am the same wavelength

Am I the Same Girl

"Am I the Same Girl" is a popular soul song, written in 1968 for American soul singer Barbara Acklin by her husband, Eugene Record, lead singer of the Chi-Lites, and Sonny Sanders. Acklin's label, Brunswick Records, first released the song in the autumn of 1968 as an instrumental track without her vocals, entitled "Soulful Strut" and credited to Brunswick soul-jazz combo Young-Holt Unlimited. "Soulful Strut" became a Top 5 hit in the United States, while Acklin's vocal version, released in the winter of 1969, was not as successful.

History

Barbara Acklin recorded "Am I the Same Girl" for Chicago soul label Brunswick Records. Before Acklin's original was released, however, producer Carl Davis removed her voice from the track, replaced it with a piano solo by Floyd Morris, and released it in November 1968 as "Soulful Strut". The single was credited to Young-Holt Unlimited, although they do not appear on the recording. The instrumental was a major hit, peaking at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. "Soulful Strut" remains the most popular version of the song to have charted in the United States. Acklin's version was comparatively unsuccessful after its February 1969 release, as it only reached number 67 on the pop chart and number 33 on the R&B chart.

In the United Kingdom, singer Dusty Springfield covered the song in 1969 after hearing Acklin's version. Springfield's version reached number 43 on the UK charts.

The song was later covered by UK pop duo Swing Out Sister in 1992 on their third album Get In Touch With Yourself. It would be their first cover song. The track begins with lead singer Corinne Drewery giggling and yelping, and vocal asides were provided by Derrick Johnson and Myke Wilson. Swing Out Sister's version reached number 21 in the UK and, in America, number 45 on the Billboard pop chart, and went all the way to number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

In September 2005, Martha Stewart, fresh out of US federal prison, began to use the Swing Out Sister version in her promo commercials for her show Martha on NBC TV Networks in America and then as the opening introduction theme song of the show. Each show starts with the song playing over a montage of images and photos of Martha Stewart growing up.

Also in 2005 British teenage soul singer Joss Stone used the Young-Holt version as a starting point for her song "Don't Cha Wanna Ride" and accordingly credited the composers of "Am I the Same Girl" as co-composers of her song.