It’s the debut hit that launched a multi-decade career. A track that’s testament to a band’s tenacity, talent and more than a little right time/right place, good old-fashioned good luck. It’s spawned multiple unlikely cover versions. It's The Guardian’s greatest UK number one ever. And it reached number one in the UK 40 years ago this week.
While an all-time classic today, it’s worth remembering that in its day, West End Girls was just an unlikely English rap track from an unlikely new synth duo (just as synth duos were going out of style) and a song that had unequivocally flopped all across the globe a year earlier.
