| Homely Girl | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | the Chi-Lites |
| Album: | Chi-Lites |
| Released: | 1973 |
| Genre: | Soul |
| Length: | 3:35 |
| Label: | Brunswick |
| Producer: | Eugene Record |
| Prev Title: | I Found Sunshine |
| Prev Year: | 1973 |
| Next Title: | There Will Never Be Peace |
| Next Year: | 1974 |
"Homely Girl" is a song by American vocal group the Chi-Lites. Released in 1973, it reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, number three on the US Hot Soul Singles chart, and number 54 on the US Billboard Hot 100. A cover by UB40 also became a hit between 1989 and 1991 in several countries.
| Chart (1973) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (RPM)[1] | 98 | |
| UK Singles (OCC)[2] | 5 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100[3] | 54 | |
| US Best Selling Soul Singles (Billboard)[4] | 3 |
| Homely Girl | |
| Cover: | Homely_girl.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | UB40 |
| Album: | Labour of Love II |
| B-Side: | "Gator" (instrumental) |
| Released: | [5] |
| Length: | 3:22 |
| Label: | Virgin |
| Producer: | UB40 |
| Prev Title: | I Would Do for You |
| Prev Year: | 1989 |
| Next Title: | Kingston Town |
| Next Year: | 1989 |
A cover version by UB40, from their ninth studio album, Labour of Love II (1989), was released as a single on November 6, 1989, in the United Kingdom. This cover reached the top 10 in the UK, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. In France, the song was used in a television advertisement for the Lee Cooper jeans.[6] David Giles of Music Week deemed "Homely Girl" as "UB40's best for a while", adding: "It's a mark of a truly great band to be able to perform a cover version so convincingly that you end up thinking they've written it themselves".[7]
7-inch single
12-inch single
CD single
| Chart (1989–1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[8] | 52 |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[9] | 19 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[10] | 30 |
| Chart (1989) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[11] | 90 | |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] | 73 | |
| UK Singles (OCC)[13] | 94 |
| Chart (1990) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[14] | 99 | |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] | 58 |
In 1974, Jackie Robinson, lead singer of The Pioneers, released a cover version in the UK on Trojan Records' subsidiary label Harry J (catalogue number HJ6674).[16] It was this reggae version that inspired UB40, whose "Labour of Love" albums are cover versions of reggae tracks of the 1960s and 1970s.
. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012 . Joel Whitburn . 2013 . Record Research . 164.
. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 117.