"I've Done Everything for You" is a song written and performed by

Sammy Hagar Samuel Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose and subsequently launched a successful solo car ...

, and released as a single in 1978. A version by

Rick Springfield Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut ...

in 1981 became a top 10 hit in the US. In addition to recorded versions by Hagar and Springfield, the song has been performed and recorded by numerous bands, including

Buckcherry Buckcherry is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, '' Buckcherry'' (1999) and '' Time Bomb'' (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckcherry's first album ''Buckcherry'' was DreamWorks first ...

. "I've Done Everything for You" was a staple of Sammy Hagar's live performances as early as 1977. A live version of the song (running time: 3:35) appeared on the 1978 live album '' All Night Long'' (''Loud & Clear'' in the UK in 1979) and was released as a single (on Capitol P4596 b/w "Someone Out There"). The single did not chart in the U.S., but did chart in the UK, reaching the top 40 of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at No. 36 in 1980. In 1979, a studio version was released as a B-side to the non-album single of "

(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. Th ...

" (a cover of the

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

hit). This studio version was released on LP on the 1982 greatest hits album '' Rematch'' following the success of the Rick Springfield version, although Australian pressings of Hagar's 1980 album ''Danger Zone'' featured it as a bonus track closing side one.

Rick Springfield version

In the early 1980s,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n born singer Rick Springfield was signed to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

and began work on what would become his international breakout album, '' Working Class Dog''.

Keith Olsen Keith Alan Olsen (May 12, 1945 – March 9, 2020) was an American record producer and sound engineer, who worked with Magnum, Rick Springfield, Fleetwood Mac, Ozzy Osbourne, the Grateful Dead, Whitesnake, Pat Benatar, Heart, Santana, Saga, ...

was asked to produce several tracks for the album and, after listening to Springfield's demos, he selected "

Jessie's Girl "Jessie's Girl" is a song written and performed by Australian singer Rick Springfield. It was released on the album '' Working Class Dog'', which was released in February 1981. The song is about unrequited love and centers on a young man in lov ...

". Olson also felt that Springfield should include a cover song on the album, which ended up being "I've Done Everything For You". During a 2018 interview with

Eddie Trunk Edward Scott Trunk (born August 8, 1964) is an American music historian, radio personality, talk show host, and author, best known as the host of several hard rock- and heavy metal-themed radio and television shows. Biography Trunk was born on ...

, Springfield stated that he was uncertain if Olsen had settled upon the song or if Neil Giraldo (guitarist and bassist for the album) had suggested it to Olsen. The song was released as a 1981 single, backed with "Red Hot & Blue Love", as the album's lead single, though it was initially unsuccessful. After the success of the Grammy award-winning and number one single "

", it was re-released, and peaked at number eight in the U.S. on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. On the U.S. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' Top 100, it peaked at number nine. ''Cash Box'' ranked it as the 71st biggest hit of 1981. The song was also a minor hit in Australia and Canada.

References

{{authority control 1977 songs 1978 singles 1981 singles Sammy Hagar songs Songs written by Sammy Hagar Rick Springfield songs Song recordings produced by Keith Olsen Capitol Records singles RCA Records singles

Rick Springfield version

See also

References