Sign Your Name
single
CoverSign your name.jpg
ArtistTerence Trent D'Arby
AlbumIntroducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby
B-sideGreasy Chicken
ReleasedDecember 28, 1987
GenreSoul
Length4:37
LabelColumbia
WriterTerence Trent D'Arby
ProducerMartyn Ware, Terence Trent D'Arby, Howard Gray
Prev year1987
Next year1988

"Sign Your Name" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Terence Trent D'Arby (now known as Sananda Maitreya), released as the fourth single (third in the US) from his debut album, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby (1987). The song was an international success, reaching number one on the Irish Singles Chart, number two on the UK Singles Chart, and number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was remixed by Lee "Scratch" Perry for some European releases. The music video was directed by Vaughan Arnell and was premiered in January 1988.[1] The music video features model Kelly Brennan.[2]

Critical reception

Max Bell from Number One noted that the song finds D'Arby "in his quiet, sensitive, loving disguise, as opposed to his crafty, naughty, whoopsadaisy ma'am alter ego." He also felt that "Sign Your Name" "testifies at least to a knowledge of soul", and concluded, "From a Heaven 17 influenced beginning a fair single starts to brood but this could be a sucker punch rather than a knockout."[3] Roger Morton from Record Mirror commented, "'Bop shoo wop wop/Bop shoo wap wap'. Terence has joined Showaddywaddy? Sadly not. This is the fourth single from the Hardline album, a crooner not a rasper, with some fine quavering from Tel's tonsils and a rhythm closely related to that of Scritti Politti's 'The Sweetest Girl'."[4] Another editor, James Hamilton, wrote in his dance column, "Moodily shuffling sad 109/54 1⁄2-0bpm lament, not really for floors".[5]

Track listings

  • U.S. 7-inch single[6] / U.S. cassette single[7] / U.K. 7-inch single[8]
  1. "Sign Your Name" – 4:45
  2. "Greasy Chicken" – 4:40
  • U.S. 12-inch maxi-single[9]
  1. "Sign Your Name" (Extended Remix) – 5:48
  2. "Sign Your Name" (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remix) – 5:18
  • U.K. 12-inch maxi-single[10] / Europe 12-inch maxi-single[11]
  1. "Sign Your Name" (Extended Remix) – 5:48
  2. "Greasy Chicken" – 4:40
  3. "Under My Thumb" (Live) – 4:50
  4. "Jumping Jack Flash" (Live) – 4:19
  • U.K. 10-inch maxi-single (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remixes)[12] / Europe 12-inch maxi-single (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remixes)[13]
  1. "Sign Your Name" (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remix) – 5:18
  2. "If You All Get to Heaven" (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remix) – 4:52
  3. "Rain" (Lee 'Scratch' Perry Remix) – 2:54
  4. "Greasy Chicken" – 4:40

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1988)Peak
position
Australia (Australian Music Report)[14]3
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[15]5
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[16]3
Italy Airplay (Music & Media)[17]6
Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg)[18]2
Spain (AFYVE)[19]4
US Dance Club Play (Billboard)[20]23
US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)[21]2
US Cash Box Top 100[22]3

Year-end charts

Chart (1988)Position
Australia (ARIA)[23]27
Belgium (Ultratop)[24]18
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[25]69
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[26]26
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[27]18
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[28]18
UK Singles (OCC)[29]32
US Billboard Hot 100[30]58
US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)[31]24
US Cash Box Top 100[32]41
West Germany (Media Control)[33]33

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref.
United KingdomDecember 28, 19877-inch vinyl · 12-inch vinylCBS[34]
January 11, 1988CD[35]
JapanJune 22, 1988Mini-CDEpic[36]

Sheryl Crow version

Sign Your Name
single
CoverSheryl Crow Sign Your Name Single Cover.jpg
ArtistSheryl Crow
Album100 Miles from Memphis
ReleasedSeptember 15, 2010
Length5:38
LabelA&M
WriterTerence Trent D'Arby
ProducerSheryl Crow, Doyle Bramhall II, Justin Stanley
Prev year2010
Next year2010

Sheryl Crow released her rendition of the song in 2010 as the second single from her eighth studio album, 100 Miles from Memphis. It features Justin Timberlake on background vocals.[37] The music video, directed by Wayne Isham, was released on September 16, 2010, through Crow's VEVO account.[38]

Charts

Chart (2010)Peak
position

References

  1. ^ "Terence Trent d'Arby – "Sign your name"". www.mvdbase.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2005. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  2. ^ "Sign your name - Terence Trent D'Arby - 80sneverend". www.80sneverend.com. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  3. ^ Bell, Max (January 9, 1988). "Singles". Number One. p. 42. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  4. ^ Morton, Roger (January 16, 1988). "Singles". Record Mirror. p. 13.
  5. ^ Hamilton, James (January 16, 1988). "BPM". Record Mirror. p. 19.
  6. ^ Sign Your Name (liner notes). Columbia. 1987. 38-07911.
  7. ^ Sign Your Name (liner notes). Columbia. 1987. 38T 07911.
  8. ^ Sign Your Name (liner notes). CBS. 1987. TRENT 4.
  9. ^ Sign Your Name (liner notes). Columbia. 1987. 44 07877.
  10. ^ Sign Your Name (liner notes). CBS. 1987. TRENT T4.
  11. ^ Sign Your Name (liner notes). CBS. 1987. 651315 6.
  12. ^ Sign Your Name (liner notes). CBS. 1987. TRENT G4.
  13. ^ Sign Your Name (liner notes). CBS. 1987. 651315 5.
  14. ^ "Australian Top 50 Singles Chart — Week Ending 8th May, 1988". ARIA. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  15. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 7. February 13, 1988. p. 16.
  16. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Terence Trent D'Arby". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (in Finnish). Helsinki. p. 57. Archived 3 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
  17. ^ "Playlist Report: RAI - Italy". Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 11. 12 March 1988. p. 6.
  18. ^ "Radio Luxembourg Singles". umdmusic.com. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  19. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. 1st ed. Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  20. ^ "Dance Club Songs". Billboard. August 20, 1988. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  21. ^ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. July 30, 1988. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  22. ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, August 13, 1988
  23. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Singles for 1988". ARIA. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  24. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1988" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  25. ^ "Top 100 Singles of '88". RPM. Vol. 49, no. 10. December 24, 1988. p. 9. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  26. ^ "1988 Year End Eurocharts: Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 52/1. January 1, 1989. p. 30. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  27. ^ "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1988" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  28. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1988" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  29. ^ Scaping, Peter (ed.) (1991). "Top 100 Singles: 1988". BPI YearBook 1989/90. London, England: British Phonographic Industry. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-0-9061-5410-6.
  30. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1988". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  31. ^ "No. 1 Awards: Top Black Singles". Billboard. Vol. 100, no. 52. December 24, 1988. p. Y-23.
  32. ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 31, 1988". Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  33. ^ "Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 1988" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  34. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. December 26, 1987. p. 8.
  35. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. January 9, 1988. p. 11.
  36. ^ "テレンス・トレント・ダービー | サイン・ユア・ネーム" [Terence Trent D'Arby | Sign Your Name] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  37. ^ Sign Your Name Single and Video
  38. ^ Sign Your Name Music Video Interscope Retrieved October 14, 2010