Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)

"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"
Single by Phil Collins
from the album Against All Odds soundtrack
B-side	"The Search"
Released	February 1984 (US) 31 March 1984 (UK)
Format	7", 12"
Recorded	1983
Genre	Soft rock, pop rock
Length	3:23
Label	Atlantic
Writer(s)	Phil Collins
Producer	Arif Mardin
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Phil Collins singles chronology
"Like China" (1983) "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (1984) "Easy Lover" (1984) Music sample "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" 24 second sample of "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"

"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (also simply titled "Against All Odds") is a song by British singer Phil Collins recorded for soundtrack to the 1984 film of the same name. It is a power ballad in which its protagonist implores an ex-lover to "take a look at me now", knowing that reconciliation is "against all odds" while considering it worth trying. The single, while it reached number two in the United Kingdom, peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, the first for Collins.

The song has been covered by several singers, some of which versions have been successful in both the US and UK markets. One of the most notable versions was the pairing of Mariah Carey and boyband Westlife, whose single peaked at number one in the United Kingdom in September 2000.

Phil Collins original version

Background and writing

Collins was approached to write a title song to the film Against All Odds when the latter was still in its "rough cut form". While the soundtrack was being completed, Collins was on tour with British progressive rock group Genesis, being its vocalist. Director Taylor Hackford flew in to Chicago to catch one of the concert's venues. Collins watched the movie on a videocassette recorder in his hotel room, and thereafter agreed to appear on the soundtrack.

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 had left him. Collins wrote the entire song, while arranger Arif Mardin produced it. The strings and piano tracks were recorded in New York to accommodate the tour, while Mardin did the vocals and drums in Los Angeles. Rob Mounsey played piano and keyboard bass, Collins sang and played the drums with his (and Hugh Padgham's) trademark gated reverb sound, and a string arrangement by Mardin completed the production.^{[citation needed]}

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."^{[citation needed]} On 24 August 2007, Collins discussed the song in a phone interview as an example for break-up songs. The song was first included on a Collins album on the 1998 compilation Hits, and it also appeared on his compilation Love Songs: A Compilation... Old and New (2004). A live performance of the song also appears on the Serious Hits… Live! album. The live version was recorded in 1990 on the B-side of the single "Do You Remember?".^{[citation needed]}

Use and Association with the Film

Accordingly, "Against All Odds" was created explicitly for the movie. Hackford, who previously used a song for the 1982 American drama film An Officer and a Gentleman, planned the same for the neo-noir 1984 film Against All Odds, which is a remake of Out of the Past. When he signed with Atlantic Records, he was provided with a roster of artists, among of whom Collins was chosen to render the film's theme song based on the quality of his voice. Hackford said that it was a "textbook case of designing a song to reflect what the film is". The song appears in the movie as background music during the closing credits.

Writing for the soundtrack's review, Allmusic editor Heather Phares claimed that the movie is best remembered for the inclusion of Collin's "classic theme song". Phares added that the songs "remains not only one of Collins' definitive singles, but one of the 1980s' best love songs". Director Hackford also had the same view, stating that it "decidedly" helped the film: people identified the song with the film and came to watch it. When the single went top five, it contributed to the increased box office sales of the movie.

Reception

"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 Original 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.

When another song Collins performed for a movie, "Separate Lives", was being nominated for an Academy Award, in interviews about the original snub by the Academy for "Against All Odds", Collins would jokingly say "the hell with him - I'm going up too", referring to what he would do if the Stephen Bishop written song were to win the award. Collins lost to the Stevie Wonder song "I Just Called to Say I Love You".

Commercial performance

"Against All Odds" peaked at number one upon its release as a single in 1984 and became Collins' third top-ten single in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in the spring of 1984.

It is the first of six songs by Collins written specifically for a film soundtrack that would appear on the Hot 100. It also became Collins' only number 1 single on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart as a solo artist, although he would achieve two other number ones on this chart with his band, Genesis.^{[citation needed]}

Music video

The single's music video was directed by Taylor Hackford and produced by Jeffrey Abelson. Hackford was paid US$20,000 for a complete Collins clip. The music was released alongside the single on the last week of February 1984. A number one MTV video for several weeks, MTV ranked it as number 4 in its 1984 year-end top 20 video countdown.

The music video is 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 is alternately lit red, blue, and green—each colour representing one of the three 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 three 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 who 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.^{[citation needed]}

Charts

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Canadian Singles Chart	1
Dutch Singles Chart	12
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)	5
German Singles Chart	9
Irish Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	3
Norwegian Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	3
Swiss Singles Chart	4
UK Singles Chart	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	3
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	1

Mariah Carey version

"Against All Odds"
Single by Mariah Carey
from the album Rainbow
Released	3 October 2000
Genre	Pop, R&B
Length	3:25
Label	Columbia
Producer	Mariah Carey, James Harris III, Terry Lewis
Mariah Carey singles chronology
"Crybaby"/"Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" (2000) "Against All Odds" (2000) "Loverboy" (2001)

American singer Mariah Carey co-produced her version of the song with James Harris III and Terry Lewis for her sixth studio album Rainbow. 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. This was also the last single with her then label Columbia. The song reached top twenty in several countries. The highest peak of the song was number two in Norway.

The video for the Carey 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.

Track listings

European CD single

1. "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"
2. "Crybaby" (featuring Snoop Dogg)

European CD maxi-single

1. "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"
2. "Crybaby" (featuring Snoop Dogg)
3. "Thank God I Found You" (Stargate Radio Edit featuring Joe & 98°)
4. "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" (Morales Club Mix Edit)

Japanese CD single

1. "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (featuring Westlife)
2. "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (album version)
3. "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Pound Boys Radio Edit)
4. "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (instrumental)

Charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
Belgian Flandres Singles Chart	26
Belgian Wallonia Singles Chart	15
Canadian Singles Chart	22
Dutch Singles Chart	20
French Singles Chart	18
German Singles Chart	29
Italian Singles Chart	17
Norwegian Singles Chart	2
Swiss Singles Chart	20

Mariah Carey and Westlife version

"Against All Odds"
Single by Mariah Carey featuring Westlife
from the album Rainbow and Coast to Coast
Released	18 September 2000
Recorded	Flyte Tyme Studios, Edina, MA & Capri Digital Studios, Capri, Italy & Rokstone Studios, London, England & Parc Studios, Orlando, FL & Olympic Studios, London, England July 1999—2000
Genre	Pop, R&B
Length	3:25
Label	BMG, Columbia
Writer(s)	Phil Collins
Producer	Mariah Carey, Steve Mac
Certification	Silver (UK)
Westlife singles chronology
"Fool Again" (2000) "Against All Odds" (2000) "My Love" (2000) Music sample "Against All Odds" 20 second sample of Mariah Carey and Westlife's "Against All Odds"

Mariah Carey later re-released "Against All Odds" as a duet with Irish boyband Westlife. This version was released as the first single from Westlife's second album Coast to Coast. The song was released in September 2000, a few months after Carey's solo version. 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 and Ireland where it peaked at number 1, giving Westlife their sixth consecutive number one. It also gave Carey her second number 1 single in the UK. The song has sold 375,000 copies in the total in the UK. The music video shows Carey and Westlife recording the song and exploring the island of Capri by boat. The UK version of the single includes a limited edition Enhanced CD with video, poster and Westlife-only version and CD with Westlife video interview and picture sleeves.

Track listing

• United Kingdom

CD1

1. "Against All Odds" - 3:21
2. "Against All Odds" (Pound Boys Main Mix) – 9:09
3. "Against All Odds" (Mariah Carey Solo Version) – 3:21
4. "Westlife Interview" – 4:00

CD2

1. "Against All Odds" – 3:21
2. "Against All Odds" (Westlife Solo Version) – 3:21
3. "Against All Odds" (Pound Boys Dub) – 6:48
4. "Against All Odds" (Video) – 3:21

Cassette

1. "Against All Odds" – 3:21
2. "Against All Odds" (Pound Boys Radio Edit) – 3:48

• Japan

1. "Against All Odds" – 3:21
2. "Against All Odds" (Pound Boys Radio Edit) – 3:48
3. "Against All Odds" (Mariah Carey Solo Version) – 3:39
4. "Against All Odds" (Instrumental) – 3:21

Charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	52
Belgian Flanders Singles Chart	50
Belgian Wallonia Singles Chart	31
Danish Singles Chart	2
Dutch Singles Chart	29
Irish Singles Chart	1
Japanese Singles Chart	78
Swedish Singles Chart	3
UK Singles Chart	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2000)	Position
UK Singles Chart	28

Steve Brookstein version

"Against All Odds"
Single by Steve Brookstein
from the album Heart and Soul
Released	20 December 2004
Format	CD single, digital download
Recorded	2004
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:12
Label	Sony BMG
Steve Brookstein singles chronology
"Against All Odds" (2004) "Fighting Butterflies" (2006)

"Against All Odds" is a song by English singer and X Factor winner Steve Brookstein from his debut studio album, Heart and Soul. It was released as his debut single on 20 December 2004 by Sony BMG. The single charted at number one in the United Kingdom and at number 11 in Ireland. It sold 127,701 copies in its first week in the UK, making it the lowest-selling X Factor winner's single to date.. It has sold less than half the copies of Leon Jackson and Little Mix, one third of Joe McElderry's, one quarter of Matt Cardle's, and one fifth of Shane Ward, Leona Lewis, and Alexandra Burke.

Background

In 2004, Brookstein won the televised UK talent competition The X Factor, and recorded a cover of Phil Collins 1984 hit "Against All Odds" as his debut single. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number two behind "Do They Know It's Christmas?", and then climbed to number one where it stayed for one week from 2 January 2005 to 8 January 2005. 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 and Soul.

Music video

The music video for the song shows Steve's highlights from the show through to the moment he was announced X Factor winner, in a similar manner to other winner's videos from both The X Factor and Pop Idol. No original footage was recorded for the video.

Track listing

1. "Against All Odds" – 3:17
2. "Smile" (X Factor Performance)– 1:55
3. "Help Me Make It Through the Night" (X Factor Performance) – 2:00

Charts

Chart	Peak position
Irish Singles Chart	11
UK Singles Chart	1

Other covers

• American indie-electronic group 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. It was also named the second best cover of all time by Rolling Stone.
• The Shadows did an instrumental of the song in 1986 on their album Moonlight Shadows.
• American pianist and singer Eli Mattson sang the song in the final of Americas Got Talent Season 3 as part of the final five.
• In 1984, French singer Dalida released a French cover of this song called "Toutes Ces Heures Loin De Toi".
• 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 the summer of 2008, 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's Tucson television commercial, and their version was later released as a digital single.
• Instrumental group John Tesh Project released their version from the album A Passionate Life.
• Pop classical group The Three Graces covered the song in Italian under the title "Impossible" on their 2008 self-titled debut album.
• The Haredi 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.
• British medical comedy duo Amateur Transplants parodied the song, along with others, in their song "Snippets" from their debut album Fitness to Practice.
• N-Dubz named their second album after the song. (2009)
• Michael Ball recorded the song and it appears on his albums The Movies, Stage and Screen and Seasons of Love.
• Barry Manilow recorded the song for his album The Greatest Songs of the Eighties.
• 'Mickey' covered the song on the first episode of the first season of Kids Incorporated.
• Dune, a German rave/techno/progressive trance group, covered this song on their fourth album Forever recorded with the London Session Orchestra.
• In Germany, the song was recorded by Trude Herr, who changed title, language and context (Papa, a dedication to the father of Trude, in german). Subsequently, the same version was performed by Anne Haigis.

Live cover versions

• In 1984, on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, Michael Damian and Tracey Bregman as the characters of Danny Romalotti and Lauren Fenmore performed the song.
• 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 seven times on American Idol.
  • The song has been performed by Corey Clark (Season 2), George Huff (Season 3), Jessica Sierra (Season 4), Scott Savol (Season 4), Katharine McPhee (Season 5), Ramiele Malubay (Season 7), and Paige Miles (Season 9). The latter two's versions were released for a limited period on the iTunes Music Store. Malubay's performance was released as a live performance single in 2008. Miles' full-length studio version was also released as a single in 2010.
• 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.

Pop culture

Internet

Seattle music columnist, Megan Seling began an experiment on Monday, 6 July 2009 wherein she vowed to listen to Collins' "Against All Odds" at least once every hour that she was awake for an entire week and chronicled the journey here [2].

"I've done dumber things." – Megan Seling

Karaoke

This song is on the video game Karaoke Revolution Volume 3. It is also downloadable content for the game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore.

Radio

The song also features heavily on the first Act of the This American Life episode 'Break Up'. The segment featured an interview with Collins, as well as narration from a woman who listened to the song to get over a break-up and vowed to write her own break-up song.

See also

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

References

Bibliography

• Denisoff, R. Serge; Romanowski, William D. (1991). Risky Business: Rock in Film. Transaction Publishers. p. 768. ISBN 9780887388439. http://books.google.com/books?id=kT0fKUCTUC4C&dq=Against+All+Odds+Collins&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Retrieved 2011-09-04. 

Preceded by "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Phil Collins version) 21 April 1984 – 11 May 1984 (3 weeks)	Succeeded by "Hello" by Lionel Richie
Preceded by "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" by Modjo	UK number-one single (Mariah Carey/Westlife version) 24 September 2000 – 8 October 2000	Succeeded by "Black Coffee" by All Saints
Preceded by "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" by Modjo	Irish IRMA number-one single 25 September 2000 (3 weeks)	Succeeded by "Beautiful Day" by U2
Preceded by "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid 20	UK number-one single (Steve Brookstein version) 2 January 2005	Succeeded by "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley
Preceded by N/A	The X Factor winner's single 2004	Succeeded by "That's My Goal" by Shayne Ward