Girls & Boys

The lead single from Parklife was produced by Stephen Street. Rowntree did not play on it: a drum machine he programmed took his place, and the vocals were recorded over a keyboard-only demo. Albarn took the idea from a holiday in Magaluf with Justine Frischmann, which he remembered for really tacky Essex nightclubs. He said there is no morality involved.

It reached number five in the UK, their first top five, and 59 on the US Hot 100, and was fourth on the US Alternative Airplay chart. The Kevin Godley video used bluescreen footage of Club 18-30 holidaymakers. Pet Shop Boys made a seven-minute 12-inch remix and covered the song on their 1994 Discovery tour.

Street thought it would reach the top five because it was so downright basic, and Coxon said going top five was a bit of a shocker. NME and Melody Maker named it single of the year. Thom Yorke said on BBC Radio 1 in 2003 that he wished he had written it, and Pitchfork placed it 26th on its 2010 list of the top 200 tracks of the 1990s.