Takin' Care of Business

"Takin' Care of Business"
7" Single cover
Single by Bachman–Turner Overdrive
from the album Bachman–Turner Overdrive II
Released	January 1974
Recorded	1973
Genre	Rock
Length	~4:54
Label	Mercury
Writer(s)	Randy Bachman

"Takin' Care of Business" is a song written by Randy Bachman and first recorded by Canadian rock group Bachman–Turner Overdrive (BTO) for their 1973 album Bachman–Turner Overdrive II.

Development

Randy Bachman had sung what would later become "Takin' Care of Business" while still a member of The Guess Who. His original idea was to write about a recording technician who worked on The Guess Who's recordings. This particular technician would take the 8:15 train to get to work, inspiring the lyrics "take the 8:15 into the city." The standard uniform worn by technicians at the studio was a white collared shirt, which gave Randy the name "White Collar Worker."

The first guitar riff Randy had arranged for the song was similar to that of The Beatles' "Paperback Writer." When Randy first played this for Burton Cummings, Burton declared that he was ashamed of him and that The Guess Who would never record the song because the Beatles would sue them.

While BTO was still playing bars in Vancouver, British Columbia, Randy was driving into town listening to the radio when he heard a particular DJ's (Daryl B) catch phrase "We're takin' care of business." As fate would have it, lead vocalist Fred Turner's voice gave out before the band's last set that night. Randy sang some cover songs to get through the last set, and on a whim, he told the band to play the C, B-flat and F chords (a I-VII-IV progression) over and over, and he essentially sang "White Collar Worker" with the new words "Takin' Care of Business" inserted to the chorus.

After this, he rewrote the lyrics to "White Collar Worker" with a new chorus and the title "Takin' Care of Business." Along with this he wrote a revised guitar riff, which was the I-VII-IV progression played with a shuffle. (Though the I-VII-IV progression is quite common, the riff became famous and is instantly recognizable.) The song was recorded by Bachman–Turner Overdrive for their second album Bachman–Turner Overdrive II. It would reach #12 on the Billboard singles charts, #3 on the Canadian RPM charts, and become one of B.T.O.'s most enduring and well-known songs.

The original studio version, recorded at Kaye-Smith Studios in Seattle, Washington, also features a prominent piano, played by Norman Durkee. Durkee was delivering a pizza to the Steve Miller Band in the next studio when he poked his head into BTO's studio while the playbacks of "Takin' Care of Business" were running. While Randy assumed that Durkee was just a pizza delivery man, Durkee was actually an accomplished musician and musical director for Bette Midler and Barry Manilow. Durkee said, "that needs a piano...a real boogie-woogie piano would sound cool," and he left. The band tracked him down in another studio, Durkee scribbled the chords down on a pizza box, and recorded the piano part in one take.

The title track of the 1979 album "Keepin' the Summer Alive" by The Beach Boys, co-written by Bachman, shares a similar melody and tempo as the song.

In 2011, Bachman said it was the most licensed song in Sony Music's publishing catalogue.

Pop culture

• During his Every Song Tells a Story concert, which was recorded and released on DVD and VHS, Bachman tells the story of how he came up with this song.
• Melbourne, Australia band TISM have sung the chorus after every performance of their hit 40 Years - Then Death.
• The song has been used as an advertising campaign for companies such as Office Depot, whose business target consists largely of small business owners. The song was also used for many years in advertisements for Officeworks, an Australian chain of office supply stores which bear much similarity to the US Office Depot stores. In New Zealand, mobile operator Vodafone has used the song in a series of advertisements for their business-oriented mobile plans. Many have noticed the irony of this, as the song focuses on being lazy; the lyrics refer to an unemployed musician who "love[s] to work at nothing all day," and, tongue-in-cheek, calling it "taking care of business."
• The song has been used as Kmart's theme.
• The song has been used in a number of movies including the James Belushi/Charles Grodin movie of the same title and A Knight's Tale.
• In King of the Hill, Bill Dauterive was seen washing his car singing and dancing to the song.
• In 2004, Bachman rewrote the song into a Christmas version titled "Takin' Care of Christmas," which was released on a Holiday CD of the same title.
• The song was used in the popular Australian film Kenny as the main theme song.
• Among the many teams to use the song during sporting events, the New York Mets have played the song after victories since the 2006 season. Their division rival Atlanta Braves used the song during their run of 14 consecutive division titles.
• The song was also used in an episode of The Simpsons, "Saddlesore Galactica". Homer Simpson is shown at a B.T.O. concert, demanding that the band play the song. The band starts the song and Homer then yells, "Get to the 'workin' overtime' part!" The band obliges, skipping straight to the chorus. Later, just after finishing 'You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet', Homer requests that they sing it: when Bachman claims that they just did, Homer replies with a drawn-out 'What-everrr!'
• An attempt was made to break the world record for the "Largest Guitar Ensemble" at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa Ontario. "Takin' Care of Business" was the song that was played.
• During his last few years of life, Elvis used the "Takin' Care of Business" catch phrase (abbreviated as TCB, which can be seen on one of his airplanes) as a motto. His entertainment room at Graceland also shows his dedication to that motto.
• This song was also featured in a That 70's Show episode. Steven Hyde was seen working on stacks of paper work and getting angry at his co-worker while this song was playing.
• The song was used in a Disney Channel short featuring coordinating clips from classic Disney cartoons.
• In the film Daddy Day Care, the song plays briefly when Jeff Garlin's character is chasing after his son.
• The song is used in the trailer and the end credit of Horrible Bosses.
• Comedian Patton Oswalt once referred to the song when discussing his old apartment building full of weirdos. He lived near a Japanese Ska band who performed "terrible BTO covers all day."
• The Kamloops Blazers currently play "Takin' Care of Business" after a goal is scored at home.