Uptown

Album: Beautiful Future (2008)
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Songfacts®:

  • Bassist Mani told the Sunday Times that this began life as a fairly standard disco song but gradually took on its unique character - "Like Jah Wobble playing with Chic."
  • This song, along with several others on the album, was produced in Stockholm by Bjorn Yttling of the Swedish trio Peter, Bjorn & John. When recording these tracks they used some of the same instruments as Scandinavia's greatest pop exports ABBA. Frontman Bobby Gillespie enthused to The Sun July 11, 2008: "It's a great studio and also kinda cool. Abba recorded Knowing Me, Knowing You and Dancing Queen there. I love all that pop mythology. On 'Uptown' and 'The Glory Of Love,' our drummer Darrin Mooney played the marimba used on 'S.O.S.' and 'Money Money Money.' I thought it was a good omen. At one point, Bjorn pointed at the grand piano and laughed and laughed before saying 'Dancing Queen.' He cracked up and so did we."
  • Bobby Gillespie told Q magazine October 2008 that the song "is about working class culture. What have you got? F--k all, except going out dancing at the weekend, looking good. Then you're back to work and the drudgery on Monday."

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