"Got to Be Certain" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue from her debut studio album, Kylie (1988). Written and produced by English songwriting and record production trio Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), the song was released as the second single from Kylie in most territories outside Australia, and was released on 2 May 1988 in Australia and the United Kingdom. In Australia, "Got to Be Certain" was Minogue's third single release.[3]
"Got to Be Certain" | ||||
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Single by Kylie Minogue | ||||
from the album Kylie | ||||
Released | 2 May 1988 | |||
Recorded | February 1988 | |||
Studio | Melbourne, Australia | |||
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Length | 3:17 | |||
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Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Stock Aitken Waterman | |||
Kylie Minogue singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Got to Be Certain" on YouTube | ||||
"Got to Be Certain" was a commercial success, peaking at number one in Minogue's native Australia and number two on the UK Singles Chart.
With the success of her first two singles, "The Loco-Motion" in 1987 and "I Should Be So Lucky" in early 1988, Minogue along with Stock, Aitken and Waterman began work on her debut studio album Kylie. "Got to Be Certain" was recorded in her native Melbourne, Australia, in February 1988, along with two other album tracks, and future international singles "Turn It into Love" and "It's No Secret".[4]
Initially declining to work with SAW again after feeling snubbed and disrespected when the producers kept her waiting to record "I Should Be So Lucky", Minogue was convinced to give the trio a second chance after Mike Stock flew to Melbourne and personally apologised to Kylie and her family.[5] The track was recorded in evening sessions while Kylie was working long hours on her TV show, Neighbours, with an exhausted Minogue at times breaking down in tears as the pressure of her situation mounted.[5]
Despite speculation that "Got to Be Certain" was not written especially for Kylie, producer Matt Aitken says it was.[6] It was also recorded by singer and PWL-stablemate Mandy Smith for her debut album Mandy which was also produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. However, her version was shelved and the song released by Kylie instead after Pete Waterman decided to abandon Smith's version amid general unhappiness at PWL over how the track was progressing.[5] Smith's original recording of "Got to Be Certain" was denied by Mike Stock in his book The Hit Factory: The Stock Aitken Waterman Story, but it was eventually released in 2005 as a bonus track on the hits compilation Stock Aitken Waterman Gold. Smith's version was also added to the 2009 re-issue of her album.
Minogue's version peaked in the top ten in many countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The song, however, was not released in the United States where "It's No Secret" was released instead.
A music video was shot in Melbourne. "Got to Be Certain" was also performed at many of Minogue's concert tours, including the Enjoy Yourself Tour, Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour and The Homecoming Tour. The song was just recently performed at her Anti Tour in 2012, at her Kiss Me Once Tour in 2014 and on Minogue's one-off show The Kylie Show.
The music video for "Got to Be Certain" was directed by Chris Langman and filmed in April 1988. The video was filmed in Melbourne, Australia. A number of different edits of the video were produced amid creative tensions between the Mushroom Records team and PWL staff, with the latter strongly objecting to one of Kylie's hairstyles in the video's original cut.[5] The director's cut version of the video starts off with Minogue at a photoshoot, posing in different poses. It then cuts to Minogue sitting in a coffee-house during the verses, then shows her on top of the T&G (now KPMG) Building on Melbourne's Collins Street during the bridge, wearing a "black boat-neck dress, white teeth gleaming, hair a perfect honey blonde and skin as gold as the coins that were piling in".[7] Each of the first two choruses features Minogue walking around Melbourne's Yarra River and then walking through a park.[7] The breakdown cuts to Minogue and her friends dancing around the coffee house, before the video ends with bloopers from the video shoot. This director's cut version is preserved on the 1988 The Kylie Collection VHS and LaserDisc and the 2002 Greatest Hits DVD.
There are two other official versions of the music video. The "Original Version" begins with bloopers from the video shoot[8] and features scenes of Minogue in an artist's studio rather than a photoshoot, wearing a skin-tight red T-shirt dress with a pin bearing the work "amour". It then eventually features Minogue on a carousel that apparently "hadn't been oiled since Kylie was born".[7] The "Location Only" version, introduced on the 1992 Greatest Hits VHS and LaserDisc, is again a different edit with only the outdoor shots.[9] Both versions were made available as extras on the 2002 Greatest Hits DVD. The video edit featured on the 2004 Ultimate Kylie DVD combines the first half and blooper ending of the director's cut with most of the second half of the "Location Only" version for unknown reasons.
On 2 May 1988, "Got to Be Certain" was released in the United Kingdom. The song became Minogue's second top five hit when it debuted at number fifteen on the singles chart before climbing the chart in the weeks that followed, peaking at number two and remaining there for three weeks. It eventually sold 315,000 copies.[10] Outside of the UK, the song was also widely successful. It reached number one in seven countries, including Finland and Israel.[citation needed] The single sold 17,227 copies in Sweden at the time.[citation needed] In New Zealand, it peaked at number two and stayed in the charts for 14 weeks, making it her most successful single in the country at that time.[11]
In Australia, "Got to Be Certain" was released on 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl on 20 June 1988,[3] cassette single on 11 July 1988,[12] and the remix 12" was released on 25 July 1988.[13] It became the second single ever to debut on the Australian singles chart at number one, remaining in the top spot for four weeks from July 4, 1988 (ARIA).[14]
Minogue performed the song on her Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour.[15]
CD single
7-inch vinyl single
12-inch vinyl single
12-inch remix
iTunes digital EP – Remixes (2009)
Charts
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Year-end charts
Certifications
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