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Should I Do It (song)

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This article is about the song recorded by Tanya Tucker and the Pointer Sisters. For the Tanya Tucker album, see Should I Do It (album).

"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"
ReleasedJune 1981
RecordedApril 1981
StudioSound Labs, Hollywood CA
GenreCountry
Length3:00
LabelMCA
Songwriter(s)Layng Martine Jr
Producer(s)Gary Klein
Tanya Tucker singles chronology
"Love Knows We Tried"
(1981) 		"Should I Do It"
(1981) 		"Rodeo Girls"
(1981)

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"
ReleasedDecember 1981
Recorded1981
Genre
Length3:53
LabelPlanet
Songwriter(s)Layng Martine Jr
Producer(s)Richard Perry
The Pointer Sisters singles chronology
"Sweet Lover Man"
(1980) 		"Should I Do It"
(1981) 		"American Music"
(1982)

"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]
  1. ^ "Layng Martine ••• Top Songs as Writer ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  2. ^ "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".
  3. ^ Cash Box vol 43 #5 (20 June 1981) p.11
  4. ^ Austin American Statesman 22 August 1981 "Pointer Sisters Hasten Heartbeat" by Chris Walters p.34
  5. ^ Green Bay Press-Gazette 12 July 1981 "Records" by Warren Gerds p.14
  6. ^ Los Angeles Times 26 July 1981 "Pop Album Briegs" by Paul Grein "Calendar" p.77.
  7. ^ Los Angeles Times 8 March 1982 "The Homeogenized Pointers" by Robert Hilburn Part VI p.1.6.
  8. ^ The Moline Dispatch 16 August 1981 "Pointer Sisters Come Up With Fine New Album" by Rick Shefchik p.B-4
  9. ^ a b "Tanya Tucker Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  10. ^ a b "The Pointer Sisters Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography / Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  11. ^ jvg.cz, Jan Vitouš -. "LP Discography: Tanya Tucker - Should I Do It - Rodeo Girls". Lpdiscography.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  12. ^ The Tennessean 11 April 1981 "Tanya & Glen Quarrel, Cancel Joint British Tour" by Laura Eipper Hill p.29
  13. ^ "Gary Klein". Discogs.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  14. ^ Philadelphia Daily News 2 February 1981 "Shirlebreties" by Shirley Eder p.21
  15. ^ a b "Tanya Tucker Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  16. ^ Cashbox Vol 43 #12 (8 August 1981) "Cashbox Top 100 Country" p.24
  17. ^ a b Record World Vol 18 #1777 (22 August 1981) "Record World Country Singles" p.90
  18. ^ a b Record World 11 July - 22 August 1981 Singles 101-150
  19. ^ a b "Search results for "Tanya Tucker" (Country Singles)". RPM. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  20. ^ a b Molanphy, Chris (June 16, 2023). "Yes We Can Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  21. ^ Pointer, Ruth; Terrill, Marshall (2016). Still So Excited: my life as a Pointer Sister. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN 9781629371450.
  22. ^ Ottawa Citizen 26 June 1981 "Revolutions" by Bill Provick p.9
  23. ^ Allentown Morning Call 6 August 1981 "Pointer Sisters Tunes Keep Climbing the Charts" by Paul A. Willistein Jr p.D14
  24. ^ Billboard Vol 93 #24 (20 June 1981) p.59
  25. ^ a b "BEL Charts > The Pointer Sisters". VRT Top 30. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
  26. ^ a b "NL Charts > The Pointer Sisters". MegaCharts. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  27. ^ "Cover versions of I Want to Do It with You written by Layng Martine Jr". Secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  28. ^ David Kent (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970—1992. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  29. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1982-03-20. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  30. ^ "GER Charts > The Pointer Sisters". GfK Entertainment. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
  31. ^ "NZ Charts > The Pointer Sisters". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  32. ^ "Pointer Sisters: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  33. ^ "The Pointer Sisters Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  34. ^ "Pointer Sisters Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  35. ^ Cashbox Vol 43 #44(3 April 1982) "Cashbox Top 100 Singles" p.4
  36. ^ Record World Vol 18 #1808 (10 April 1982) "Record World Singles" p.21
  37. ^ Record World Vol 18 #1808 (10 April 1982) "Record World Singles" p.41
  38. ^ "Hot 100 Songs - Year-End". Billboard.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
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