Webster

The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions." --American Statesman Daniel Webster (1782-1852)


Monday, December 26, 2016

Monday Music "Valerie" by Steve Winwood.

I had mentioned a week or so ago that I would do another song by Steve Winwood and the song would be Valerie.  Well the story for me was in 1987 I had gone home for 30 days before my second tour started in Germany and I had tried to connect with a girl I was interested in, but we had feelings for each other but never acted on them.  Oh well so is Life.  But I played this song to remind me of her.  I have few regrets in my life and that isn't one of them and there is a purpose and a destiny of my life. I was destined to not get involved with this other girl because I would eventually meet the girl that I would marry.   it shows that  things happen for a reason.  While doing some research for this song I found out that there was a 1982 version that I wasn't aware of...


"Valerie" is a song written by Steve Winwood and Will Jennings and originally recorded by Winwood for his third solo album, Talking Back to the Night, in 1982.

The song deals with a man reminiscing about a lost love he hopes to find again someday. Will Jennings reportedly wrote the lyrics while thinking about singer Valerie Carter, whose career was declining because of drugs. On its original release, the single reached number 51 on the UK Singles Chart and number 70 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
In 1987, a remix by Tom Lord-Alge was included as a single from Winwood's compilation album Chronicles. The remixed version of "Valerie" climbed to number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late December 1987, and also reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart. Both versions also reached #13 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
DJ Falcon recalled in an interview that he and Thomas Bangalter, as a duo called Together, had sampled "Valerie" to create a simple loop that they used in DJ sets. Falcon added that the duo had no intention of releasing it as a single, despite demand from various outlets.
Eric Prydz later sampled "Valerie" in 2004 for a house music track and presented it to Winwood, who was so impressed with what Prydz had done, he re-recorded the vocals to better fit the track. It was released as "Call on Me" that same year. "Call on Me" was, in turn, sampled in 2009's "Pass Out" from Chris Brown (featuring Eva Simons) on his Graffiti album, also co-produced by Prydz.
In 2012, "Valerie" was covered by American indie rock band Ra Ra Riot with Delicate Steve.


1 comment:

  1. I have not heard Steve Winwood in ages. Thanks for the memory lane.

    ReplyDelete

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