{{Infobox song | name = You're a Lady | cover = File:You're a Lady Single Artwork.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Peter Skellern | album = You're a Lady | B-side = Manifesto | released = 11 August 1972<ref name="booklet">{{cite AV media notes| title = The Complete Decca Recordings| others= Peter Skellern| year = 2019| type = liner| publisher = Mint Audio}}</ref> | format = | recorded = 1972 | studio = | venue = | genre = | length = 4:39 | label = Decca | writer = Peter Skellern | producer = Peter Sames | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = Our Jackie's Getting Married | next_year = 1972 | misc = {{External music video|header=Music video|{{YouTube|U-hNZ5ichrE|"You're a Lady" at ''TopPop''}}}} }}
{{Distinguish|You're a Woman|You're a Lady Now}}
"'''You're a Lady'''" is the debut single by British singer-songwriter Peter Skellern. The song became Skellern's first and biggest hit, reaching #3 on the UK Singles Chart, #7 on the Irish Singles Chart and #50 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/peter-skellern-mn0000687269/biography |title=Peter Skellern | Biography & History |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=22 February 2017}}</ref>
Skellern performed the song live on many occasions prior to his retirement in 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aeoliansingers.org.uk/cd_info.htm|title=Nativity Music by Peter Skellern|website=The Aeolian Singers|access-date=27 February 2017|archive-date=24 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224052802/http://www.aeoliansingers.org.uk/cd_info.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> It became a constant feature of his double act with Richard Stilgoe, and renditions of the song feature on their albums '' Who Plays Wins'' (1985)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Stilgoe-Skellern-Who-Plays-Wins/master/1182230|title=Stilgoe & Skellern – Who Plays Wins|website=discogs|year=1985 |access-date= 14 September 2020}}</ref> and ''A Quiet Night Out'' (2000).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Stilgoe-Skellern-A-Quiet-Night-Out/release/5681903|title=Stilgoe & Skellern – A Quiet Night Out|website=discogs|access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref>
==Background== Skellern wrote "You're a Lady" in the summerhouse at his home in Shaftesbury, Dorset. He kept his piano there so as not to bother anyone with his practice.<ref name="Peter Skellern: A Serious Pianist">{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Deborah |title=Peter Skellern: A Serious Pianist |journal=Daily Mirror |date=10 October 1972 |page=21 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19721010/142/0021 |access-date=10 June 2020}}</ref> The song has been described as "a breathless love song".<ref name="Peter Skellern: A Serious Pianist"</> Skellern's vocals and piano accompaniment are supplemented by the Congregation, a choral pop ensemble who had already had their own top ten UK hit with "Softly Whispering I Love You",<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{Cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 505}}</ref> and by the Hanwell Band, heard unaccompanied in the introductory bars.
Skellern once played with the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain as a child, and he sought to recapture his "speechless amazement" at their sound by using the brass band on the record.<ref name="Peter Skellern: A Serious Pianist"</> The euphonium, played by John Luckett, is prominently featured.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.4barsrest.com/news/detail.asp?id=28317|title= Death of Peter Skellern|website=4BarsRest|date= 17 February 2017|access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref> Skellern wanted the song to evoke the North of England, saying: "I wanted people to see the wet cobblestones and the Lowry paintings when they heard 'You're a Lady'".<ref name="Peter Skellern interview">{{cite web |title=NZ Live - Peter Skellern |quote=Peter Skellern plays from Roundhead Studios in Auckland on Afternoons with Jim Mora. |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/nzlive/audio/2519030/nz-live-peter-skellern |website=RNZ |date=20 March 2009 |access-date=6 February 2021}}</ref>
The single was placed on Radio Luxembourg on a pay-for-play basis, but was then picked up by Terry Wogan on his BBC Radio 2 programme. The single went on to sell over 800,000 copies<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08m0332|title=Peter Skellern Tribute with Sir Tim Rice - BBC Radio 2|publisher=bbc.co.uk|access-date=17 April 2017}}</ref> and the song was also the first track on Skellern's 1972 album of the same name.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Peter-Skellern-Youre-A-Lady/release/2623205|title=Peter Skellern – You're A Lady|website=discogs|year=1973 |access-date=27 February 2017}}</ref> The song's great success and the demands that came with it led Skellern to a six-month period, a couple of years later, where he "got drunk every day".<ref name="Peter Skellern interview"</>
==Charts==
=== Weekly charts === {| class="wikitable" !Chart (1972/73) !Peak<br> position |- |Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=276}}</ref> |align="center"|2 |- |Irish Singles Chart<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Irish Charts - All there is to know |url=http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=www.irishcharts.ie}}</ref> |align="center"|7 |- |New Zealand(Listener) <ref>https://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qsongid=3955#n_view_location search Listener</ref> |align="center"|3 |- |United Kingdom (Official Charts Company) |align="center"|3 |- |US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 |align="center"|50 |}
=== Year-end charts === {| class="wikitable" !Chart (1972) !Position |- |UK<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 March 2021 |title=Year-End Chart 1972 – UK |url=https://www.yourmusiccharts.com/year-end-chart-1972-uk/ |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=YourMusicCharts |language=en}}</ref> |54 |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{YouTube|MA2pc2BdhDk|Peter Skellern – You're A Lady – 1972}} * {{YouTube|FbYpojivAI8|Bart Peeters – Kies mij – 2019}}
Category:1972 songs Category:1972 debut singles Category:Peter Skellern songs Category:Decca Records singles