"Young Blood" by Bruce Willis

Song#:  3093
Date:  04/11/1987
Debut:  82
Peak:  68
Weeks:  5
Genre:  Pop, Blue-Eyed Soul



Pop Bits:  This actor grabbed a surprise #5 Pop hit with his remake of The Staple Singers' 1971 hit "Respect Yourself." It was selected from his debut album The Return of Bruno. The success of the single helped the album get to #14. At the end of March of '87 it would be certified gold. Next up for release from the LP was this remake (see below). It wouldn't do nearly as well only hanging around the Pop chart for a few weeks. Still, the Top 10 hit plus the gold album was certainly exceeded the expectations of Willis and the record company.

ReduxReview:  Okay. Once was an acceptable fluke. Twice...um, no. Probably more than "Respect Yourself," this song showed Willis' limitations. Not necessarily as someone who can carry a tune, but as someone trying to cover R&B tunes. Most actors who sing are actors because they really don't have the goods to be a pro singer. It can fulfill a dream or boost their profile to do an album, but they certainly shouldn't quit their day job. Willis' singing career came to a quick end and he got back to acting, thankfully. I'm sure he still sings on occasion with a band somewhere and it is probably fun for him and the audience, but as a legit recording artist doing R&B covers, he just didn't cut it. Again, the best thing to come from this was the HBO TV special. You can catch it on YouTube.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  This is a remake of a song originally recorded by The Coasters. Their 1957 version was released along with "Searchin'" on a double-A-sided single. "Searchin'" would become the group's first major hit reaching #3 Pop/#1 R&B. "Young Blood" would quickly follow and get to #8 Pop/#1 R&B. Besides The Coasters and Willis, the only other artist to reach the Pop chart with "Young Blood" was Bad Company. Their 1976 remake got to #20. Many artists have covered the tune including The Beatles, who used to include it in their early shows. One of their live performances of the song was later included on the 1994 album Live at the BBC. The Coasters would go on to have four more Pop Top 10 hits including their biggest hit, 1958's "Yakety Yak," which reached #1 at both Pop and R&B.

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