I've Got News for You (Feargal Sharkey song)

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"I've Got News for You"
Single by Feargal Sharkey
from the album Songs from the Mardi Gras
B-side"I Can't Begin to Stop"
Released25 February 1991[1]
GenrePop
Length4:52
LabelVirgin Records
Songwriter(s)Feargal Sharkey, Dennis Morgan
Producer(s)Barry Beckett
Feargal Sharkey singles chronology
"If This is Love"
(1988)
"I've Got News for You"
(1991)
"Women & I"
(1991)

"I've Got News for You" is a song by Irish singer Feargal Sharkey, released in 1991 as the first single from his third studio album Songs from the Mardi Gras. It was written by Sharkey and Dennis Morgan, and produced by Barry Beckett. The song reached No. 12 in the UK and No. 8 in Ireland.[2][3]

A music video was filmed to promote the single, while Sharkey also performed the song on the UK TV music show Top of The Pops. The B-side, "I Can't Begin to Stop", was exclusive to the single. It was also written by Sharkey and Morgan, and produced by Beckett.[4]

Background[edit]

"I've Got News for You" was inspired by Sharkey's own personal life and the end of his relationship with Rebecca Landemere, a woman for whom he left his wife Ellen for in 1986. He told The Sunday People in 1991, "I'm lucky. I'm a songwriter and writing about Rebecca helped get all those emotions off my chest. I didn't shed a single tear at the end. Instead I off-loaded all my emotions, and all my unhappiness, into 'I've Got News for You'. I will never write a song like that again in my life. It is just too damn personal."[5]

Critical reception[edit]

Upon its release, Tim Peacock of Sounds described "I've Got News for You" as "a wishy-washy afterhours ballad of the first water". He added, "Admittedly, Feargal sounds like he's given it all he's got, but despite a gargantuan sax solo, this just drifts around like an ageing lounge lizard. Sad."[6] Julian Cope of New Musical Express considered it "really duff" with a lyric that "doesn't make much sense".[7] John Mangan of The Age commented, "This one is a syrupy ballad with more than a hint of the '50s. It's agonisingly predictable, but your man does have a decent voice."[8] Evening Herald stated, "Despite the obvious pop appeal of his pristine single "I've Got News for You", [Sharkey's] album is shockingly ordinary."[9] Music & Media wrote, "Sharkey comes back stronger than before. A soul-jewel."[10]

Formats[edit]

7" single
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."I've Got News for You"Feargal Sharkey, Dennis Morgan4:18
2."I Can't Begin to Stop"Sharkey, Morgan5:02
12" single
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."I've Got News for You"Sharkey, Morgan4:52
2."Loving You"Sharkey, Jo Callis4:15
3."A Good Heart"Maria McKee4:39
4."You Little Thief (Special Remix)"Benmont Tench6:13
CD single
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."I've Got News for You"Sharkey, Morgan4:52
2."Loving You"Sharkey, Callis4:15
3."After the Mardi Gras"Sharkey, Greg Barnhill4:29
4."Cold Cold Streets"Danny Kortchmar, David Lasley, Sharkey5:20
Cassette single
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."I've Got News for You"Sharkey, Morgan4:52
2."I Can't Begin to Stop"Sharkey, Morgan5:02

Chart performance[edit]

Chart (1991) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[11] 193
Irish Singles Chart[3] 8
UK Singles Chart[2] 12

Personnel[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Feargal Sharkey - I've Got News For You / I Can't Begin To Stop - Virgin - UK - VS 1294". 45cat. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  2. ^ a b "FEARGAL SHARKEY | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  3. ^ a b "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". The Irish Charts. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  4. ^ "Feargal Sharkey - I've Got News For You (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  5. ^ Pringle, Gill (16 June 1991). "A good heart is very hard to find". The Sunday People. p. 9. Retrieved 6 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ Peacock, Tim (2 March 1991). "Singles". Sounds. p. 32.
  7. ^ Cope, Julian (2 March 1991). "Singles". New Musical Express. p. 18.
  8. ^ Mangan, John (3 May 1991). "Singles". The Age.
  9. ^ "It's a Sharkey shocker!". Evening Herald. 12 April 1991.
  10. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music & Media. 9 March 1991.
  11. ^ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 18 August 2017". Imgur.com. Retrieved 2017-08-18.