Friday, July 6, 2018

"I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" by Paul Young

Song#:  2456
Date:  09/07/1985
Debut:  54
Peak:  13
Weeks:  14
Genre:  Pop, Blue-Eyed Soul



Pop Bits: Young hit the top of the Pop chart with "Every Time You Go Away," the first single from his second album The Secrets of Association. The gold record was a remake of Hall & Oates song and Young kept the cover tunes coming (see below) with this second single from the LP. While this song didn't have the same mass appeal of "Every Time," it still did pretty well getting up near the Pop Top 10 while also reaching #8 Dance and #60 R&B. In Young's UK homeland, this track was the first single released from the album. It became his fourth Top 10 there getting to #9.

ReduxReview:  I really liked this song when it came out. It was full of studio effects and tricks, which I loved. While Ann Peebles' awesome original (see below) was a smokey mid-tempo soul jam, Young turns it into a more agitated modern synth-rock track and it pays off pretty well. These days, the song sounds dated with all the 80s gadgetry enhancing about every other beat, but I still like it. The decade featured quite a few cover tunes updated with the latest equipment and studio tricks, but many of them ranged from meh to awful. However, I thought this one was updated quite well.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  This is a remake of a song originally recorded by soul star Ann Peebles. Peebles recorded the song, written by Earl Randle, in 1972 and it was issued out as a single the following year. It was able to reach #31 on the R&B chart, but it failed to make the Pop chart. It was then included on her 1974 album I Can't Stand the Rain. That album's title track would become Peebles' biggest and most well-known hit getting to #6 R&B and #38 Pop. Ten years later, Tina Turner would do a cover of that tune for her comeback album Private Dancer.
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