May 1988.
A timely reminder, when I’m grumbling about Monday mornings, that my commute is but a hop, skip and a jump (or something slightly less energetic) from the bedroom to the kitchen. Not only that but ‘rush hour’ comprises of nothing more than four hungry cats wanting breakfast. Nothing to grumble about really…apart from tripping over hungry cats!
Written by Jane Wiedlin, former guitarist with the Go Go’s, along with songwriter and producer Peter Rafelson, this was the first single released from Wiedlin’s second album Fur.
The inspiration for the song came from Wiedlin sitting in rush hour traffic in Los Angeles, and realising that the term ‘rush hour’ actually meant the opposite of what the name suggested – as we all know, in reality it’s not a rush at all but a drag.
On its release this would go on to become Wiedlin’s biggest solo success, reaching number eight in Ireland and number nine in the US. Elsewhere it hovered just outside the top ten, making it to number thirteen in both Canada and South Africa, whilst here in the UK it spent eleven weeks on the chart and peaked at number twelve.
The Songs in My Head 