The single was released in February 1988 as the third single from the album, but only reached #51 on the UK Singles Chart.
In the US, "Englishman in New York" peaked at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in April 1988 and reached #32 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart that same month.
The "Englishman" in question is the famous eccentric and gay icon Quentin Crisp.
In 2007 Razorlight covered the song on BBC Radio 1's 40th anniversary compilation Radio 1 Established 1967.
In 2014, Shirley Bassey released a cover on the album Hello Like Before.