| "Dreadlock Holiday" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by 10cc | ||||
| from the album Bloody Tourists | ||||
| B-side | "Nothing Can Move Me" | |||
| Released | July 1978 | |||
| Recorded | Strawberry Studios South, Dorking, Surrey, England, 1977 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:28 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | 10cc | |||
| 10cc singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Dreadlock Holiday" is a reggae song by 10cc. Written by Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman, it was the lead single from the band's 1978 album, Bloody Tourists.[3] It was a number one hit in several countries.
The song was based on real events Eric Stewart and Moody Blues vocalist Justin Hayward experienced in Barbados, and Graham Gouldman experienced in Jamaica. Graham Gouldman commented: "Some of the experiences that are mentioned are true, and some of them are ... fairly true!"[4][5] Stewart recalled seeing a White man "trying to be cool and he looked so naff" walking into a group of Afro-Caribbeans and being reprimanded, which became the lyric "Don't you walk through my words, you got to show some respect".[6] Another lyric came from a conversation Gouldman had with a Jamaican, who when asked if he liked cricket replied, "No, I love it!".[7]
The music video for the song was directed by Storm Thorgerson.[8] The beach scene in the official video was filmed on the Dorset coast near Charmouth.
"Dreadlock Holiday" became the group's international number 1 hit topping the charts in the UK,[9] Belgium, New Zealand and The Netherlands. The single also reached number 2 in Ireland and Australia, became a top 10 hit in Norway and Switzerland and top 20 in Germany and Sweden. In Austria the song was 10cc's sole entry in the charts, peaking at number 18.[10]
In North America, "Dreadlock Holiday" became a minor hit, peaking at number 45 in Canada's RPM charts and number 44 on the US Billboard Hot 100. When asked why he thought the song didn't do better in the US, Gouldman said that reportedly some radio stations would not play reggae of any kind.[11]
In the UK, the song was the band's third number 1 and at the same time final top 10 hit.[12]
In a 2025 interview, Gouldman responded to claims that the song's lyrics perpetuated stereotypes about the Caribbean by stating that while people from the region he had encountered had expressed uniformly positive opinions, he would not have written some of the lines in the present day.[13]
Weekly charts[edit]
|
Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands (NVPI)[34] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[35] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
