5 Colours in Her Hair

"5 Colours in Her Hair" is the debut single by English pop rock band McFly, released on 29 March 2004 as both the lead single from and the opening track of their debut album Room on the 3rd Floor. Written by Tom Fletcher, James Bourne, Danny Jones and Ben Sargeant, the track is especially well known for its "Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo!" lyrics at both the beginning and the ending of the song, with the music itself being indebted to 1960s surf and beat music, and was inspired by Susan Lee, a character played by actress Emily Corrie in the TV series As If, who wore coloured dreadlocks.^[1][2] The CD and 7-inch formats feature a duet with Busted singing a cover of the Kinks song "Lola".

"5 Colours in Her Hair"
Single by McFly
from the album Room on the 3rd Floor
B-side	"Lola"
Released	29 March 2004 (2004-03-29)
Length	2:58
Label	Island Universal
Songwriter(s)	Tom Fletcher James Bourne Danny Jones Ben Sargeant
Producer(s)	Craig Hardy
McFly singles chronology
"5 Colours in Her Hair" (2004) "Obviously" (2004)
Music video
"5 Colours in Her Hair" on YouTube

The track debuted atop the UK Singles Chart on 4 April 2004, becoming the band's first number-one single, and stayed at the top for two weeks. Overall, it spent twelve weeks on the chart and also reached number seven in Ireland. The song was also nominated for The Record of the Year in 2004, but finished in second place just one point behind the winner, "Thunderbirds / 3AM" by Busted.

Music video

McFly shot the video for "5 Colours in Her Hair" just after Christmas 2003. Simon Amstell recorded an interview and footage behind the scenes for Channel 4 music show, Popworld. The video, shot in front of a green screen, begins by comically introducing the band members, getting Danny's and Dougie's names wrong. It also features the band messing around at various different scenes, but telling the overall main story about a "girl with 5 colours in her hair" (played by Molly Portsmouth), who miserably lives in a black and white world. She then follows them into the TV where she joins the band in a club setting where the band are playing to a crowd. They also shoot various well known scenes as a tribute to their main influences including the Beatles and the Beach Boys.

US version

A rerecorded pop punk version of the song, with minor lyrical alterations, appeared on the soundtrack to the 2006 film Just My Luck, which was also McFly's debut album in the US. The song was included on the "Please, Please" single release in the UK, as well as on the All the Greatest Hits deluxe fan edition.^[3] It would go on to be the default way they would perform the song live.

Track listings

UK CD1 (MCSTD 40357)^[4]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"5 Colours in Her Hair"	Tom Fletcher James Bourne Danny Jones Ben Sargeant	2:58
2.	"Lola" (featuring Busted)	Ray Davies	4:14

UK CD2 (MCSXD 40357)^[5]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"5 Colours in Her Hair"	Fletcher Bourne Jones Sargeant	2:58
2.	"Saturday Nite"	Fletcher Jones Dougie Poynter Harry Judd	2:47
3.	"The Guy Who Turned Her Down"	Fletcher Bourne	3:58
4.	"5 Colours in Her Hair" (video)	Fletcher Bourne Jones Sargeant

UK 7-inch picture disc (MCS40357)^[6]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"5 Colours in Her Hair"	Fletcher Bourne Jones Sargeant	2:58
2.	"Lola" (featuring Busted)	Davies	4:14

Japanese CD single (UICI-5015)^[7]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"5 Colours in Her Hair"	Fletcher Bourne Jones Sargeant	2:58
2.	"Lola" (featuring Busted)	Davies	4:14
3.	"The Guy Who Turned Her Down"	Fletcher Bourne	3:58

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2004) Peak position Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[8] 5 Ireland (IRMA)[9] 7 Scotland (OCC)[10] 1 UK Singles (OCC)[11] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2004) Position UK Singles (OCC)[12] 32

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[13]	Silver	249,000[14]

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United Kingdom	29 March 2004	7-inch vinyl CD	Island Universal	[15]
Japan	7 July 2004	CD		[16]