Whenever You Need Somebody (song)
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"Whenever You Need Somebody" is a song written and produced by
Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW and also known as the Hit Factory) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s throug ...
, which became successful for two of their artists, namely O'Chi Brown and
Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, radio DJ and podcaster. He gained fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, releasing the 1987 album ''Whenever You Need Somebody'', which sol ...
.


O'Chi Brown version

"Whenever You Need Somebody" was originally written for British singer O'Chi Brown, and released in November 1985 on Magnet Records. It became a minor hit for Brown in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 97 there. According to Brown, the popularity of the track "caught people n the industryby surprise", with producer
Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, and television personality. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman production and songwriting team, he co-wrote and co-produced many UK hit singles. An av ...
left "on the warpath" over the lack of support for the track. The single was later released in 1986 in the US, where it became a number one hit on the dance charts. It failed to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, however, due to a lack of available stock in record stores. According to Brown, "They didn't have the physical disc, they'd run out of the physical discs." The song was later included in Brown's studio album ''O'Chi'', released in 1986. When the song was covered by Rick Astley in 1987, Magnet reissued the single in 12" format with new mixes in late 1987.


Charts


Rick Astley version

In 1987,
Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, radio DJ and podcaster. He gained fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, releasing the 1987 album ''Whenever You Need Somebody'', which sol ...
covered the song, as SAW rushed to gather strong follow up material in the wake of the unexpected global mega-success of "
Never Gonna Give You Up "Never Gonna Give You Up" is a pop song by English singer Rick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. The song is widely regarded as Astley's most popular, as well as his List of signature songs, signature song, and it is often played at the end o ...
". The song would become the title track and second single from Astley's multi-million selling debut album ''
Whenever You Need Somebody ''Whenever You Need Somebody'' is the debut studio album by English singer Rick Astley, released on 16 November 1987 by RCA Records. It is his highest-selling album and has sold 15.2 million copies worldwide. The album is listed as the 136th bes ...
'', also written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. It was a successful European hit for Astley, reaching No. 1 in seven countries, continuing the success of his previous smash single. Though not released as a single in the U.S., it was released as the 4th single in Canada. The girl part of the music video was shot at Las Canteras beach and at the adjacent Hotel Reina Isabel in
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...
. In 2019, Astley recorded and released a 'Reimagined' version of the song for his album '' The Best of Me'', which features a new piano arrangement.


Critical reception

Richard James and Jenny Jay of '' Number One'' praised "Whenever You Need Somebody" as being "a very good song", stating that "it's very commercial and stley'svoice is just brillant", and considered SAW "a right set of genuises". Jerry Smith of British magazine ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...
'' described the song an "uninspired, high energy dance track", but predicted its success on the charts. In a review published in ''
Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...
'', Robert Smith of
the Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...
stated he did not really like Astley's "weird" voice, unfavourably comparing him to
Mel and Kim Mel and Kim (stylized as MӗL & KIM) were an English pop duo, consisting of sisters Melanie Appleby, Melanie and Kim Appleby. Originally managed by Alan Whitehead (drummer), Alan Whitehead, they achieved success between 1986 and 1988, before Me ...
, who he said were "a million times more attractive and funny", and considered the song "incredibly bland", after having underlined the song's making process by SAW which he found "surreal". Discussing Astley's success with the track she'd originated, Brown complimented the singer on his voice and praised the chart performance of his cover, but noted, "I like mine better, what can I tell you? Rick's got a great voice, but I just felt that the song suited a woman, and I felt it suited my voice. I'm not going to say mine was better, but I liked mine more."


Chart performance

Astley's version of "Whenever You Need Somebody" was a major hit on the charts, being a top five hit in almost all the countries where it was released. In the UK, it started at number 11 on 31 October 1987, then climbed to number three, a position it hold for non consecutive three weeks, and stayed on the chart for 12 weeks. It topped the charts in seven European countries, including the Walloon region of Belgium, Finland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and West Germany. In the latter country, it charted for 16 weeks, with four of them spent at number one. It also peaked at number two in Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain, number three in Australia and Ireland, number four in Austria, and number nine in New Zealand. It barely failed to reach the top ten in France and Iceland, where it peaked at number 11 and 17 respectively. On the overall
Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...
singles chart established by the ''
Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...
'' magazine, it started at number 53 on 7 November 1987, peaked at number four for three weeks, behind Astley's previous single "
Never Gonna Give You Up "Never Gonna Give You Up" is a pop song by English singer Rick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. The song is widely regarded as Astley's most popular, as well as his List of signature songs, signature song, and it is often played at the end o ...
", and spent 33 weeks on the chart. It also peaked at number two on the European Airplay Top 50 and totalled 14 weeks on the chart.


Track listing

* 7" single # "Whenever You Need Somebody" – 3:26 # "Just Good Friends" – 3:45 * 7" single – picture disc # "Whenever You Need Somebody" – 3:26 # "Just Good Friends" – 3:45 * 12" maxi # "Whenever You Need Somebody" (Lonely Hearts mix) – 7:34 # "Whenever You Need Somebody" (instrumental) – 3:50 # "Just Good Friends" – 3:45 * 12" / cassette single # "Whenever You Need Somebody" – 7:52 # "Whenever You Need Somebody" (instrumental) – 4:38 # "Just Good Friends" – 3:40 * 12" promo # "Whenever You Need Somebody" (Lonely Hearts mix) – 7:34 # "Whenever You Need Somebody" (7" version) – 3:27 # "Whenever You Need Somebody" (remix) – 7:57 # "Whenever You Need Somebody" (remix dub) – 4:39


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


References

{{Authority control 1987 singles 1988 singles Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Switzerland Rick Astley songs Songs about loneliness Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman Songs written by Mike Stock (musician) Songs written by Matt Aitken Songs written by Pete Waterman 1985 songs Magnet Records singles RCA Records singles Number-one singles in Italy