B-side "Sometime" Recorded 1967 Length 2:53 | Released 1967 Genre Sunshine pop Label Warner Bros. | |
"Windy" is a pop music song written by Ruthann Friedman and recorded by The Association. Released in 1967, the song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July of that year. Later in 1967, an instrumental version by jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery became his biggest Hot 100 hit when it peaked at #44. "Windy" was The Association's second U.S. number-one, following "Cherish" in 1966. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 4 song for 1967.
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The Association's Larry Ramos, co-lead singer on the single, claimed that Ruthann Friedman had written the song about a man, and that The Association changed the lyrics to make it about a woman. Friedman refuted the rumor on her website:
"There are many explanations of who Windy actually was in Ruthann's life. She would have you know, she being me, Ruthann Friedman, that none of them are true. Windy was indeed a female and purely a fictitious character who popped into my head one fine day in 1967...
During the recording session the Association members, sure that they were in the middle of recording a hit, called the song writer, me again, in to sing on the fade at the end. I can be heard singing a blues harmony as the song fades out..."
Session musician Hal Blaine was brought in to play drums.
Covers
Wes Montgomery covered the song on his 1967 album A Day in the Life.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys released the song in 1968 on their album Gary Lewis Now!
Astrud Gilberto covered the song on her 1968 album Windy.
Andy Williams released a version in 1968 on his album Honey.
Soul singer Billy Paul's version appears on his 1970 album Ebony Woman.
The band Betty covered the song on their 1996 album Limboland.
Barry Manilow and The Association covered the song as a medley with "Cherish" on the 2006 album The Greatest Songs of the Sixties.
In popular culture
A version of the song was used as the theme tune on the nightly Today programme, broadcast on Thames Television from 1968 to 1977. This included the edition of the show featuring the Bill Grundy/Sex Pistols incident, after which the band danced to the song as the end credits rolled. Footage of this—complete with the song—has been included on punk documentaries such as BBC2's Arena: Punk and the Pistols. In reference to this usage, the band Go Kart Mozart recorded a similar instrumental version of the song under the title "Today" for their debut album Instant Wigwam and Igloo Mixture.
In the episode "Drew and Kate Become Friends" of The Drew Carey Show, the song is played on the harp by Nigel Wick, accompanied by Drew and Steve Carey
Malcolm in the Middle – Season 6, Episode 17: Butterflies – the song is played over the intercom in the store Lois and Malcolm work at called the Lucky Aide.
In an episode of Gilmore Girls, Rory listens to the song while driving to Stars Hallow from Yale.
On Season 5, Episode 14 of South Park, entitled "Butters' Very Own Episode," an alternate theme song is played. The theme song, "Everyone Knows It's Butters," closely parodies the music and lyrics of this song.
On March 25, 2009, Life on Mars featured this song in the epilogue of Episode 16, titled "Everyone Knows It's Windy." The episode involved the enigmatic nature of a character named Windy.
The song was featured in the opening scene of the Breaking Bad episode "Half Measures", where the song's lyrics ironically allude to the work of a meth-addicted prostitute named Wendy, shown in a montage that plays during the song.