Some Guys Have All the Luck explained

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.

Background

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]

Original Persuaders version

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 history

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

Robert Palmer version

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]

Reception

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 history

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

Rod Stewart version

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.

Track listing

7-inch single

  1. Some Guys Have All the Luck (7" Edit) - 4:03

12-inch single

  1. Some Guys Have All the Luck (LP version) - 4:36
  2. Some Guys Have All the Luck (Extended Version) - 6:32

Chart history

Chart (1984)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[17] 95
Canada[18] 16
Germany58
Ireland11
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[19] 15
US Billboard Hot 100[20] 10
US Cash Box Top 100[21] 16

Other notable cover versions

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Some Guys Have All the Luck - Rod Stewart | Song Info . . 2016-07-29.
  2. The Persuaders . Billboard . November 20, 2016.
  3. http://snewsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/all-the-music-in-the-world Jeff Fortgang- All the Music in the World @bandcamp.com
  4. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn

    . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 457.

  5. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending December 29, 1973 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121001215137/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19731229.html . Cash Box Magazine . December 29, 1973 . October 1, 2012 . February 3, 2018.
  6. Web site: ROBERT PALMER | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company . Officialcharts.com . 2019-10-11.
  7. Addictions: Volume 1. Robert Palmer . 1989 . Robert . Palmer . CID 9944 . UK .
  8. Birch. Ian. 7 January 1982. Singles. Smash Hits.
  9. 10 April 1982. Top Single Picks. Billboard.
  10. 10 April 1982. Reviews: Singles. Cash Box.
  11. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W . 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 228, 236.
  12. Web site: Steffen Hung . Robert Palmer - Some Guys Have All The Luck . germancharts.de . 2019-10-11.
  13. Web site: Steffen Hung . charts.org.nz - Robert Palmer - Some Guys Have All The Luck . Charts.nz . 2019-10-11.
  14. Web site: Steffen Hung . Robert Palmer - Some Guys Have All The Luck . swedishcharts.com . 2019-10-11.
  15. Web site: Robert Palmer Chart History . Billboard . 2019-10-11.
  16. Web site: Music Week. 14.
  17. Web site: Australian Chart Books. Austchartbook.com.au. 16 July 2018.
  18. Web site: Song artist 18 - Rod Stewart. Tsort.info. 16 July 2018.
  19. Web site: Official Charts. . February 3, 2017. July 28, 1984.
  20. Rod Stewart - Chart history. . February 4, 2017. en. October 27, 1984.
  21. Web site: CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending October 27, 1984 . 2018-02-03 . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20121001104453/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/80s_files/19841027.html . 1 October 2012 . Cash Box magazine.
  22. Web site: Yankee Reggae - Shakers | Songs, Reviews, Credits . . 2016-07-29.
  23. Web site: Some Guys Have All the Luck - Junior Tucker | Song Info . . 2016-07-29.
  24. Web site: Consumer Guide Album - Reggae Greats: Strictly for Lovers . . 2020-10-15.
  25. Web site: Consumer Guide Album - Robert Palmer . . 2020-10-15.
  26. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn

    . The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 214.

  27. Book: Hit Singles: Top 20 Charts from 1954 to the Present Day . 5th . 2004 . 1994 . San Francisco . . 9780879308087 . November 20, 2016 .
  28. Web site: MAXI PRIEST; full Official Chart History . Official Charts Company . 25 May 2023.