Respectable

"Respectable" is a song by English musical duo Mel and Kim from their only studio album, F.L.M. (1987). It was released on 18 February 1987 as the album's second single. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for one week in March 1987, becoming the second UK number-one single produced by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), following Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (1985), and the first UK number one that the trio had written themselves. The single also topped the charts in many European countries, as well as in Oceania. Background The track was conceived as a more commercial follow up to the act's debut hit, "Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)". Supreme Records head Nick East requested that SAW produce a song in line with the flavour of their debut hit, but more accessible. The lyrics of the song were inspired by the sisters' dismissive and shame-free response to a tabloid scandal over the emergence of old nude glamour photos of Mel. East expressed strong reservations over the track's trademark stuttering hook, fearing it was too gimmicky, overly commercial and an unnecessary departure from the sound of their debut. Pete Waterman and Mike Stock strongly objected to the hook's potential removal. East changed his mind after an early performance of the track on a TV show in the Netherlands received a rapturous response. The sampled laughter heard through the song was captured during studio conversation between the act and producers, with the sisters initially unaware the interaction would end up on the record. Chart performance "Respectable" was a major hit worldwide and became Mel and Kim's most successful single. In the UK, it entered the singles chart at number 25 on 7 March 1987, then climbed to number seven, and topped the chart in its fourth week. It charted in the top 100 for a total of 16 weeks, seven of them spent in the top ten, and received a Gold disc awarded by the British Phonographic Industry. In Germany, it debuted at number 54 on 16 March 1987, jumped to number 12, reached number one for two weeks and appeared on the chart for 17 weeks, which was the duo's second most successful single in the country, after "Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Week-End)". It was also a number one hit for three weeks in the Netherlands out of a 16-week chart run, for four weeks in both Switzerland and the Flanders region of Belgium, two countries in which it stayed on the chart for 12 weeks, and in Finland.