decade
1940s [91]
1950s [105]
1960s [203]
1970s [253]
1980s [230]
1990s [141]
2000s [129]
2010s [1]

check your birthday!
(e.g. 1965-10-31)

administrator login


(login/password)

                 advanced search
"Island Girl"
#1 weeks: 3
weeks: 1975-11-01, 1975-11-08, 1975-11-15
genre: rock
artist: Elton John
album: Rock of the Westies
writers: Elton John, Bernie Taupin
producers: Gus Dudgeon
label:
lengths: 3:42 (single version)

"Island Girl" is a song performed by Elton John that went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and number 14 in the UK in 1975. It was the first single taken from the album Rock of the Westies. The lyrics are about a prostitute and a man who wants to take her back to Jamaica.

The song is atmospheric, featuring gospel-ish piano behind the famous scratchy, distorted repeated slide guitar intro. It also features a high-strung Caribbean guitar sound,marimbas, and a heavy bass guitar. Also notable is a shaky synthesizer solo played by James Newton Howard.

The single's B-Side was "Sugar on the Floor", which was written by Kiki Dee, who would go on to duet with Elton on a number of occasions, most notably on their chart-topping 1976 single, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".

Discography