"You Can't Change That" is a song by

Raydio Raydio is an American funk and Rhythm and blues, R&B vocal group formed in 1977 by Ray Parker Jr., with Vincent Bonham, Jerry Knight, and Arnell Carmichael. In 1978 Charles Julian Fearing and Larry "Fatback" Tolbert joined the band, along with D ...

from their second studio album '' Rock On''. Released as a single in 1979, it reached No.9 on the US ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), o ...

chart and No.3 on the soul chart.

Critical reception

Robert Hilburn Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As music critic and editor at the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays, and profiles have appeared in publications worldwide ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called "You Can't Change That" a "good natured" tune that's one of "the album's high points". Craig Lytle of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

also called the song "a laid-back yet very danceable track; it features the vocals of the mild-tempered

Ray Parker Jr. Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song for the 1984 film '' Ghostbusters'' and also sounds from the animated series '' The ...

and the distinctive tenor of Arnell Carmichael." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said it has a "a bit of a Spinners feel."

Personnel

Raydio

*Arnell Carmichael – vocals *

– vocals, keyboards, synthesizers

Additional personnel

Jack Ashford Jack Ashford (born May 18, 1934) is an American musician who was a percussionist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the 1960s and early 1970s. Ashford is most famous for playing the tambourine on hundreds of Motown recordings ...

– percussion *

Ollie E. Brown Ollie E. Brown (born April 20, 1953) is an American drummer, percussionist, record producer, and high school basketball coach. A prolific session musician, Brown has performed on over a hundred albums in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Brown was also ...

– drums, percussion, vocals *Charles Fearing – guitars *Larry Tolbert – drums, percussion *Cheryl Brown, Darren Carmichael, Valorie Jones, Francis Pearlman – background vocals

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
1979 singles Ray Parker Jr. songs Songs written by Ray Parker Jr. Arista Records singles 1979 songs {{1970s-pop-song-stub