Sunday, July 10, 2016

"(You Can Still) Rock in America" by Night Ranger

Song#:  1714
Date:  12/03/1983
Debut:  83
Peak:  51
Weeks:  12
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  Night Ranger's debut album Dawn Patrol did well thanks to the #4 Rock track "Don't Tell Me You Love Me," which also made the Pop Top 40 at #40. It set them up well for their second album Midnight Madness. This first single did pretty well at Rock, hitting #15, and okay at Pop just missing out on the Top 50. It wasn't quite the results they were looking for, but their next single would push them to new heights.

ReduxReview:  I'm not sure why this song didn't do better. There's a lot of good going on here with a great opening riff, screamin' guitar solos, and the anthematic chorus. It should have been Top 10 at Rock and at least Top 40 at Pop. However, in the long run it didn't really matter because this song has lived on far passed its original chart days.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Lead singer and co-writer of this song Jake Blades has said that the inspiration for the tune came from a bunch of music magazines he bought on a break when touring for the band's first album. A lot of the magazines were going on about how with the advent of new wave, synthpop, videos, etc., that rock was pretty much dead. But from Blades' perspective, it certainly wasn't. They were playing for thousands of people each night who where there to rock out. He thought the magazines were publicizing something that just wasn't true, or at least that wasn't his experience, and that you can still rock in America. That last thought tipped his creative mind and soon a song was taking shape. He didn't write it with the intent of becoming an anthem, but the song certainly has become one for the band and the America sentiment continues to play well.

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