"Games" by Phoebe Snow

Song#:  0500
Date:  02/21/1981
Debut:  89
Peak:  46
Weeks:  10
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  Snow burst on the music scene in 1974 with her self-title debut album featuring the quietly jazzy #5 hit "Poetry Man." Although it would be here only Top 10 hit, Snow continued with a second successful album and touring and working with artists like Paul Simon (with whom she provided vocals for his #23 "Gone At Last," 1975). Three more albums closed out the 70s, but her work was getting sidelined by her personal life as she was fully committed to taking personal care of her daughter Valerie, who was born with severe brain damage. But Snow eked out one more album, "Rock Away," before retreating from recording for eight years. The album featured this first single, which was her first one to chart in four years.

ReduxReview:  Snow and her new producers moved her away from her pop/jazz style into a more rock-oriented sound and it wasn't a great fit. Snow has an awesome voice, but like on this single, it kind of gets lost in the production. I would have thought this more suited to Linda Ronstadt at the time than Snow. But at least it got her on the chart again and overall it's a good tune.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) This song was covered by TV star Lisa Hartman on her album "Letterock." In a previous posted I noted that Hartman also covered Spider's 1980 #39 entry "New Romance (It's a Mystery)" for the same album.  2) Snow's birth name is Phoebe Ann Laub. Her stage name came from a 1900's advertisement character for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. In the 50's the railroad company also had a passenger train on one of their lines called the Phoebe Snow.

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