Friday Night (Floy Joy song)

"Friday Night" (also known as "Friday Night in This Cold City") is a song by English band Floy Joy, which was released in 1986 as the second and final single from their second studio album Weak in the Presence of Beauty. It was written by Michael Ward and Robert E. Clarke, and produced by Don Was.

"Friday Night in This Cold City"
Single by Floy Joy
from the album Weak in the Presence of Beauty
ReleasedApril 1986[1]
Length
  • 6:35 (album version)
  • 3:32 (single version)
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)
  • Michael Ward
  • Robert E. Clarke
Producer(s)Don Was
Floy Joy singles chronology
"Weak in the Presence of Beauty"
(1986)		 "Friday Night in This Cold City"
(1986)

Background

Speaking to Record Mirror in late 1985, Mike Ward said "Friday Night" was "about the frustration of wanting to break out". He pointed out that the song, along with album tracks "Penny In My Pocket" and "Chinese a-Go Go", all shared a similar theme, "There's a kind of vibe running through some of the tracks, where it's about one guy who's down on his luck. Rather than saying, 'Everybody dance!' it's about real life."[2]

Release

"Friday Night" was released on 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl in the UK and Europe. For its release as a single, the six-and-a-half minute album version of "Friday Night" was edited and remixed by Mike Bigwood and Michael Ward. The song was given the extended title of "Friday Night in This Cold City" on the sleeve.[3] A 'club mix' was created by John Edmed for the 12-inch release.[4]

To coincide with the release of the single, Floy Joy embarked on a 10-date UK tour from 18 April.[5] "Friday Night" received some airplay on BBC Radio 1 but was more successful in gaining airplay on Independent Local Radio.[6] The band's previous single, "Weak in the Presence of Beauty", had reached No. 85 in the UK Singles Chart, but "Friday Night" failed to enter the Top 100. It was the band's final single release.[7]

Music video

The song's music video was directed by Peter Care and produced by GLO Productions.[8] It achieved heavy rotation on Music Box.[9] In Italy, it achieved play on DeeJay Television.[10]

Critical reception

On its release, William Shaw of Smash Hits considered "Friday Night" to be "a thumping disco tune" but added that the "gosh-isn't-it-tough-on-the-streets words are definitely a bit silly". He added, "Floy Joy have been almost famous for ages; this could well do the trick."[11] Andrew Panos of Number One gave the single a four out of five star rating. He wrote, "After repeated plays this tune becomes quite memorable. A slight Motown feel about the production does a lot to help. However we could have done without the corny lyrics."[12] In the 26 April 1986 issue of Music & Media, the song was listed as a "sure hit" on the "Euro Tip Page".[13]

Roger Morton of Record Mirror praised "Friday Night" as "a warming piece of even-tempered pop" which he felt was "thankfully less saccharine soaked" than "Weak in the Presence of Beauty". He commented, "Meaty drumming and sax curlicues step aside for a luminous vocal, which makes the most of a slightly chorus heavy song."[14] Paul Massey of the Aberdeen Evening Express considered it a "mid-tempo number that has a strong vocal line and catchy hook". He felt that Floy Joy "deserve to have a chart hit", but felt they "never will".[15]

Gavin Martin of New Musical Express stated, "Fusing Eastern modal touches with a neo-industrial clatter, they've tried to give this an acid tang, but it's a miscalculation. The core of the song is driven so hard, declaimed so forcefully, that it drys up, cracks and disintegrates with no sense of loss or longing being grasped or explored." He considered the song to be about "a lonesome guy in unfriendly surrounds".[16] Paul Benbow of the Reading Evening Post noted, "A Brit-oul band who deserve success but I fear this is a bit nondescript to get it for them."[17] Jim Whiteford of the Kilmarnock Standard praised the song as "catchy, upward pushing mid-tempo rock" and believed it had the potential to reach the top 10. Whiteford added, "Lyrics concern the exhaustion and suppression felt by a city dweller at the approach of the weekend... the sax concerns itself with wailing in sympathy!"[18]

In a review of Weak in the Presence of Beauty, Music Week commented, "The title track didn't make it as a single, the inferior but easier on the ear 'Friday Night' could do the trick."[19] Mike Abrams of the Ottawa Citizen picked "Friday Night" as one of the album's "best cuts" and described it as "sax-driven" and a "solid pop performance".[20]

Track listing
7" single
  1. "Friday Night" – 3:32
  2. "Friday Night" (Joyce Davenport Mix) – 3:23
12" single
  1. "Friday Night" (Club Mix) – 5:36
  2. "Friday Night" (Joyce Davenport Mix) – 3:23

Personnel

Floy Joy

  • Desy Campbell – lead vocals, backing vocals
  • Michael Ward – vocals, saxophone
  • Robert E. Clarke – bass, drum machine

Production

  • Don 'Don' Was – producer
  • Mike Bigwood, Michael Ward – remix (7-inch version and Joyce Davenport Mix)
  • John 'Dred' Edmed – mixing, remix (Club Mix)
  • Steve 'Doc Ching' King – engineer
  • Frank Filipetti, Chris Irwin – additional engineering
  • Noah Baron, Bill Miranda, Mike Bigwood – assistant engineers
  • Tim Young – mastering

Other

Charts
Chart (1986) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[21] 151

References
  1. "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 29 March 1986. p. 8. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via World Radio History.
  2. Morton, Roger (4 January 1986). "Have Floy Joy lost their edge?" (PDF). Record Mirror. p. 45. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via World Radio History.
  3. Friday Night in This Cold City (7-inch single). Floy Joy. UK: Virgin. 1986. VS 848.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. Friday Night in This Cold City (12-inch single). Floy Joy. UK: Virgin. 1986. VS 848-12.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. "Floy Joy tour" (PDF). Music Week. 5 April 1986. p. 3. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via World Radio History.
  6. "Air Play" (PDF). Music Week. 26 April 1986. p. 12. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via World Radio History.
  7. "FLOY JOY - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  8. "Music on Video: Promos" (PDF). Music Week. 10 May 1986. p. 32. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via World Radio History.
  9. "Station Reports" (PDF). Music Week. 17 May 1986. p. 21. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via World Radio History.
  10. "Station Report" (PDF). Music & Media. 3 May 1986. p. 22. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via World Radio History.
  11. Shaw, William (26 March 1986). "Review: Singles". Smash Hits. p. 53.
  12. Panos, Andrew (12 April 1986). "Singles". Number One. p. 38.
  13. "Euro Tip Page" (PDF). Music & Media. 26 April 1986. p. 13. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via World Radio History.
  14. Morton, Roger (5 April 1986). "Singles". Record Mirror. p. 10.
  15. Massey, Paul (23 April 1986). "CitySound: Singles". Aberdeen Evening Express. p. 4.
  16. Martin, Gavin (12 April 1986). "Singles". New Musical Express. p. 22.
  17. Benbow, Paul (12 April 1986). "Singles". Reading Evening Post. p. 23.
  18. Whiteford, Jim (11 April 1986). "Records: Singles". Kilmarnock Standard. p. 8.
  19. "A&R: LP Reviews" (PDF). Music Week. 10 May 1986. p. 22. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via World Radio History.
  20. Abrams, Mike (8 August 1986). "Music". Ottawa Citizen. p. D5.
  21. "Gallup Top 200 Singles". Gallup. 19 April 1986. Retrieved 9 November 2022 – via ukmix.org.
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