"Somebody Special" is a song by British singer

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

, which was released in 1981 as the third single from his tenth studio album ''

Foolish Behaviour '' Foolish Behaviour '' is Rod Stewart's tenth studio album, released on 21 November 1980 on the Riva label in the United Kingdom (RVLP 11) and on Warner Bros. Records in both The United States (HS 3485) and Germany (WB 56 865). The tracks we ...

'' (1980). The song was written by Stewart and

Steve Harley Steve Harley (born Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice; 27 February 1951) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still tours, albeit with frequent and significant personnel changes. Ea ...

(lyrics), and

Phil Chen Phillip David Chen (21 October 1946 – 14 December 2021) was a Jamaican bassist. He was one of England's most utilized session bassists during the 1970s and 1980s, including Jeff Beck, and the Rod Stewart band from 1977 to 1980, but is prob ...

, Kevin Savigar, Jim Cregan and Gary Grainger (music). It was produced by Stewart (credited as Harry the Hook), with co-production by the Rod Stewart Group and Jeremy Andrew Johns. "Somebody Special" reached number 71 on the US ''

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 advertise ...

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 ...

Background

co-wrote the lyrics to "Somebody Special" with Stewart. The pair also collaborated on the lyrics for another track that appeared on ''Foolish Behaviour'', "

Gi' Me Wings "Gi' Me Wings" is a song by British singer Rod Stewart, which was released in 1981 as the fifth and final single from his tenth studio album ''Foolish Behaviour'' (1980). The song was written by Stewart and Steve Harley (lyrics), and Phil Chen, K ...

", as well as a third song that did not make the album. Harley recalled to ''Smiler'' in 1997, "I was sitting around at the Sunset Marquis for three weeks writing the lyrics. I wrote nearly all

he lyrics He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

of 'Somebody Special', I wrote lots of that with Rod, lots of it on my own, nd'Gi' Me Wings'."

Critical reception

On its release as a single, ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' commented, "Rod's jagged vocal delivery turns good lyrics into great ones, as on this successor to his top 10 'Passion'." In a review of ''Foolish Behaviour'', John Griffin of '' The Montreal Gazette'' described "Somebody Special" as "a beautiful, affirmative piece of advice for those who wonder whether true love will ever walk into their lives." Bill Flanagan of '' The Boston Globe'' felt the song "could be a Commodores hit". Debra Rae Cohen of '' Rolling Stone'' described the song as "a soulful duet with Susan Grindell that's nearly as powerful as the Teddy Pendergrass–

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as "Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song " Home" from t ...

collaborations".

Track listing

7-inch single #"Somebody Special" - 4:28 #"She Won't Dance with Me" - 2:27 7-inch single (US promo) #"Somebody Special" - 4:28 #"Somebody Special" - 4:28

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''

'' LP sleeve notes. Somebody Special *

– vocals * Gary Grainger, Jim Cregan – guitars * Kevin Savigar – keyboards *

– bass *

Colin Allen Colin Eric Allen (born 9 May 1938) is an English blues drummer and songwriter. Career Allen spent the first ten years of his adult life working in aircraft engineering. He became interested in jazz at the age of 16 and two years later started ...

– drums * Paulinho da Costa – percussion * Susan Grindell – female vocals * Del Newman – string arrangement Production * Harry the Hook (Rod Stewart) – producer ("Somebody Special") * Tom Dowd – producer ("She Won't Dance with Me") * The Rod Stewart Group – co-producers * Jeremy Andrew Johns – co-producer, mixing * Jim Cregan – mixing * Rick Charles Delana – second engineer

Charts

References

{{authority control 1980 songs 1981 singles Rod Stewart songs Songs written by Rod Stewart Songs written by Steve Harley Songs written by Kevin Savigar Songs written by Jim Cregan Songs written by Gary Grainger Warner Records singles