Song#: 1781
Date: 02/04/1984
Debut: 74
Peak: 22
Weeks: 15
Genre: Pop, Blue-Eyed Soul
Pop Bits: Young's first charting single in the US, "Wherever I Lay My Hat," stalled at a lowly #70 despite being a major #1 hit in the UK. Luckily, this next single gained an audience and almost got into the Pop Top 20 (#40 AC, #33 Rock, #42 Dance). The accompanying album, No Parlez, wouldn't do that great on the chart (#79), but it would end up being a long tail seller that did more business than it's peak position would indicate.
ReduxReview: Young takes a solid power pop song (see below) and actually makes it better and more memorable. I didn't latch onto this song back then, but I hooked into it years later. It's definitely one of Young's best tracks and those backing vocals are just freakin' awesome (see below, again). The fretless bass lines are pretty cool too. It hit #4 in the UK and should have done at least that in the US. Not sure why it stalled short of the Top 20.
ReduxRating: 8/10
Trivia: Double Shot! 1) This is a remake of a song originally written and recorded by Jack Lee. Lee's 1981 version would appear on his lone solo album Jack Lee's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1. Lee was originally a member of the mid-70's L.A. power pop band The Nerves. Their 1976 self-titled EP featured the Lee-written song "Hanging on the Telephone," which would later be famously covered by Blondie for their Parallel Lines LP. 2) The distinctive background vocals for this song were provided by the team of Kim Lesley and Maz Roberts. The duo were dubbed The Wealthy Tarts when they recorded and toured with Jools Holland. They moved over to do the vocals with Young and work on his tours. When joining Young, they became known as The Fabulous Wealthy Tarts. With that moniker, they tried for their own career and released a single in 1983 titled "The Last Time." It was a cover of the Rolling Stones song, but it failed to do anything.
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