Hoodoo Gurus: "My Girl" (1983)

"My Girl" was the third single by iconic Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus and was released on Big Time Records and distributed by EMI in October, 1983; it peaked at #35 on the Australian charts. It was written by Dave Faulkner and was also on their first album Stoneage Romeos. The single was also subsequently released in the United Kingdom in 1985 by Demon Records with a different cover sleeve and a different B-side, "Leilani".

The quirky video for the song was shown on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's popular TV series Countdown and is based around a dog trainer and his former champion greyhound: as suggested by former member Kimble Rendall, who had left Gurus to return to film-making.

"To this day people insist the song was 'written about a dog'. Oh, well. The truth is, it was meant to be part of a never-made home movie, a tribute to 60's beach movies entitled 'Gidget Goes Ape'." - Dave Faulkner.

"It was a love song about love songs, a tribute to all the ‘60s boy-girl love songs, and I felt bad that some people would get quite sad about it —‘That poor guy!’—because it was just a joke!" - Dave Faulkner.

The greyhound that wins the race in the video is Winifred Bale and the race is the 1983 National Sprint at Harold Park in Australia.

According to Faulkner the B-side, "Be My Guru",

"has always been our unofficial anthem and we loved to play it whenever we felt an audience was too comfortable during a show. This was the first of what we called our 'Punishment Songs'. It was put on the flip-side of 'My Girl' to add a bit of acid to the sugar, so to speak."- Dave Faulkner.

The music video locations include: Belvue St, Glebe; Wentworth Park; the pub was the Central Markets in Darling Harbour, was next to what is now the Pumphouse. The UTS Tower is also briefly visible as Faulkner grooms the greyhound early in the video. The dog was borrowed from Donnie Sutherland (of Sounds Unlimited/Sounds fame).

"My Girl" was performed by Spiderbait on the 2005 tribute album Stoneage Cameos (see Stoneage Romeos), Spiderbait also performed "My Girl Part 2"; where "Be My Guru" was performed by Persian Rugs (containing Hoodoo Gurus' Faulkner, Brad Shepherd and Mark Kingsmill together with bassist Kendall James). The album was launched at the Meadows Greyhound Racing Track in Broadmeadows, Victoria in reference to the video for "My Girl".


- Lyrics:

Once a girl took my love until I couldn't give anymore,
Then I tried to pretend not to see what I couldn't ignore.
My girl don't love me at all
Anymore.

I took her to the dance and then I didn't see her all night.
Then a friend said he saw her with some other boy just outside.
When I went out she was alone.
She said, "I would like to go home"
I asked her, "Who were you with?"
She said, "No-one."
I could tell that she lied
(And a voice said inside)
My girl don't love me at all
Anymore.
Not at all.