History Repeating (song)


"History Repeating" is a song written by Alex Gifford and originally performed by the Propellerheads featuring Shirley Bassey in 1997. The single was a #1 hit on the UK Indie Chart, and was also Bassey's first top ten appearance on any US chart since 1973's "Never Never Never", making #10 on the US Dance Club Chart.

Single release

The single was released shortly before the Propellerheads album Decksandrumsandrockandroll, released in 1998 by Wall of Sound in Europe and DreamWorks in the US and Japan. The Propellerheads had previously worked with the James Bond composer David Arnold on the Bond tribute album , when they remixed the John Barry composition "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".
The track is a fusion of several different styles of big beat, breakbeat and jazz combined with the powerful vocals of Shirley Bassey. The sleeve cover, an illustration by Duke D. Jukes, takes its inspiration from classic album sleeve from the Capitol 1957 release Just One Of Those Things by Nat King Cole.
The retro style was also continued with the video, filmed in monochrome, the opening of which is themed on a BBC TV jazz show called Jazz 1200, hosted by Roger Humphries, and clearly harks back to the serious music shows of the 1960s. Scenes from the video shoot were included in the Divas are Forever DVD.

Chart performance

Track listing

;European 2-track CD single
  1. "History Repeating" – 4:03
  2. "History Repeating" – 5:49
;UK 3-track maxi CD single
  1. "History Repeating" – 4:03
  2. "History Repeating" – 5:49
  3. "History Repeating" – 4:14
;UK 12" vinyl single
  1. "History Repeating" – 5:49
  2. "History Repeating" – 4:03
  3. "History Repeating" – 4:14
Track 1 only appears on side A

Personnel

It has been covered by Matt Dusk on his album Back In Town. The song has also been covered by Ukrainian pop music singer Jamala in 2009. Caro Emerald covers this song in live shows.

In popular culture

A edit mix of the original is the theme or title music to the BBC's Later... with Jools Holland.
It featured on the original soundtrack of the film There's Something About Mary, and served as the opening theme tune to the Channel 4 show So Graham Norton.
In 1999, Geri Halliwell released her debut album Schizophonic with the lead single Look at Me, which took creative influence from this song.
In 2000, the song was used in a TV commercial for Jaguar automobiles.
In 2000, the song was used in the Daria episode "Psycho Therapy".
In 2004, the song was featured in a TV promo for Sex and the City.
In 2009, it was used in the movie It's Complicated starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin.
It was used in a Pantene Pro-V shampoo commercial.
In 2010, the song by Regine Velasquez for the opening of GMA's 60th Anniversary entitled GMA @ 60: The Heart of Television.
In 2011, the song featured in Series 3 of the Television series Being Human..
In 2011, Jamala released her debut album For Every Heart, using the song as a bonus track.
In 2020, the song was used in the trailer for Netflix's second season promotion of the The Politician.