Thursday, July 7, 2022

"Shake It Up" by Bad Company

Song#:  3871
Date:  04/22/1989
Debut:  93
Peak:  82
Weeks:  8
Genre:  Hard Rock


Pop Bits:   The 70s were a great period for Bad Company with all five of their studio albums going gold, platinum, or multi-platinum. The 80s started out rocky with their sixth album Rough Diamonds becoming their worst charting album to-date (#26) and missing the gold mark. After that result, the band decided to call it quits. A sort of forced revival of the Bad Company name would come about in '85 with two former members working on the project along with new vocalist Brian Howe. Their first effort, '86's Fame and Fortune didn't perform well (#106) with the single "This Love" only getting to #85 Pop/#12 Rock. Yet the results seemed good enough for Atlantic to give them another try. Working this time around with producer/songwriter Terry Thomas, the band came up with Dangerous Age. This single was released and it did well at Rock reaching #9. It would cross over to the Pop chart for a couple months, but could only get to #82. Another track, "No Smoke Without a Fire," would be the band's biggest hit at Rock in years getting to #4, while "One Night" would get to #9. The trio of Rock Top 10s brought folks back to Bad Company and the album would become a #58 gold seller.

ReduxReview:  After an album that had Bad Company taking a more commercial "modern" approach with keyboards and glossy production, the band took a step back and tried to recapture their rock 'n' roll sound. For the most part they succeeded. Songs on the LP had swagger and sounded far less forced. Although tracks like this single may not have been ideal for pop radio, they were just right for rock stations and listeners ate it up. They would continue their new winning formula to even better results with their next album.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  The band's lucky streak would continue with their next two albums. 1990's Holy Water would be a #35 platinum seller thanks to a pair of Pop Top 30 hits including the #16 "If You Needed Somebody" (#2 Rock), which was their first Pop Top 20 entry since 1979's "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" (#13). The LP also contained the #1 Rock title track plus two other Rock Top 10s. While it wouldn't do quite as well, their follow-up album Here Comes Trouble would go gold thanks to the #1 Rock/#38 Pop single "How About That." Personnel changes would halt the band's progress with their next to albums performing poorly. Bad Company would continue to kick around with various lineups over the years, including stints with original lead singer Paul Rodgers.

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