| Some Guys Have All the Luck | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | The Persuaders |
| Album: | Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me |
| B-Side: | Love Attack |
| Released: | October 1973 |
| Recorded: | 1973 |
| Genre: | R&B |
| Length: | 3:29 |
| Label: | Atco |
| Prev Title: | Bad, Bold and Beautiful, Girl |
| Prev Year: | 1973 |
| Next Title: | All Strung Out on You |
| Next Year: | 1974 |
"Some Guys Have All the Luck" is a song written by Jeff Fortgang.[1] It has been a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 twice, as the original by The Persuaders in 1973 reaching No. 39.[2] In 1982 it was covered by Robert Palmer, which was a hit in the UK peaking at No. 16. Then it was recorded by Rod Stewart in 1984 when it hit No. 10 in the U.S. and No. 32 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Fortgang wrote many songs during his three years in the music industry after graduating Yale in 1971. While Fortgang eventually released a solo album in 2013, titled All the Music in the World, consisting of the demos he had created in the 1970s, "Some Guys Have All the Luck" was not one of the tracks.[3]
The single was released from The Persuaders' album, Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me. It was their last Top 40 hit in the United States, peaking at No. 7 on the R&B chart and No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1973.
| Chart (1973–1974) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Top Singles (RPM) | 64 | |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles[4] | 7 | |
| US Cash Box Top 100[5] | 39 |
| Some Guys Have All the Luck | |
| Cover: | Robert Palmer Some Guys Have All the Luck 1982 single cover.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Robert Palmer |
| Album: | Maybe It's Live |
| B-Side: | Too Good to Be True |
| Released: | 1982 |
| Label: | Island |
| Producer: | Robert Palmer |
| Prev Title: | Looking for Clues |
| Prev Year: | 1980 |
| Next Title: | You Are in My System |
| Next Year: | 1983 |
In 1982, English singer Robert Palmer released a version of the song as a single from his live/studio album Maybe It's Live. It reached No. 16 in the UK Singles Chart.[6]
Palmer's version has a significantly altered melody and lyrics in comparison to other versions of the song. Palmer told Max Bell in 1989:
I was working with Moon Martin when I wrote "Some Guys". I played it to him and a few days later he said he'd just heard someone singing it in the studio across the road, which seemed impossible since I hadn't finished it myself! What happened was that I must have heard it subliminally, I think it was on Australian radio, and just hadn't realised. The only thing I remembered was the title line.[7]
Upon release, Ian Birch of Smash Hits described Palmer's version as "a great combination of limb-loosening rhythm and immediate melody" and predicted the song would reach the UK Top 5.[8] Billboard considered it "one of Palmer's most enticing singles" since "Every Kinda People". They also noted the "offbeat rhythm" and "eccentric arrangement".[9] Cash Box commented: "This cover paints yet another picture of the ever-changing Palmer. Here he plays a jumpy electronic popper".[10]
| Chart (1982) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[11] | 41 | |
| Germany[12] | 52 | |
| New Zealand[13] | 49 | |
| Sweden[14] | 7 | |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company) | 16 | |
| US Billboard Top Rock Tracks[15] | 59 |
| Some Guys Have All the Luck | |
| Cover: | Some_Guys_Have_All_the_Luck_-_The_Persuaders.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Rod Stewart |
| Album: | Camouflage |
| B-Side: | I Was Only Joking |
| Released: | 20 July 1984[16] |
| Length: | (Album version) (7" version/video edit) |
| Label: | Warner Bros. |
| Producer: | Michael Omartian |
| Prev Title: | Infatuation |
| Prev Year: | 1984 |
| Next Title: | All Right Now |
| Next Year: | 1984 |
British rock singer Rod Stewart released a cover over a decade after the original Persuaders version, released as the second single from his 1984 album Camouflage. The most successful version to date, in Stewart's native country the single climbed to No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the single peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1984, while on the US Cash Box Top 100, the single peaked at No. 16 in that same month. Stewart's version incorporated a vocal refrain from "Ain't Got No Home" by Clarence "Frogman" Henry.
Rod Stewart began using the Palmer-style arrangement in live concerts in 2003 after Palmer's death as a tribute, with live female backup vocalists and a horn player wearing identical dresses, similar to Palmer's signature music videos.
7-inch single
12-inch single
| Chart (1984) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[17] | 95 | |
| Canada[18] | 16 | |
| Germany | 58 | |
| Ireland | 11 | |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[19] | 15 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100[20] | 10 | |
| US Cash Box Top 100[21] | 16 |
. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 457.
. The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 214.