The different original version, which co-writer Wickett said "was inspired by the dark side of the glitz and glamour", was released as part of an EP in 2018.

[5] A music video was made with directing duo Godley & Creme (of 10cc) and director of photography Steven Bernstein at Shepperton Studios in July 1981.

Due to the inclusion of female nudity the video exists in both uncensored form (which was played in nightclubs and on The Playboy Channel) and a heavily censored version for MTV.

and lyrics featuring "warning about the downsides of fame and modeling" with "some pointed critiques of an industry that values only surface beauty.

"[7] Cover versions of "Girls on Film" have been recorded by Björn Again, Wesley Willis Fiasco, the Living End, Girls Aloud, Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers, Billy Preston, Kevin Max, La Ley, Midnight Oil, Mindless Self Indulgence and Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans on Glee.