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S-S-S-Single Bed

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"S-S-S-Single Bed"
Single by Fox
from the album Blue Hotel
B-side"Silk Milk"[1]
Released1976
StudioLazy Sounds
GenrePop
Length3:48
LabelGTO
Songwriter(s)Kenny Young
Producer(s)Kenny Young
Fox singles chronology
"Strange Ships"
(1975)
"S-S-S-Single Bed"
(1976)
"Love Letters"
(1976)

"S-S-S-Single Bed" is a song by British-based pop group Fox from their third album Blue Hotel. Written and produced by the group's founder Kenny Young, it became their third and final hit on the UK Singles Chart in May 1976, spending 10 weeks on the chart and reaching a peak of number four. It marked a return to success for Fox, whose second album Tails of Illusion and its single "Strange Ships" had failed to chart. The song was most successful in singer Noosha Fox's native Australia, where it reached number one for four weeks in August 1976.

The song features suggestive lyrics, sung from the perspective of a lady addressing a man who has missed the last train home, warning him "All I've got is a single bed / there ain't no room for your sweet head". Speaking in 1976, Noosha Fox said she considered the song musically the best thing the band had done, describing it as understated.[2] Writing in a review of Cherry Red's The Fox Box for Louder Than War in 2017, Ian Canty described the song as a "submerged but tight funk/reggae backing track with a great hook-line complementing the cool, sultry vocal".[3]

In stage performances the backing singer would use a talk box to produce a distorted effect for the verse

''Baby don't cry

Bye bye baby Baby don't cry

Bye bye baby''[4]

Other recordings

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In 2009, Bananarama released their version of the song on their album Viva.[5]

Charts

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References

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  1. ^ S-S-S-Single Bed (UK 7-inch single vinyl disc). Fox. GTO Records. 1976. GT 57, 2099 157.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ Salewicz, Chris (8 May 1976). "The power behind the new 20th century Fox". Liverpool Echo. 4. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  3. ^ Canty, Ian (18 January 2017). "Fox: The Fox Box – Album Review". Louder Than War. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  4. ^ Fox - S-S-Single Bed (1976 TOTP), retrieved 2022-08-10 . See helium use at 2:20 secs
  5. ^ "Bananarama - Viva". Discogs.
  6. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. ^ "Fox – S-S-S-Single Bed" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  8. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Single Bed". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  9. ^ 23 May 1976
  10. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 26, 1976" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  11. ^ "Fox – S-S-S-Single Bed" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  12. ^ "Fox: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  13. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1976". Kent Music Report. 27 December 1976. Retrieved 15 January 2022 – via Imgur.
  15. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1976" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 3 March 2020.