Golden Brown

"Golden Brown" is a song by English rock band the Stranglers, released as a 7-inch single on EMI's Liberty label in 1982.

Noted for its distinctive harpsichord instrumentation, it was the second single released from the band's sixth studio album La Folie (1981).

[9] The music was largely written by keyboardist Dave Greenfield and drummer Jet Black, with lyrics by singer/guitarist Hugh Cornwell.

[14][15] David Hamilton, disc jockey on the middle-of-the-road and comparatively conservative BBC Radio 2, made the single his "record of the week".

In 1995, Black, Burnel and Greenfield appeared with impressionist Rory Bremner on his satirical Christmas special performing a parody version of the song about future Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was then Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.

[18] In a 2012 BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the nation's favourite singles to have peaked at number two, "Golden Brown" ranked fifth.

The performance scenes were filmed in the Leighton House Museum in Holland Park, London, which was also featured in the video for "Gold" by Spandau Ballet in 1983.

In 1996 British hip hop group Kaleef's re-working of the song reached number 22 on the UK charts.

[38][39] In 2020 British YouTuber and saxophonist Laurence Mason's cover of "Golden Brown" in the style of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" was viewed over a million times, leading to a commercial release via Amazon and iTunes and as a vinyl single under the title "Take Vibe EP".

Two shots from the music clip of "Golden Brown": the band performing the song in Leighton House and as explorers