Should I Do It (song)
"Should I Do It" is the title of a song composed by Layng Martine Jr. which in 1981 was a minor C&W hit for Tanya Tucker, becoming a Top 40 hit in 1982 for the Pointer Sisters.[1]
Overview
[edit]"Should I Do It" was recorded in the first months of 1981 by both Tanya Tucker and the Pointer Sisters for their respective mid-year album releases: Tucker's Should I Do It and the Pointers' Black & White. Although written by veteran C&W composer Layng Martine Jr. - who'd recall "Should I Do It" as an example of how "sometimes...a song just appears in my brain and kind of writes itself fast"[2] - even as recorded by C&W superstar songstress Tucker "Should I Do It" was not considered a standard C&W number: Cashbox magazine described Tucker's version as a blend of "the girl group classic "[Please] Mr. Postman", with a honky tonk piano and a brief doo wop bit".[3] As recorded by the Pointer Sisters the song was a more overt homage to the girl-group hit sound of the early 1960s.[4] [5][6][7][8] A chart disappointment for Tucker in the summer of 1981 - stalling at #50 C&W - ,[9] "Should I Do It" as recorded by the Pointers would reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1982 although it would not rank among the group's very biggest hits being a Top Ten shortfall.[10]
Tanya Tucker version
[edit]"Should I Do It" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Tanya Tucker | ||||
from the album Should I Do It | ||||
B-side | "Lucky Enough For Two" | |||
Released | June 1981 | |||
Recorded | April 1981 | |||
Studio | Sound Labs, Hollywood CA | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:00 | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Songwriter(s) | Layng Martine Jr | |||
Producer(s) | Gary Klein | |||
Tanya Tucker singles chronology | ||||
|
Tanya Tucker recorded "Should I Do It" in the sessions for her twelfth studio album - which would be entitled Should I Do It - at the Hollywood Studio the Sound Labs in April 1981.[11][12] Tucker was produced by Gary Klein, a veteran producer of several Pop & C&W acts including Tucker's swain Glen Campbell.[13]
The Tucker/ Campbell May-December romance was perennial tabloid press fodder, with reports, particularly from February 1981, attesting to the romance being a rocky one.[14] Tucker's tabloid profile seemingly undermined her recording career: subsequent to a Top Ten C&W hit: "Can I See You Tonight", in February and March 1981, Tucker's two springtime single releases were both chart disappointments, with "Love Knows We Tried", stalling at #40 on the Billboard C&W chart where the Tucker/ Campbell duet: "Why Don't We Just Sleep on It Tonight", barely ranked at #85.[9]
Charts
[edit]Chart (1981–1982) | Peak position |
---|---|
Billboard Hot Country Singles[15] | 50 |
Cashbox Top 100 Country[16] | 38 |
Record World Country Singles[17] | 45 |
Record World Singles 100-150[18] | 131 |
RPM (Canada) Country Singles[19] | 16 |
Released in June 1981 as the lead single from the album of the same name, "Should I Do It" failed to reverse Tucker's chart fortunes: despite spending seven weeks on the Record World Singles 101-150 chart rising as high as No. 131,[18] "Should I Do It" rose no higher than No. 45 on the magazine's Country Singles chart [17] - with a similar peak (No. 50) on the Hot Country Singles chart in Billboard[15] - indicating a lack of support from C&W radio.
Pointer Sisters version
[edit]"Should I Do It" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by The Pointer Sisters | ||||
from the album Black & White | ||||
B-side | "We're Gonna Make It" | |||
Released | December 1981 | |||
Recorded | 1981 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:53 | |||
Label | Planet | |||
Songwriter(s) | Layng Martine Jr | |||
Producer(s) | Richard Perry | |||
The Pointer Sisters singles chronology | ||||
|
"Should I Do It" was one of two songs by Nashville-based composers to be recorded by the Pointer Sisters for their June 1981 Black & White album release, the other being the album's lead single: "Slow Hand" which had reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Like "Slow Hand", "Should I Do It" was recorded by the Pointers with their regular producer Richard Perry so as to barely resemble a standard C&W song: in the case of "Should I Do It" the Pointers turned the song into (Ruth Pointer quote:) "an ode to the early '60s girl groups in the vein of the Shirelles and the Chiffons."[21] The Pointers had a #3 hit in 1980 with "He's So Shy", which had evoked the elements of the late 1950s/early 1960s girl group classics while being a contemporary number. With "Should I Do It", June Pointer (the lead vocalist on "Should I Do It" and "He's So Shy") had sung lead on "a marvelous recreation - as opposed to modernization - of the late '50s/early '60s sound of the all-girl vocal groups."[22]
"Should I Do It" was mentioned as the choice for the second single from Black & White,[23] and at the time of the album's release it was announced that music videos would be shot for both "Slow Hand" and "Should I Do It";[24] "Slow Hand" was promoted via video as the first single. The label then decided to release two other songs as singles from Black and White; "What a Surprise" and "Sweet Lover Man", released in October and November of 1981, respectively. Neither became a significant hit. In December 1981, the label released "Should I Do It" as an unprecedented, at the time, fourth single from a Pointer Sisters album. The song became a major hit, rising to #13 on the US Billboard Hot 100, dated April 3, 1982. This made Black & White the first Pointer Sisters album to spawn two Top 20 US hits. "Should I Do It" also reached #19 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[10]
Outside of the U.S. and Canada, "Should I Do It" was released in November 1981 as the immediate follow-up single to "Slow Hand" with the single reaching the Top 20 in Australia, Flemish Belgium, and the Netherlands prior to its January 1982 Billboard US Hot 100 debut. "Should I Do It" had its greatest chart impact in Belgium's Flemish Region and the Netherlands with respective peaks of #6 and #12, topping the chart peak in those territories for "Slow Hand" (#22 Belgium and #33 Netherlands).[25][26]
The Pointer Sisters would record another Layng Martine Jr. composition: "I Want to Do It With You", to serve as B-side of their followup single to "Should I Do It": "American Music". (Never featured on a Pointer Sisters' album, "I Want to Do It With You" - as "I Wanna Do It With You" - would become a Top Ten UK hit for Barry Manilow in 1983).[27]
Chart (1981–1982) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report)[28] | 16 |
Belgium (BEL charts)[25] | 6 |
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19] | 37 |
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[29] | 29 |
Germany[30] | 75 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[26] | 12 |
New Zealand (RIANZ)[31] | 22 |
UK Singles (OCC)[32] | 50 |
US Billboard Hot 100[33] | 13 |
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[34] | 19 |
US Cashbox Top 100 Singles[35] | 16 |
US Record World[36] | 15 |
US Record World A/C[37] | 15 |
Year-end chart (1982) | Ranking |
---|---|
US Top Pop Singles of 1982[38] | 89 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Layng Martine ••• Top Songs as Writer ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ "In Conversation with Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame Member Layng Martine Jr. And Author of Permission to Fly - A Memoir of Love, Crushing Loss, and Triumph".
- ^ Cash Box vol 43 #5 (20 June 1981) p.11
- ^ Austin American Statesman 22 August 1981 "Pointer Sisters Hasten Heartbeat" by Chris Walters p.34
- ^ Green Bay Press-Gazette 12 July 1981 "Records" by Warren Gerds p.14
- ^ Los Angeles Times 26 July 1981 "Pop Album Briegs" by Paul Grein "Calendar" p.77.
- ^ Los Angeles Times 8 March 1982 "The Homeogenized Pointers" by Robert Hilburn Part VI p.1.6.
- ^ The Moline Dispatch 16 August 1981 "Pointer Sisters Come Up With Fine New Album" by Rick Shefchik p.B-4
- ^ a b "Tanya Tucker Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ a b "The Pointer Sisters Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography / Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ jvg.cz, Jan Vitouš -. "LP Discography: Tanya Tucker - Should I Do It - Rodeo Girls". Lpdiscography.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ The Tennessean 11 April 1981 "Tanya & Glen Quarrel, Cancel Joint British Tour" by Laura Eipper Hill p.29
- ^ "Gary Klein". Discogs.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ Philadelphia Daily News 2 February 1981 "Shirlebreties" by Shirley Eder p.21
- ^ a b "Tanya Tucker Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ Cashbox Vol 43 #12 (8 August 1981) "Cashbox Top 100 Country" p.24
- ^ a b Record World Vol 18 #1777 (22 August 1981) "Record World Country Singles" p.90
- ^ a b Record World 11 July - 22 August 1981 Singles 101-150
- ^ a b "Search results for "Tanya Tucker" (Country Singles)". RPM. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ a b Molanphy, Chris (June 16, 2023). "Yes We Can Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ Pointer, Ruth; Terrill, Marshall (2016). Still So Excited: my life as a Pointer Sister. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN 9781629371450.
- ^ Ottawa Citizen 26 June 1981 "Revolutions" by Bill Provick p.9
- ^ Allentown Morning Call 6 August 1981 "Pointer Sisters Tunes Keep Climbing the Charts" by Paul A. Willistein Jr p.D14
- ^ Billboard Vol 93 #24 (20 June 1981) p.59
- ^ a b "BEL Charts > The Pointer Sisters". VRT Top 30. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
- ^ a b "NL Charts > The Pointer Sisters". MegaCharts. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- ^ "Cover versions of I Want to Do It with You written by Layng Martine Jr". Secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ David Kent (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970—1992. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1982-03-20. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
- ^ "GER Charts > The Pointer Sisters". GfK Entertainment. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
- ^ "NZ Charts > The Pointer Sisters". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
- ^ "Pointer Sisters: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
- ^ "The Pointer Sisters Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ "Pointer Sisters Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
- ^ Cashbox Vol 43 #44(3 April 1982) "Cashbox Top 100 Singles" p.4
- ^ Record World Vol 18 #1808 (10 April 1982) "Record World Singles" p.21
- ^ Record World Vol 18 #1808 (10 April 1982) "Record World Singles" p.41
- ^ "Hot 100 Songs - Year-End". Billboard.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.