Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)

Infobox Single |
Name = Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)


Artist = Phil Collins
from Album = Against All Odds
Released = February 1984
Format = 7"
Recorded =
Genre = Rock
Length = 3:23
Label = Atlantic
Producer = Arif Mardin
Last single = "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away"
(1983)
This single = "Against All Odds..."
(1984)
Next single = "Sussudio"
(1985)

"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" is a song originally written and recorded by British singer Phil Collins. The song was the main theme for the 1984 film "of the same name", and first appeared on its soundtrack. It is a ballad in which its protagonist implores his/her ex-lover to "take a look at me now", knowing that reconciliation is "against all odds" but worth a try. It has been covered by several artists.

This song is on the video game Karaoke Revolution Volume 3. It is also downloadable content for the game .

About the record

Originally titled "How Can You Just Sit There?", the song was initially from the sessions for Collins' debut solo album "Face Value" (1981), and it was one of about a dozen written for his first wife, who left him.Tobler, John. [http://www.genesis-path.net/art87-03.html "The Progressive Reign of Genesis"] . "Billboard Magazine". 7 March 1987.] Phil Collins released the song on the soundtrack to the film "Against All Odds", and it was produced by Arif Mardin. Rob Mounsey played piano and keyboard bass, Collins sang and played the drums with his trademark gated-reverb sound, and a string arrangement by Mardin completed the production. According to Collins in a 1985 interview with Dan Neer; "We recorded the song in two days: One day in New York, the other in Los Angeles. The mixes were done by phone and the song went to Number 1. I couldn't believe it." It peaked at number two in the UK upon its release as a single in 1984 (see 1984 in music) and became Collins' third top ten single there, and it peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, from April 15 to May 5 1984. It replaced "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, and was replaced by Lionel Richie's "Hello". It is the first of six songs by Collins written specifically for a film soundtrack to appear on the Hot 100.

"Against All Odds" won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1985, and it was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song. Collins was the only nominee in the category not invited to sing his song on stage, and sat in the audience as Ann Reinking performed it. His perceived negative reaction shown on the telecast is considered to be one of the most awkward moments in the history of the ceremony, and has been a favourite reference for Dennis Miller to relate someone reacting in a horrified fashion.

Collins lost to the Stevie Wonder song "I Just Called to Say I Love You". The song was first included on a Collins album on the 1998 compilation "Hits", and it also appeared on his compilation "" (2004).

The music-video, directed by Taylor Hackford, and produced by Jeffrey Abelson, was an early example of a highly conceptual approach to creating hybrid movie/music-videos that producer Abelson pioneered. Echoing the love triangle theme of the film, Collins is seen performing in front of a wall of rainwater that's alternately lit red, blue, and green -- each colour representing one of the 3 main characters in the film. It is this colour schematic that is used as an organic segue to and from character-specific scenes in the movie. The final scene pulls back from Collins to reveal him standing in the middle of a water-filled triangle formed from neon tubes in the same 3 colours -- completing the visual concept as the three main characters are superimposed around the neon triangle's three sides. The concept for the video was created by Keith Williams, a Welsh-born writer who had already worked with Abelson on the video for "Dancin' With Myself" (Billy Idol) and would go on to also create concepts for "Holding Out for a Hero" (Bonnie Tyler) and "Ghostbusters" (Ray Parker, Jr.) for the same producer as well as "Say You Say Me" (Lionel Richie) from "White Nights" which Taylor Hackford also directed.

A #1 MTV video for several weeks, MTV ranked it as #4 in its 1984 year-end top 20 video countdown.cite web | author = | year = | url = http://www.platypuscomix.net/videos/toptwenty.html | title = Remember back when MTV used to be cool? | format = | work = | publisher = Platypus Comix | accessdate = 2006-08-18 | accessyear = ]

Collins discussed the song in a phone interview as an example for break-up songs in act one of This American Life, episode 339 " [http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=339 Break-Up] " of August 24, 2007.

Charts

Cover versions

Mariah Carey & Westlife version

Single infobox|
Name = Against All Odds


Artist = Mariah Carey featuring Westlife
from Album = Rainbow, Coast to Coast
Released = September 20 2000
Genre = Pop ballad, blue eyed soul
Length = 3:25
Label = Columbia/RCA
Misc = Extra chronology
Artist = Mariah Carey
Type = singles
Last single = "Crybaby"/"Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)"
(2000)
This single = "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"
(2000)
Next single = "Loverboy"
(2001)Extra chronology
Artist = Westlife
Type = singles
Last single = "Fool Again"
(2000)
This single = "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"
(2000)
Next single = "My Love"
(2000)

American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey co-produced her version of the song with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for her sixth studio album "Rainbow".

It was later re-recorded as a duet between Carey and Irish boyband Westlife, with the duet included on Westlife's second album "Coast to Coast".

The song was released as the third single from "Rainbow" and the first from "Coast to Coast" in 2000. Carey co-produced the single edit of the song with Steve Mac.

Although the song was promoted as part of Carey's "Rainbow" in the United States, it was not released as a commercial or radio single there. It was initially released in some markets in early 2000, and the duet with Westlife was released in September 2000.

Carey did not re-record her vocals for the duet however, the instrumental track was reproduced with a more organic sound complete with violins. The single was more successful than the original in the UK where it peaked at #1, giving Westlife their sixth consecutive #1 entry in the UK charts and making them the first act in the UK to have their first six singles enter at #1. It also gave Carey her second #1 single in the UK; however, to date she has only managed one solo UK number-one, "Without You". It was her sixth number-one on the Brazil Singles Chart.

Remixes of this song, made by the Pound Boys, do not feature vocals by Westlife. The Pound Boys first gained attention from Carey and her label after completing an underground "white label" mix of her song "Petals", a track from "Rainbow".

Track listing

CD1

# "Against All Odds" (Mariah & Westlife)
# "Against All Odds" (Pounds Boys Main Mix)
# "Against All Odds" (without Westlife version)
# Four 30 second Westlife interviews

CD2

# "Against All Odds" (Mariah & Westlife)
# "Against All Odds" (without Mariah version)
# "Against All Odds" (Pound Boys Dub)
# "Against All Odds" (CD-ROM Video)

Music video

There is more than one video for the single. The video for the Carey-only version of the song, directed by Paul Misbehoven, consists of a montage of clips of Carey singing the song from her various Rainbow World Tour stops to cullings from her "Homecoming" special. A more popular video shows Carey and Westlife recording the song and exploring the island of Capri by boat.

Chart performance

The Postal Service version

Infobox Single
Name = Against All Odds

---

Artist = The Postal Service
Album = Wicker Park
Released = start date|2004|9|1
Format = Digital download
Recorded =
Genre = Alternative, electronica
Length = 3:50
Label = Sub Pop
Writer = Phil Collins
Producer = The Postal Service
Audio sample? =
Certification =
Last single = "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"
This single = "Against All Odds"
Next single = "We Will Become Silhouettes"
Misc = American indietronica band The Postal Service covered "Against All Odds" for the soundtrack to the 2004 film "Wicker Park". The cover was later named as one of the best cover songs of all time by the "New York Post". [cite web | url = http://www.nypost.com/seven/07182007/entertainment/music/they_ve_got_it_covered_music_mary_huhn_and_maxine_shen.htm | title = They've Got It Covered | accessdate = 2006-11-27 | coauthors = Huhn, Mary; Shen, Maxine | date = 2006-09-19 | publisher = New York Post ]

Music video

A music video was aired on MTV containing scenes from the movie and odds disappearing in a room.

Other covers

*Recently, rapper Cuban Link sampled the original song in the track "Take a Look at Me Now" as a tribute to friend and deceased rapper Big Pun.
* Montell Jordan recorded "Against All Odds" for his 1999 album "Get It On...Tonight".
* Deja Vu and Tasmin recorded "Against All Odds" in 2001, which appeared on "Dancemania X8" and was licensed to be featured in the dance video game "Dance Dance Revolution 5thMix". It later appeared in North America in "Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2".
* In 2004, Steve Brookstein won the televised UK talent competition "The X Factor", and recorded a cover of "Against All Odds" as his debut single. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, a position it held for one week from January 2 2005 to January 8 2005 (see 2005 in music). It replaced "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid 20, and was replaced by Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock". It was later included on Brookstein's debut album "Heart & Soul".
* In the summer of 2004, a trance version of the song recorded by Belgian singer Kira appeared on Robbins Entertainment's compilation "Trance Party 4". Kira later released this song on a cd-maxi single in late 2006, also on Robbins label.
* In 2005, English-singing Japanese rock band Beat Crusaders recorded "Against All Odds" for their covers album "Musicrusaders".
* Another dance version was recorded in 2006 by Karen Parry.
* Korean R&B singers Wheesung and Lena Park recorded a cover of "Against All Odds" for a 2006 Hyundai television commercial, and their version was later released as a digital single.
* Pop classical group The Three Graces covered the song in Italian underneath the title "Impossible" on their 2008 self titled debut album.
* The Charedi music group based in Meah Shearim, Jerualem, The Envei Hagefen Orchestra, has used the melody of Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) for their song on the CD 'Modim' entitled "Mima'amakim". However due to the extremely limited overlap of the two groups' listeners, nobody has yet to address this issue.
* The American pop singer Lutricia McNeal covered this song for her Japanese release of her album "Soulsister Ambassador" - "Rise".

Live cover versions

In 2005 "Canadian Idol" competitors Rex Goudie and Melissa O'Neil performed the song as their final duet together during the show's third season finale. The song has been performed six times on "American Idol". It has been performed by Katharine McPhee, Corey Clark, George Huff, Jessica Sierra, Scott Savol, and Ramiele Malubay.

During their fall 2006 tour, New York band We Are Scientists opened with a cover of "Against All Odds", the song being played on the PA until the band arrived on stage and finished from the second verse, without pause.

Note: ¹ (Titled as "Mitsumete Hoshii (見つめて欲しい; "Take a look at me (now)")".)

ee also

*Hot 100 number-one hits of 1984 (United States)
*List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)
*Number 1 Singles in Ireland 2000

Notes