Elvis Costello's fourth single overall, Watching the Detectives was his first hit single on any national chart. It peaked at number 15 in the UK and also charting modestly in Canada, Australia and the United States.
It was the first top 40 hit in the UK Singles Chart for Costello and spent a total of eleven weeks there. The song was also featured on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at number 363.