{"id":26331,"date":"2023-12-09T05:30:14","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T10:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=26331"},"modified":"2023-12-09T10:27:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T15:27:16","slug":"take-five-classic-singles-from-the-romantics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/09\/take-five-classic-singles-from-the-romantics\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Five: Classic Singles from The Romantics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With their signature sound \u2013 a deft blend of hard-edged, primal rock and roll and strong pop values \u2013 The Romantics were exemplars of the best 1980s tuneful, uptempo rock. The leather-clad Detroit band got its start in 1977, landing a record deal and releasing a self-titled debut album in 1980. On the heels of their debut, their second LP bore the hopeful title <em>National Breakout<\/em>, but it wasn\u2019t until it wasn\u2019t until September 1983 \u2013 40 years ago this month \u2013 and the release of<em> In Heat<\/em> that The Romantics truly broke through on a national level.<\/p>\n<p>During their heyday, The Romantics landed five of their singles on U.S. charts; one of those songs was an international smash, charting in seven countries. But the band\u2019s albums featured quite a few shoulda-been-hits. Here are five of the greatest songs \u2013 some hits, some not \u2013 from The Romantics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cTell it to Carrie\u201d single (1978)<\/strong><br \/>\nSporting a jangling sound that owed a debt to Merseybeat, \u201cTell it to Carrie\u201d combined The Romantics\u2019 chief assets: strong vocals (all four members sang), tight instrumental work and sharp hooks. The band\u2019s second single on Greg Shaw\u2019s now-legendary Bomp! Records, it wasn\u2019t a hit. But the band knew they had a gem on their hands, so when they cut their debut album with producer Pete Solley, The Romantics re-recorded the song, albeit with a subtly different arrangement.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dTVb7vjw8r4?si=XfR8-xfBZW88kBt_\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWhat I Like About You\u201d from <em>The Romantics<\/em> (1980)<\/strong><br \/>\nMany listeners got their introduction to The Romantics by way of this exuberant single, a highlight of the band\u2019s first LP. It was unusual in that the lead vocal featured drummer Jimmy Marinos. A video for the song enjoyed prominent play on the then-new MTV, helping push the single onto the charts. It didn\u2019t quite make the Top 40, topping out at #49. But in Australia, it was a different story: \u201cWhat I Like About You\u201d soared to the #2 spot and earning a Gold Record there. It did nearly as well in the Netherlands (#8).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Rqnw5IfbZOU?si=qoH9z4eCZ6oZp0p-\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWhen I Look in Your Eyes\u201d from <em>The Romantics<\/em> (1980)<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile The Romantics LP is a varied collection of songs \u2013 including a cover of a little-known Kinks b-side, \u201cShe\u2019s Got Everything\u201d \u2013 \u201cWhen I Look in Your Eyes\u201d is more than a little reminiscent of \u201cWhat I Like About You.\u201d Considered on its own merits, though, it\u2019s among the finest songs in the band\u2019s catalog. The song features lead vocals by Wally Palmar, the group\u2019s primary lead vocalist.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VZt7cOnrnJE?si=uZsvWB1WDZQ98dWm\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cA Night Like This\u201d from <em>National Breakout<\/em> (1980)<\/strong><br \/>\nReleased a mere 11 months after the debut album, <em>National Breakout<\/em> fared much less impressively on the charts (#176 as opposed to the debut\u2019s #61). Critical notices weren\u2019t quite as favorable, either: critics applauded the harder-rocking sound but noted the absence of single-worthy songs on the level of \u201cWhat I Like About You.\u201d But that perspective fails to account for \u201cA Night Like This,\u201d a tuneful and memorable songs that in retrospect seems to have all the ingredients for success: a thundering bass line, nostalgic jangle and a garage rock aesthetic. Released a single, it nonetheless failed to chart.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GELBOhOxySA?si=HFPRc4SiQ-OrdrEn\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cTalking in Your Sleep\u201d from <em>In Heat<\/em> (1983)<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Romantics\u2019 third album, 1981\u2019s <em>Strictly Personal<\/em> sold in even fewer numbers than its predecessor, crawling into the <em>Billboard<\/em> 200 and stalling at #182. A similar fate befell its single, the non-charting \u201cNo One Like You.\u201d But The Romantics\u2019 fortunes improved dramatically upon the release of 1983\u2019s <em>In Heat<\/em>. No less than three songs from the Gold-awarded album \u2013 including the irresistibly catchy \u201cOne in a Million\u201d placed on the Top 40 charts. But it was this song that truly broke the band globally. \u201cTalking in Your Sleep\u201d even took the #1 spot on the U.S. dance\/disco singles chart. Producer Pete Solley\u2019s subtle doubling (on synthesizer) of Mike Skill\u2019s bass figure and some Vocoder effects applied to Palmar\u2019s vocal both helped reinforce the rocking tune\u2019s dance appeal.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JmGMzyajA2U?si=lvyJEdsBymHy3-XQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With their signature sound \u2013 a deft blend of hard-edged, primal rock and roll and strong pop values \u2013 The Romantics were exemplars of the best 1980s tuneful, uptempo rock. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,62],"tags":[1881],"class_list":["post-26331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","category-rawk","tag-romantics","cat-27-id","cat-62-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26333,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26331\/revisions\/26333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}