She Drives Me Crazy
"She Drives Me Crazy" is a song released in 1988 by English group Fine Young Cannibals, and included on their 1989 album "The Raw & the Cooked". Peaking at No. 5 on the British singles chart in January 1989, "She Drives Me Crazy" is the band's highest charting single in their native UK. The single proved an even bigger hit in the US, topping the "Billboard" Hot 100 on 15 April 1989 for one week and becoming the first of two chart-topping singles for the band on that chart. "She Drives Me Crazy" also reached  No.1 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart, as well as in countries including Australia, Austria, Canada, New Zealand and Spain. It reached the top 3 on several European charts including Belgium, Germany, Iceland, Ireland and Switzerland. In 2018, "Time Out" magazine listed "She Drives Me Crazy" at No. 28 in their countdown of "The 50 best '80s songs". Background and recording. Co-produced by Prince associate David Z, the track was recorded in Studio B of Prince's Paisley Park complex outside of Minneapolis. The unique snare drum "pop" sound was created by recording the  snare drum portion separately. A speaker was then placed on top of the snare drum, and a microphone below. The original recording of the snare drum part was played back through the speaker and re-recorded. Critical reception. Jo-Ann Greene from AllMusic stated that the song "features the most unique, and instantly identifiable, beat/riff combination of the decade." The Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen noted that "She Drives Me Crazy", "with its synthesized drums, was a great party song - Gift's falsetto delivery which went into a full-fledged roar was perfect for the track. Even the guitar  work fits the track - from the jangly jazz riffs to the crunch of the power chords." Pan-European magazine "Music & Media" described it as a "subtly persuasive pop number that is sure to attract major airplay on pop and rock radio." Pop Rescue called it a "real gem with plenty of guitar, interesting vocals and beeping synth layers." Andy Strickland from "Record Mirror" wrote, "Always interesting, always a few surprises and this is no exception from the bandy trio. A stuttering pop record that's too slow to dance to and too fast to smooch to. The FYCs always sprinkle  some interesting sounds over their records and here we have funky guitar breaks, heavy metal chords and plenty of things going boing, clicky click ding." James Hamilton from the magazine's DJ Directory deemed it a "haunting sparse jittery tapped then chunky rock guitar chorded whinneying falsetto 108½bpm lurcher". Music video. Two music videos were produced for the song, one by Philippe Decouflé and another by Pedro Romhanyi. The video received several nominations at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, including "Best Video". Re-release. The song was re-released in 1997 in support of Fine Young Cannibals' compilation album  The Finest. It included a remix by Roger Sanchez, as well as Mousse T. remixes of "Johnny Come Home". The single reached No. 36 on the UK singles chart.