same year, this renewed interest in the song sent "Situation" to number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart for a second time.

In 2006, Slant Magazine ranked the song at number 64 in their list of the "100 Greatest Dance Songs".[4]

The song was heavily sampled in the Saturdays' 2008 debut single "If This Is Love". Moyet's laugh at the start of the track has been sampled on several different recordings.

Versions

The original version's first chorus does not have the response lyrics. The 7-inch version skips to the verses before the first chorus with response lyrics.

Track listings

Accolades

Year Publisher Country Accolade Rank
1982 The Village Voice United States "Singles of the Year" (26)[5] 20
2005 Blender United States "Top 500 Songs of the 80s-00s"[citation needed] 417
2006 Slant Magazine United States "100 Greatest Dance Songs"[4] 64
2011 Robert Dimery United Kingdom "1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die"[6] *
2011 Treble United States "Top 200 Songs of the '80s"[7] 168

(*) indicates the list is unordered.

Charts

See also

References

  1. ^ "On Stage > Alison Moyet – Old Vic Theater, London – Dec. 1" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 114, no. 51. 21 December 2002. p. 37. ISSN 0006-2510. Situation," followed by "Don't Go," two synth-pop dance jams from the singer's Yazoo days that, sadly, sounded out of place
  2. ^ Marotta, Michael (17 February 2021). "Deco do it again by taking Arctic Monkeys back to Yazoo's '80s dancefloor". Vanyaland. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  3. ^ Young, Jon (February 1983). "Soft Cell and Yaz(oo): Synths and Singers". Trouser Press. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b Slant Staff (30 January 2006). "100 Greatest Dance Songs". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Village Voice - Pazz & Jop Lists > Singles - 1982". The Village Voice. Retrieved 27 March 2014 – via Rocklist.net.
  6. ^ Dimery, Robert (2011). 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. Octopus Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-8440-3717-9.
  7. ^ Strain, Anthony (13 February 2011). "The Top 200 Songs of the '80s: Part One". Treble. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  8. ^ "Yazoo – Situation" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6168." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  10. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Yazoo". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 285. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 47, 1982" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  12. ^ "Yazoo – Situation" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g "Yazoo – Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  14. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1982" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  15. ^ "Top Disco/Dance Singles/Albums". Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 51. 25 December 1982. p. 36. ISSN 0006-2510.
  16. ^ "Yazoo – Situation (Remix)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  17. ^ "Yazoo – Situation (Remix)" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  18. ^ "Yazoo – Situation (Remix)" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  19. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  20. ^ "Yazoo – Don't Go 1999 Mix" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 20 January 2014.

External links

Yazoo
Authority control databases
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