Valerie (Steve Winwood song)

"Valerie"

1982 UK 7-inch vinyl single
Single by Steve Winwood
from the album Talking Back to the Night
B-side "Slowdown Sundown"
Released October 1982
Format 7", 12" maxi single
Recorded November 1981
Genre Synthpop, new wave, soft rock
Length 4:05
Label Island
Writer(s) Steve Winwood, Will Jennings
Producer(s) Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood singles chronology
"Still in the Game"
(1982)		 "Valerie"
(1982)		 "Talking Back to the Night"
(1982)
"Valerie '87"
Single by Steve Winwood
from the album Chronicles
B-side "Talking Back to the Night-(instrumental)"
Talking Back to the Night (instrumental)" / "The Finer Things (12"/CD single)
Released September 5, 1987
Format 7", 12" maxi, cassette, CD single
Recorded 1987 (remix and overdubs)
Genre Synthpop, new wave, pop rock
Length 4:05
Label Island
Writer(s) Steve Winwood, Will Jennings
Producer(s) Steve Winwood, Tom Lord-Alge
Steve Winwood singles chronology
"The Finer Things"
(1986)		 "Valerie"
(1987)		 "Roll with It"
(1988)

"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.

Background

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.[1]

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.[2] It was released as "Call on Me" that same year.[3] "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.[4]

Track listing

1982 single:

1987 7" inch single:

1987 12"/CD single:

Chart performance

1982 release

Chart (1982) Peak
position
Canada (RPM) 34
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[5] 51
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 70
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[7] 13

1987 release

Chart (1987-88) Peak
position
Canada (RPM) 17
Ireland (IRMA) 19
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[5] 19
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 9
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[7] 13
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[8] 2

References

  1. ↑ "DJ Falcon about Eric Prydz - CALL ON ME". YouTube. 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
  2. ↑ "Berube Communications". berubecommunications.com.
  3. ↑ "Pop & Hiss". latimes.com.
  4. ↑ "Ra Ra Riot - Valerie". YouTube. 2012-06-05. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  5. 1 2 "Steve Winwood: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.
  6. 1 2 "Steve Winwood – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Steve Winwood.
  7. 1 2 "Steve Winwood – Chart history" Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for Steve Winwood.
  8. ↑ "Steve Winwood – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Steve Winwood.
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