Waiting for a Girl Like You

"Waiting for a Girl Like You" is a 1981 power ballad[1] by the British-American rock band Foreigner. The distinctive synthesizer theme was performed by the then-little-known Thomas Dolby.

"Waiting for a Girl Like You"
Single cover
Single by Foreigner
from the album 4
B-side	"I'm Gonna Win"
Released	September 1981
Recorded	1981
Genre	Soft rock[1]
Length	4:35 (single) 4:49 (album)
Label	Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Mick Jones, Lou Gramm
Producer(s)	Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Mick Jones
Foreigner singles chronology
"Urgent" (1981) "Waiting for a Girl Like You" (1981) "Juke Box Hero" (1982)
Music video
"Waiting for a Girl Like You" on YouTube

It was the second single released from the album 4 (1981) and was co-written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones. The opening motif was written by Ian McDonald [2] It has become one of the band's most successful songs worldwide, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on Billboard's Rock Tracks chart.[3][4][5] On the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, the song reached number 5.[6][7] The song peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart.[8]

"Waiting for a Girl Like You" achieved a chart distinction by spending its record-setting 10 weeks in the number 2 position of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, without ever reaching the top. It debuted on the Hot 100 chart dated October 10, 1981. It reached the number 2 position in the week of November 28, where it was held off the number 1 spot by Olivia Newton-John's single "Physical" for nine consecutive weeks, and then by Hall & Oates' "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" for a tenth week on January 30, 1982.[9] Because of its chart longevity, it ended up being the number 19 song on the Top 100 singles of 1982. The song was the band's biggest hit until "I Want to Know What Love Is" hit number 1 in 1985.

In his autobiography, Lou Gramm tells of a beautiful, mysterious woman who appeared in the control room when he was recording his vocal and gave him the inspiration to deliver the stirring take that was better than he has ever sung the song. He writes that this ephemeral beauty vanished, and he has never discerned her identity.[10]

The song lists at number 100 on "Billboard's Greatest Songs of All Time".[11]

Personnel

Foreigner

• Lou Gramm – lead vocals
• Mick Jones – backing vocals, keyboards
• Rick Wills – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Dennis Elliott – drums, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Thomas Dolby – main synthesizers
• Bob Mayo – keyboard textures
• Ian Lloyd – backing vocals
• Robert John "Mutt" Lange – backing vocals

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1981–82) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] 3 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[13] 2 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[14] 8 Germany (Official German Charts) 29 Ireland (IRMA)[15] 9 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[16] 16 New Zealand (RIANZ) 16 South Africa (Springbok)[17] 14 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[8] 8 US Billboard Hot 100[18] 2 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[19] 5 US Cash Box Top 100 2 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[20] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1981) Position Canada Top Singles (RPM)[21] 34 Chart (1982) Position Australia (Kent Music Report)[22] 21 US Billboard Hot 100[23] 19 All-time charts Chart Position US Billboard Hot 100[24] 100

In other media

Films

• In the original Footloose (1984), Ren and Ariel slow dance to this song in a bar.
• The song was used in Nickelodeon movie Snow Day (2000) and was featured on the soundtrack.

Music

• Paul Anka released a cover version on his album Classic Songs, My Way (2007).
• Cliff Richard covered the song on his 2007 album, Love... The Album (2007), which reached No. 13 on the UK Album Chart.
• Rick Springfield recorded a cover version of this song on his covers album, The Day After Yesterday (2005).

Video games

• The song was used in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

See also

• List of Billboard Mainstream Rock number-one songs of the 1980s

References

1. "Gig review: Journey/Foreigner/Styx". The Scotsman. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
2. http://dmme.net/interviews/interview-ian-mcdonald.html | title=Interview with IAN McDONALD
3. "Foreigner Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
4. "Foreigner Mainstream Rock Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
5. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 234.
6. "Foreigner Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
7. Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), page 333.
8. "Foreigner singles". The Official Chart Company. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
9. Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Hits, 5th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 601.
10. "SongFacts".
11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2018-08-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
13. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1981-12-12. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
14. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1981-11-26. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
15. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Waiting for a Girl Like You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
16. "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 7, 1982". Retrieved 2019-03-21.
17. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
18. "Foreigner Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
19. "Foreigner Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
20. "Foreigner Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
21. "Top 100 Hits for 1981". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
22. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – 1982". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
23. "Top 100 Hits of 1982/Top 100 Songs of 1982". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
24. "Hot 100 turns 60". Billboard. Retrieved August 6, 2018.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics