When She Was My Girl

"When She Was My Girl" is a 1981 single released by American vocal group the Four Tops. The song, their first release off Casablanca Records, helped to return the former signature Motown act to the American pop Top 40 charts, peaking at No. 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 10 on the Cashbox chart, and reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts.^[1]

"When She Was My Girl"
Side A of the US single
Single by Four Tops
from the album Tonight!
B-side	"Something to Remember"
Released	August 1981
Genre	R&B, soul
Length	3:25
Label	Casablanca
Songwriter(s)	Larry Gottlieb, Marc Blatte
Producer(s)	David Wolfert
Four Tops singles chronology
"Catfish" (1976) "When She Was My Girl" (1981) "Back to School Again" (1982)

Internationally, it reached No. 9 in Canada, No. 6 in New Zealand, and also became their first top 10 hit in the UK in nine years, reaching No. 3. Their top 40 showing made the group one of the few acts to have top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 in three consecutive decades. Record World called it an "infectious dancer."^[2] "When She Was My Girl" was a Grammy nominee for best R&B song. Bruce Springsteen recorded the song for his 2022 studio album, Only the Strong Survive.

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1981) Peak position Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary[3] 3 Canadian RPM Top Singles 9 Ireland [4] 7 New Zealand (RIANZ)[5] 6 UK 3 US Billboard Hot 100 11 US Billboard Adult Contemporary[6] 9 US Cashbox Top 100 10 US Billboard R&B[7] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1981) Rank UK[8] 59 US American Top 40[9] 88 US Cash Box [10] 77

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[11]	Silver	250,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Credits

• Lead vocals by Levi Stubbs and Renaldo "Obie" Benson
• Background vocals by Abdul "Duke" Fakir and Lawrence Payton
• Music Contractor Frank DeCaro