Needles and Pins (song) explained

Needles and Pins
Type:single
Artist:Jackie DeShannon
B-Side:Did He Call Today, Mama?
Released:April 11, 1963
Recorded:1962
Genre:
Length:2:30
Label:Liberty F-55563
Producer:Dick Glasser

"Needles and Pins" is a rock song credited to American writers Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono. Jackie DeShannon recorded it in 1963 and other versions followed. The most successful ones were by the Searchers, whose version reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart in 1964, and Smokie, who had a worldwide hit in 1977. Others who recorded the song include the Ramones, Gene Clark, Petula Clark, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Stevie Nicks.

Jackie DeShannon version (1963)

In his autobiography, Bono states that he sang along with Nitzsche's guitar-playing, thus creating both the tune and the lyrics, being guided by the chord progressions.[1] However, Jackie DeShannon claims that the song was written at the piano, and that she was a full participant in the song's creation, along with Nitzsche and Bono, although she did not get formal credit.[2] [3]

DeShannon was the first to record the song; in the US it peaked at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in May 1963.[4] Though it was only a minor US hit, DeShannon's recording of the song topped the charts in Canada, hitting number one on the CHUM Chart in July 1963.

Chart (1963)Peak
position
Canada (CHUM Hit Parade)[5] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 10084

The Searchers version (1964)

Needles and Pins
Cover:The Searchers - Needles and Pins single.jpg
Caption:Dutch picture sleeve
Type:single
Artist:the Searchers
B-Side:Saturday Night Out
Released:January 7, 1964[6]
Recorded:1963
Genre:
Length:2:14
Label:
Producer:Tony Hatch[9]
Prev Title:Sweet Nothins
Prev Year:1963
Next Title:Don't Throw Your Love Away
Next Year:1964

The Searchers heard British performer Cliff Bennett perform "Needles and Pins" at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, instantly wanted it to be their next single and recorded it before Cliff Bennett could.[10] The Pye Records single was released in January 1964.[9] It was number one in the United Kingdom,[9] Ireland and South Africa and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States. Soon after, in April 1964, "Needles and Pins" appeared on the Searchers' next album, It's the Searchers.

Audible during the Searchers' recording of "Needles and Pins" is a faulty bass drum pedal, which squeaks throughout the song. It is particularly noticeable during the opening of the number.

Part of the Searchers' version can be heard as the intro of the song "Use the Man" from Megadeth's Cryptic Writings album, although it does not appear on the remastered version.

A German version sung by the Searchers is called "Tausend Nadelstiche".[11]

Charts

Chart (1964)Peak
position
Canada[12] 14
Finnish Singles Charts[13] 31
French Singles Chart29
German Singles Chart[14] 8
Irish Singles Chart[15] 1
Swedish Singles Chart5
UK Singles Chart[16] 1
US Billboard Hot 10013
Norwegian Singles Chart[17] 8
South African Singles Chart1

Smokie version (1977)

Needles and Pins
Type:single
Artist:Smokie
B-Side:No One Could Ever Love You More
Released:September 30, 1977[18]
Length:2:41
Label:RAK
Producer:Mike Chapman
Prev Title:It's Your Life
Prev Year:1977
Next Title:For a Few Dollars More
Next Year:1978

In 1977, at the height of their popularity, English rock band Smokie recorded the song as a rock ballad for the album Bright Lights & Back Alleys, and got a European and an Australian hit with "Needles and Pins". The song reached number one in Austria. Later, ex-Smokie vocalist Chris Norman included his solo cover of the song on his studio album Full Circle (2000).[19]

Charts

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Needles and Pins"! Chart (1978)! Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[21] 48

Ramones version (1978)

The Ramones included "Needles and Pins" on their 1978 album Road to Ruin. Their version was also included on the band's first greatest hits collection, Ramones Mania.

In turn, pop-punk band The Commercials recorded the song for the tribute album Ramones Maniacs.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers version (1985; live)

Needles and Pins
Genre:Rock
Length:2:25
Type:Single
Label:MCA
Artist:Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers feat. Stevie Nicks

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their first live album in 1985 called where singer-songwriter and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks performed on "Needles and Pins" with Tom Petty at the Forum in Los Angeles, California in June 1981.

Cash Box said that "a great song is given a great treatment."[22]

Chart (1985)Peak
position
Canadian RPM Top Singles85
South African Springbok Top 20 Top Singles3
U.S. Billboard Hot 10037
U.S. Billboard Album Rock Tracks17

Willie DeVille version (1999)

Willie DeVille recorded "Needles and Pins" for his 1999 album Horse Of A Different Colour.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bono, Sonny . And the Beat Goes On . New York . Pocket Books . 1991.
  2. Web site: What The World Needs Now Is Jackie DeShannon [interview transcript] ]. Terry . Gross . Jackie . DeShannon . 14 June 2010 . Fresh Air . National Public Radio . 21 February 2017 . And I had some I did contribute to that song, but I did not get writing credit at the time, I did not pursue it..
  3. Book: Kubernik, Harvey . Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and the Music of Laurel Canyon . 21 February 2017 . 2009 . Sterling . 978-1402797613 . 34 . We were at the piano going over musical riffs and finally settled on the one starts off 'Needles and Pins'..
  4. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990, Record Research, Inc., Menomonee Falls WI, 1991
  5. Web site: CHUM Hit Parade, week of July 8, 1963.
  6. Web site: The single: Needles And Pins b/w Saturday Night Out . https://web.archive.org/web/20021224213536/http://www.myk.shuttle.de/dosandernach/needles.htm . 24 December 2002 .
  7. Web site: Jangle Bell Rock: A Chronological (Non-Holiday) Anthology... from The Beatles and Byrds to R.E.M. and Beyond . LaBate . Steve . . 18 December 2009 . 24 July 2016.
  8. Book: Lanza, Joesph. Fixing a Hole Where the Waves Crash In. November 10, 2020. Easy-Listening Acid Trip - An Elevator Ride Through '60s Psychedelic Pop. Feral House. Port Townsend. 39.
  9. Book: Rice , Jo . 1982. The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits. 1st. Guinness Superlatives Ltd . Enfield, Middlesex. 76. 0-85112-250-7.
  10. Book: 1,000 UK Number One Hits . Jon . Kutner. Spencer . Leigh . 2010 . 9780857123602. Omnibus Press.
  11. Web site: Searchers - Tausend Nadelstiche . YouTube.
  12. Web site: CHUM Hit Parade - May 4, 1964.
  13. Book: Nyman, Jake . Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja . Tammi . 2005 . 951-31-2503-3 . 1st . Helsinki . 203. fi.
  14. Web site: Chartverfolgung > The Searchers > Needles and Pins. 1984-04-19. Media Control Charts. Musicline.de. 2011-02-05. de. https://web.archive.org/web/20121011154128/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/title/SEARCHERS,+THE/Needles+And+Pins/single. 11 October 2012. dead.
  15. Web site: The Irish Charts – All There Is To Know. 1984-01-22. Irish Recorded Music Association. Irishcharts.com. 2009-07-03.
  16. Web site: Official Charts Company - The Searchers - Needles And Pins . Archive.is . 2014-02-09.
  17. Web site: Steffen Hung . The Searchers - Needles And Pins . norwegiancharts.com . 2014-02-09.
  18. Web site: Music Week. 102.
  19. Web site: spanishcharts.com - Chris Norman - Full Circle. 20 October 2017.
  20. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 279.
  21. Web site: Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978. Kent Music Report. Imgur.com. 8 January 2022.
  22. Single Releases. Cash Box. February 1, 1986. 2022-08-03. 11.