Warwick Avenue (song)

"Warwick Avenue"
Single by Duffy
from the album Rockferry
B-side	"Put It in Perspective" "Loving You"
Released	26 May 2008
Format	7" CD digital download
Recorded	2007
Genre	Soul soft rock
Length	3:46
Label	A&M (UK) Mercury (US)
Writer(s)	Jimmy Hogarth Aimee Duffy Eg White
Duffy singles chronology
"Mercy" (2008) "Warwick Avenue" (2008) "Stepping Stone" (2008) Music video "Warwick Avenue" on YouTube

"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.

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. Most recently, 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

	"Warwick Avenue"
Problems playing this file? See media help.

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 and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2008) Peak position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 17 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7] 14 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[8] 25 Denmark (Tracklisten)[9] 7 European Hot 100 Singles[10] 5 Euro Digital Tracks[11] 5 Euro Digital Songs[12] 7 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] 19 France (SNEP)[14] 14 Germany (Official German Charts)[15] 12 Ireland (IRMA)[16] 11 Japan Hot 100[17] 28 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[18] 9 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[19] 15 Norway (VG-lista)[20] 15 Romanian Top 100[21] 82 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 16 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 12 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[24] 3 US Billboard Pop 100 96

Year-end charts Country (2008) Position German Singles Chart[25] 69 UK Singles Chart[26] 30 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[27] Gold 7,500 United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Silver 200,000 ^^shipments 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

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 (2008-05-26). "Duffy: 'Warwick Avenue'". digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
4. Chart information from chartstats.com
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.
7. "Ultratop.be – Duffy – Warwick Avenue" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
8. "Ultratop.be – Duffy – Warwick Avenue" (in French). Ultratop 50.
9. "Danishcharts.com – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". Tracklisten.
10. Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - Billboard 200 - Music Genre Sales
11. Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - Billboard 200 - Music Genre Sales
12. Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - Billboard 200 - Music Genre Sales
13. "Duffy: Warwick Avenue" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
14. "Lescharts.com – Duffy – Warwick Avenue" (in French). Les classement single.
15. "Offiziellecharts.de – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". GfK Entertainment Charts.
16. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Warwick Avenue". Irish Singles Chart.
17. Japan Hot 100 Retrieved 26 October 2008
18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Duffy – Warwick Avenue" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
19. "Charts.org.nz – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". Top 40 Singles.
20. "Norwegiancharts.com – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". VG-lista.
21. "Romanian Top 100" Please see "Issue 21" of the year 2008
22. "Swedishcharts.com – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". Singles Top 100.
23. "Swisscharts.com – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". Swiss Singles Chart.
24. "Duffy: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.
25. "Single Annual Charts 2008". Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
26. "Chart Plus Year End 2008" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
27. "Danish single certifications – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". IFPI Denmark. Click on næste to go to page 41 if certification from official website
28. "British single certifications – Duffy – Warwick Avenue". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Warwick Avenue in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics