| information | Title: Beautiful Stranger
Writers: Madonna and William Orbit
Producers: Madonna and William Orbit
Album: Music From The Motion Picture Austin Powers - The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and GHV2 (2001)
Edition date: It was the first single for the Austin Powers II Soundtrack, May 1999
Length of the album version: 4' 22''
Credits: ©1999 WB Music Corp./Webo Girl Pub. Inc. adm. by WB Music Corp./Rondor Music (London) Ltd. PRS adm. by Almo Music Corp. ASCAP. | | coments | Beatiful Stranger was composed by Madonna and William Orbit for the soundtrack of the film Austin Powers II: The Spy Who Shagged Me, starring Mike Mayers. The song reflects the psychodelic old fashioned style of the film, with some arrangements typically sixties: guitars, flutes,… but with the techno touch just Orbit can give to his productions. This song was said to be a copy from a 60's song called She Comes In Colours, made by a group called Love, and they are relly similar. Before the song was first heard, some rumours said it could sound like the Beatles hit, Fool On The Hill.
The truth is that the catchy chorus of this song made it one of the most popular songs in the summer of 1999, altouh Warner decided not to release it as a single in USA. It was promoted in some US radio stations, but without any official release. They sent 2 millions of copies of the soundtrack in that country, and released a second volume.
It was the first single from that soundtrack, along with Lenny Kravitz's American Woman, and was wonderfully remixed by Victor Calderone. | | videoclip | | | | collector items | | | This is the cover of all the promo editions from many countries. They all have almost the same versions: Lp Version, Calderone Club Mix and Calderone Radio Mix. The difference between them is the CD itself, changing its colour in every country. Here you can see the promos for: Europe, Mexico, South Africa, Soundtrack CD, Australia, Japan and USA: | | | | | The original soundtrack for the film Austin Powers 2, has Beautiful Stranger as its first track. But there are also artists as R.E.M., Lenny Kravitz, Melanie G, Green Day, Elvis Costello, Quincy Jones, ... There is a limited edition with a diferent package. And there is a Taiwan Edition including a Madonna poster, with the single cover on it. | | | Due to the great success of this release (more than 2 million copies sold in the US), a second volume was released with instumental and orchestral versions of music from the film, including Beautiful Stranger Calderone Club Mix. Until that moment that mix couldn't be found in USA, they had to buy the European or Japanese single release. |  | Rare promo Cd release for Japan, containing the radio versions of Beautiful Stranger and Ray Of Light. | | | The japanese edition is similar to the european, but with its lateral sticker with japanese credits. Some copies have mistakes in the tracklisting and credits. | | | Colombian promotional edition, with the same cover of the official edition, but a diferent CD design. | | | Rare promo edition for Thailand in 3" cd, with Beautiful Stranger (Madonna) and Just The Two Of Us (Dr. Evil). There is another Colombian 3" cd edition containing Calderone Club Mix, Lite Radio Mix and New Club Edit. | | | Promotional soundtrack , including some of the songs in a medley. Some say there are more of this editions released in Germany and UK. | | | Promotional European and US edition, with the Album and William Orbit Radio Edit versions. | | | Hard to find promo edition released in Taiwán. It contains: Beautiful Stranger (Madonna), American Woman (Lenny Kravitz), Word Up (Melanie G) and I'll Never Fall In Love Again (Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello). It includes an extensive booklet with some photos of the movie. |
This list of collectibles is not complete, it's just an orientative guide of the most important things. | | lyric | | Beautiful Stranger | Haven't we met
You're some kind of beautiful stranger
You could be good for me
I have a taste for danger
If I'm smart then I'll run away
But I'm not so I guess I'll stay
Heaven forbid
I take my chance on a beautiful stranger I looked into your eyes
And my world came tumbling down
You're the devil in disguise
That's why I'm singing this song
To know you is to love you You're everywhere I go
And everybody knows
To love you is to be part of you
I head for you with tears
And swallow all my pride
Dah-dah-dah-de dah-de-dah-de dah dah dah-dah-dum
Beautiful stranger
Dah-dah-dah-de dah-de-dah-de dah dah dah-dah-dum
Beautiful stranger If I'm smart then I'll run away
But I'm not so I guess I'll stay
Haven't you heard
I fell in love with a beautiful stranger | I looked into your face
My heart was dancing all over the place
I'd like to change your point-of-view
If I could just forget about you
To know you is to love you You're everywhere I go
And everybody knows
I looked into your eyes
And my world came tumbling down
You're the devil in disguise
That's why I'm singing this song to you
To know you is to love you You're everywhere I go
And everybody knows
I head for you with tears
And swallow all my pride
Dah-dah-dah-de dah-de-dah-de dah dah dah-dah-dum
Beautiful stranger
Dah-dah-dah-de dah-de-dah-de dah dah dah-dah-dum
Beautiful stranger
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| | mike myers |  Born in Canada on May, 1963. He began to work in the Canadian TV when he was young in Tv ads, shows, series… But he became famous when he joined Saturday Night Live in 1989, starring the best moments of that show. It was in one of those shows when he first met Madonna, making a Justify My Love parody or the gap Coffe Talk. He reached the big screen in 1992, becoming very famous for Wayne's World. Then Austin Powers came in. Madonna wanted to take part in the soundtrack with her song Beautiful Stranger, and wanted Myers to be in her video. | | cover |  It is an image taken from the video. | | in the chart | | Although Beautiful Stranger was not released as a single in USA, it appeared in the charts. This is a sign of the success it may have had if Warner had made a different decision. It just reached #1 in Italy, and #2 in UK. The positions in other countries was more discreet: #4 in Spain, #5 in Australia, and #13 in Germany. | | live | | The only chance we had to see Madonna performing Beautiful Stranger live was in her Drowned World Tour en 2001. Singing with Nicky and Donna, Madonna dances in a very sensual way, and the screens show a lot of psychodelic colours in movement. At the end of the song a 'stranger' appears, a supposed technician, and Madonna dances touching him. In one of the shows, Guy Ritchie, her husband, was the stranger to appear in the stage. 
| | official versions | 1. Album Version / Lp Version (4.22)
2. Video Version (4:34)
3. Video Instrumental (4:21)
4. William Orbit Radio Edit (3:57)
5. Calderone Radio Mix / Lite Radio Mix / Calderone Mix / Etv Bonus Mix (4:04)
6. New Club Edit (5:12)
7. Calderone Club Mix (10:13)
8. Calderone Dub Mix (6:22)
9. Bigglesworth Mix (4:09) |
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