The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 397

Number 397

Bryan Adams

"Everything I Do"

(1991)

396

..........Genre: Pop Rock............

398

art by gvelasco

If one person could tell me why this song, which was a Grammy winning, Academy award nominee, 7 weeks #1 USA, 16 weeks #1 UK, countless other countries [including mine], ranked 16th by "Billboard's All Time 100", Guinness Book record holder ... is hated so much??? It baffles me. For example, I included another one of Bryan Adams songs "Do I Have To Say The Words' @ #609, I got emails saying Bryan Adams "is a disgrace to popular music!" That "he is Canadian therefore he should not be in the "Definitive" countdown" [what the?]. "Makes crappy pop songs" etc etc. Now i don't know about you, but if one artist with a mammoth tally of awards and has sold squidzillions of Albums [CDs, whatever] someone must be buying the music and they can't all be Canadians! If you have a legitimate reason why Bryan Adams should not be here .. I'm all apple and pears. Otherwise, i believe he has more than the right to be here. ~ crowbarred

the future is to bright

From the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s, Canadian singer/songwriter and guitarist Bryan Adams was one of the most successful recording artists in popular music worldwide. Usually dressed in blue jeans, sneakers, and white T-shirts, the energetic performer stalked stages around the globe, electric guitar in hand, singing his own up-tempo pop/rock songs and ballads before audiences numbering in the tens of thousands. He released a series of multi-platinum albums containing chart-topping singles featured in popular motion pictures. His raspy voice, simple compositions, and straightforward musical approach earned him early critical approbation as a likable if unoriginal rock & roll journeyman, but as he began to become massively popular, reviewers increasingly pointed out the clichés in his lyrics and the derivative nature of his music, especially as he softened his style in the early '90s for his hit movie theme songs. By the end of the '90s, his record sales had fallen precipitously and he had become largely identified with his movie work, though he continued to tour extensively, playing his many hits.

who woke up the neighbours?

In 1991, Adams was approached by the producers of the upcoming Kevin Costner film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and asked to work on a theme song. He was provided a melody written by the composer of the movie's score, Michael Kamen. With this, he and Lange fashioned "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You," which he also recorded and which played under the closing credits of the film when it opened on June 14, 1991. Meanwhile, although he was still putting the finishing touches on his album, he had committed to begin a concert tour in support of it, and on June 8, 1991, he had gone back on the road in Europe co-headlining with ZZ Top. Released as a single, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" became a massive hit. It topped the U.S. charts for seven weeks, the longest any song had remained at number one for eight years, and it went triple platinum. Its international success was even greater; it spent 16 weeks at number one in the U.K., making it the longest-running chart-topper of the rock era there. Total worldwide sales came to eight million copies, more than any single since "We Are the World." ~ [William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide, read more here]

I Do It For You

hold still

The idea of a song to promote the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves came late in the making of the film. Michael Kamen, had originally wanted the song to be as if it were Maid Marian singing it to Robin Hood. He offered it to Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Lisa Stansfield but they all turned it down. David Kerschenbaum of Morgan Creek Records invited Adams – whom he had worked with in the early 1980s at A&M Records – to write the song based on the score from Kamen. Initially, Adams was to write the lyrics for another artist to perform, but it was decided that he should perform the song after writing it with Waking up the Neighbours producer Mutt Lange. The pair recorded the song in Mayfair Studios in London. Neither Kamen nor the film company were happy with the song and tried at length to have Adams change it due to Adams and Lange writing an entirely different melody to the theme, but Adams refused. As a result, the song ended up buried at the very end of the film credits.

I said get Bryan Adams pic .. not Ryan!

In the UK, it sold almost 1.53 million copies, making it the best selling single in the UK since "Band Aid" in 1984. The success of the single led to Waking up the Neighbours enjoying pre-order sales of 200,000. The song also broke the record for the most consecutive weeks on top of the United Kingdom charts, with 16 weeks at number one from 7 July 1991. The previous record-holder, "Rose Marie" by Slim Whitman, had been top of the charts for 11 weeks in 1955. It is a common misconception, however, that this song has spent the most weeks at number one of the UK music charts, because in 1953 Frankie Laine spent 18 non-consecutive weeks at number one, with his song "I Believe", a record which he still holds. [ooops] Elsewhere in Europe, the song reached number one in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The success of the single led to pre-order sales of a million for Waking up the Neighbours throughout Europe. The album went on to sell 15 million copies around the world due in part to the song but also due to other singles. ~ [Source: Wikipedia]

For more Bryan Adams see Number 609

For ZZ Top see Number 647

For Kate Bush see Number 974

For Annie Lennox visit MM Vol 1 #134

What does Rolling Stone think of Mr Adams?

With his trademark white T-shirt and blue jeans, Bryan Adams may have looked like a regular guy. But his unerring gift for radio-friendly pop hooks made him the most successful artist exported from Canada in the '80s. Even as critics dismissed his straightforward, anthemic rock as a shallow formularization of Bruce Springsteen, Adams' work received multiple Juno and Grammy awards, as well as three Oscar nominations. Adams' father was a Canadian diplomat, and Adams attended military schools in England, Austria, Portugal, and Israel. When he was 12 his parents separated, and he lived with his mother in Vancouver, British Columbia. By then he had taught himself to play guitar and decided to make music his career.

Good grief .. 1985

At 16, he quit school, bought a grand piano with money from his college fund, and joined bands. At age 17 he befriended Jim Valliance, who had written songs for the Canadian band Prism. After two years of writing and recording demo tapes, their partnership produced the 1979 disco-styled Canadian single “Let Me Take You Dancing.” The pair sold songs to Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Joe Cocker, and Juice Newton, then landed a publishing deal with A&M Records, which led to Adams’ recording contract. [So what do they think of him now?] Once upon a time, talented Canadian craftsman Bryan Adams helped define the rock-pop mainstream, but this country has yet to come back around to his meat-and-potatoes mix of arena rockers and big ballads. [i see] ~ [Source: Rolling Stone]

For Bruce Springsteen see Number 817

For B.T.O see Number 626

For Joe Cocker see Number 453 & #633

For Juice Newton see Number 566

Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '397th Song of all Time' was "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult. Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear The Reaper" has appeared in The Definitive 1000 @ #403

Other songs with reference to Bryan Adams #407, #590, #608, #757

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Didn't ya hear?) and the Album ranked at (He's Canadian!)

This song has a Definitive 1000 rating of 78.6 out of 108