My Town (Glass Tiger song)

"My Town" is a song by Canadian band Glass Tiger. Released in August 1991 as the fourth single from their third studio album, Simple Mission, the song features English singer-songwriter Rod Stewart as an uncredited vocalist. Inspired by Celtic music, "My Town" was written by Glass Tiger bandmates Alan Frew, Alan Connelly and Wayne Parker, as well as Jim Cregan, who co-wrote two of Stewart's other hits. The song's lyrics are a tribute to Frew's hometown, Coatbridge, Scotland, and Stewart was invited to record the song with Glass Tiger because of his Scottish ancestry.

"My Town"
Single by Glass Tiger
from the album Simple Mission
B-side	"The Tragedy of Love"
Released	August 1991
Length	4:51
Label	Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Jim Cregan Alan Frew Alan Connelly Wayne Parker
Producer(s)	Jim Cregan Tom Werman
Glass Tiger singles chronology
"Rhythm of Your Love" (1991) "My Town" (1991) "Rescued (By the Arms of Love)" (1991)
Rod Stewart singles chronology
"You Are Everything" (1991) "My Town" (1991) "People Get Ready" (1992)
Music video
"My Town" on YouTube

It became Glass Tiger's sixth top-10 hit in Canada, climbing to number eight on the RPM Top Singles chart in November of the same year and ending the year as Canada's 52nd-most-successful single. In the United Kingdom, due to Stewart's appearance, the single became the band's first song to chart since "Diamond Sun" in 1988,^[1] peaking at number 33 on the UK Singles Chart. Elsewhere, "My Town" managed to chart in Germany, where it peaked at number 51.

Background

"My Town" was written about Glass Tiger member Alan Frew's hometown of Coatbridge, Scotland.^[2] In an interview with Metal Express Radio, Frew said that he initially did not think to recruit Rod Stewart as a featured artist, despite spending time with him prior to the song's conception.^[3] The two men were having dinner one night when a person Stewart recognized asked Frew why he had not asked Stewart to sing on "My Town". Frew explained, "Rod asked me why he'd not been asked to sing on it and I'd said that I didn't want to play that card on him. He just said he wanted to sing on it, so he did and that's how he ended up singing on it."^[3]

Composition and lyrics

Celtic singing and instrumentation were the main influences on the composition on "My Town".^[2] Despite Glass Tiger being a Canadian band, the "Scotia" in the song's lyrics does not refer to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, but rather Scotland, which was called Scotia during the Middle Ages.^[2] One of the lyrics states that "Burlington Bertie", a music hall song composed by Harry B. Norris in 1900, will be in Frew's heart forever.^[2]

Music video

The music video for the song, filmed in black-and-white, features numerous references to Scotland. However, Rod Stewart does not appear in the video nor in the recording used for this video.

Track listings

7-inch single[4][5] A. "My Town" – 4:48 B. "The Tragedy of Love" – 4:31 UK CD single[6] "My Town" "The Tragedy of Love" "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" "Diamond Sun"

UK 12-inch single[7] A1. "My Town" B1. "The Tragedy of Love" B2. "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)"

Personnel

Personnel are taken from the UK CD single liner notes.^[6]

Glass Tiger Alan Frew – writing, vocals Alan Connelly – writing, guitars Sam Reid – keyboards Wayne Parker – writing, electric bass

Others Jim Cregan – writing, production Rod Stewart – vocals (uncredited) Tom Werman – production Ed Thacker – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1991) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[8] 184 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[9] 8 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[10] 62 Germany (GfK)[5] 51 UK Singles (OCC)[11] 33

Year-end charts Chart (1991) Position Canada Top Singles (RPM)[12] 52