She Drives Me Crazy


"She Drives Me Crazy" is a song by British group Fine Young Cannibals, released in 1988 by London Records as the first single from their second and final album, The Raw & the Cooked. The song was written by the group's frontman Roland Gift with David Steele and produced by FYC with David Z.
"She Drives Me Crazy" peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's highest-charting single in their home country. It proved a bigger hit in the United States, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for one week and becoming the first of two chart-topping singles for the band on that chart. It also reached number one in several other countries, including Australia, Austria, Canada, New Zealand and Spain. Two different music videos were produced for the song, directed by Philippe Decouflé and Pedro Romhanyi.
In 2018, Time Out magazine listed "She Drives Me Crazy" at No. 28 in their countdown of "The 50 Best '80s Songs". In 2023, Billboard magazine ranked it No. 77 in their "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time".
American country artist Dolly Parton included a reimagined country cover version on her 2008 album Backwoods Barbie.

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 "She Drives Me Crazy" "features the most unique, and instantly identifiable, beat/riff combination of the decade." The Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen noted that it, "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." David Bennun from Melody Maker said that "She Drives Me Crazy" "clattered and chugged and breathed limpid desire just about as well as you could in the Eighties."
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 "She Drives Me Crazy", one by French choreographer, dancer, mime artist, and theatre director 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. "She Drives Me Crazy " was released in 2020 by London Records.

Track listings

  • 7" single
  1. "She Drives Me Crazy" – 3:35
  2. "Pull the Sucker Off" – 3:34
  • 12" single
  1. "She Drives Me Crazy" - 7:05
  2. "She Drives Me Crazy" - 5:33
  3. "She Drives Me Crazy - 7:39
  4. "She Drives Me Crazy - 3:48
  • CD maxi
  1. "She Drives Me Crazy" - 3:35
  2. "Pull the Sucker Off" - 3:37
  3. "Tired of Getting Pushed Around" - 6:37
  • CD maxi
  1. "She Drives Me Crazy" - 3:36
  2. "She Drives Me Crazy" - 3:33
  3. "Johnny Come Home" - 4:06
  4. "Johnny Come Home" - 4:13

    Personnel

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position

Year-end charts

Certifications