"Talking Back to the Night" by Steve Winwood

Song#:  3410

Date:  02/13/1988

Debut:  81

Peak:  57

Weeks:  10

Genre:  Soft Rock

Pop Bits:  Following the multi-platinum success of his fourth album, Back in the High Life, Winwood followed it up with a hits compilation titled Chronicles. Its first single was a remix of his 1982 song "Valerie," which cracked the Pop Top 10 at #9. Next up for release this title-track to his 1982 album of the same name. The song had also been giving the remix treatment and it was hoped that the tune would follow in the steps of "Valerie." The track ended up doing well at AC (#7) and Rock (#17), but it didn't click as well at Pop where it stopped before the halfway mark. The gap that Chronicles provided gave Winwood time to record his fifth studio album, which would appear in the fall of '88.

ReduxReview:  Like "Valerie," this track benefited from the new remix. However, the remix didn't make the actual song any better. It was still kind of a bland tune with a meandering verse and not much in the way of a chorus. As an album track it was fine, but it really wasn't meant to be a single. Following four Top 10s including two #1s at AC, I'm not surprised this got enough airplay to crack the Top 10 on that chart, but it just wasn't the right song for Pop.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  Back in 1965, Elektra Records was opening an office in London and to mark the occasion, they wanted something special for its first release. It was decided that a compilation of some British acts would do the trick, but to make it a bit more special, a "super group" would be assembled to record some tracks for the disc. Eric Clapton was tapped to lead the band, which also featured Paul Jones and Jack Bruce from Manfred Mann, Ben Palmer, and two members of the Spencer Davis Group, Pete York and Steve Winwood. The outfit would be called Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse and they ended up recording four tracks in the studio. Three of them were then used for the Elektra compilation titled What's Shakin'. Other tracks on the album were early recordings by The Lovin' Spoonful and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, along with songs by Tom Rush and Al Cooper. It was thought that Clapton and the Powerhouse would go on to record a full album, but it didn't happen. However, various members would end up playing together in other bands such as Cream and Blind Faith.

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