"One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" | ||||||||||
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Single by One Direction | ||||||||||
from the album Midnight Memories (Japanese edition) | ||||||||||
Released | 17 February 2013 | |||||||||
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Recorded | 2012 | |||||||||
Genre | Pop rock | |||||||||
Length | 2:37 | |||||||||
Label | Syco | |||||||||
Writer(s) | ||||||||||
Producer(s) |
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One Direction singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" is a cover recorded by English-Irish boy band One Direction, released as the 2013 Comic Relief charity single on 17 February 2013. It is a medley of Blondie's "One Way or Another" (1979) and The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" (1978). The song was produced by Julian Bunetta and John Ryan.
"One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, making it One Direction's third UK number one. The song was nominated for Best British Single at the 2014 Brit Awards.
Ahead of its release, an early version of the song leaked online to the dismay of One Direction and Syco Music. A spokesperson told The Daily Mirror, "It is very disappointing that the song has been leaked and we are currently investigating the matter."
The single received mixed reviews from music critics. Robert Copsey of Digital Spy said "the cheeky lyrics, bouncy pop-rock melody and singalong chorus feel like an obvious but reassuringly safe option for this year's official Comic Relief single", concluding that it was "predictable but [...] undeniably fun".About.com critic Bill Lamb called the single a "strong performance", assessing, "The layering of the 'Na Na Na Na' bridge from 'One Way Or Another' with the chorus, "I wanna hold you wanna hold you tight, get teenage kicks right through the night" is truly inspiring." However, Lamb also noted that "lyrically, 'One Way Or Another' is nearly a song about the finer points of stalking, and that can be just a bit creepy coming from young males."
Jessica Sager of PopCrush summarised it as "catchy, fun and ... sounds exactly what you’d expect when One Direction cover Blondie." Sager additionally praised Louis Tomlinson's vocals as sounding "phenomenal" in his solo. Writing for MTV, Jenna Rubenstein assessed: "1D's version sticks mainly to the original's vibe, mixing in sugary-sweet pop production with Blondie's punk rock sensibilities."