"I Don't Need You Anymore" by Jackie DeShannon

Song#:  0077
Date:  03/08/1980
Debut:  97
Peak:  86
Weeks:  5
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  Although she only had two Top 10 hits, DeShannon was a popular and prolific songwriter and performer throughout the 60s and 70s. Her biggest solo hit was the #4 "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," which she co-wrote. It has been remade by many artists and the song hit the Top 10 again in 1989 as a duet by Annie Lennox and Al Green. Her first Top 10 hit was "What the World Needs Now Is Love" written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Bacharach and Paul Anka collaborated on the score to the 1979 film "Together?" starring Jacqueline Bisset and enlisted DeShannon to sing this song. The film flopped and the soundtrack and song unfortunately followed. This ended up being DeShannon's last chart single.

ReduxReview:  As a Bacharach fan, I can say that this has all the earmarks of a typical Bacharach composition of the 70s era: playing with the time signature, end phrases that get stretched out and sequences of one-note-per-beat melody. If you have ever heard the Bacharach/Elvis Costello duet album "Painted from Memory," then this song's feel will probably sound familiar as it has that same Bacharach style. However, this song is just not as engaging and with nary a discernible hook, it is not surprising it only scratched the chart.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  If you don't know this by now, you should. DeShannon co-wrote a song with Donna Weiss that appeared on DeShannon's 1975 album "New Arrangement." The album was not a hit, but 6 years later their song collaboration (which was arranged like a saloon song) would go on to win two Grammys and become one of the biggest hits of the 80s..."Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes.

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