Wednesday, May 3, 2017

"Some Guys Have All the Luck" by Rod Stewart

Top 10 Alert!
Song#:  2030
Date:  08/25/1984
Debut:  57
Peak:  10
Weeks:  17
Genre:  Pop, Rock



Pop Bits:  Stewart returned to the Pop Top 10 for the first time since 1981 with the first single from his Camouflage album, "Infatuation" (#6). This next single would achieve that same feat, but just barely peaking at #10. That result marked the first time that Stewart achieved back-to-back Top 10's from one album. Although Rock wasn't all that interested in the song (#27), AC took a big liking to it and sent it to #3. Thanks to the two hits, the album made it into the Top 20 and returned Stewart to gold-level sales.

ReduxReview:  If you've ever heard the original version of this song (see below), it's nothing like Stewart's take. The original is a laid back, near-ballad R&B 70s tune that still sounds great. Stewart took that track and transformed it into an 80s synthpop jam, which seems like an awful idea, but it actually turned out quite well. It's percolating keyboards sounded great on the radio and Stewart's "woo-woo-woo" line added another catchy layer. Yeah, it's not "Maggie May," but it's a nice little song.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Triple Shot!  1) This is a remake of a song originally performed by the R&B vocal group The Persuaders. They recorded the tune in 1973 and took it to #7 R&B and #39 Pop. Written by songwriter Jeff Fortgang, it was the only song that he ever sold to any artist. After a few years of songwriting, Fortgang left the business and pursued a career in clinical psychology.  2) For this remake, Stewart added in a bit of flare courtesy of another song. The little "woo-woo" section in the song was taken from the 1956 hit "Ain't Got No Home" by Clarence "Frogman" Henry. His single made it to #3 at R&B and #20 Pop.  3) In addition to The Persuaders and Stewart, two other artists have had success with the song, but on other charts. Country star Louise Mandrell did a version called "Some Girls Have All the Luck" in 1985. It reached #22 on the Country chart. Prior to Stewart's recording, Robert Palmer covered the song for his 1982 album Maybe It's Live. That album consisted of both live and studio tracks. His cover version of "Some Guys" was one of the studio tracks. It was issued as a single and reached #16 in the UK. It failed to chart at Pop in the US, but it did make a brief appearance on the Rock chart getting to #59.

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2 comments:

  1. 7/10 for me as well, I used to not care much for this song when I was younger but in the recent years it has grown onto me, now I consider it to be one of the better songs he did in the 1980's although his 80's input wasn't as good as his earlier input.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, Stewart's songs were spotty in the 80s, but he tossed out a solid one every once in a while.

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