I'm on the Outside (Looking In)
| "I'm on the Outside (Looking In)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Little Anthony & the Imperials | ||||
| from the album I'm on the Outside (Looking In) | ||||
| B-side | "Please Go" | |||
| Released | 1964 | |||
| Recorded | 1964 | |||
| Genre | Soul, pop | |||
| Length | 3:07 | |||
| Label | DCP | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Weinstein | |||
| Producer(s) | Teddy Randazzo, Don Costa | |||
| Little Anthony & the Imperials singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"I'm on the Outside (Looking In)" is a 1964 hit song by Little Anthony and the Imperials, issued on DCP Records. It was a Billboard top 20 pop hit, peaking at number 15,[1] and number 12 in Canada.[2]
Background
[edit]"I'm on the Outside (Looking In)" was written by Teddy Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein, and was the group's comeback single, ending a long period of inactivity. After the group's first hit-making period, with such hits as "Tears on My Pillow", "Two People In The World", and "Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko Bop", lead singer "Little Anthony" Gourdine left the group for a solo career. Both he and the group released records separately, but none of them were hits. By 1963, both entities had faded from the charts. In the interim, The Imperials had gone through some membership changes as well. While original members Ernest Wright and group founder Clarence Collins had remained with the group, the other original members, Tracy Lord and Nathanial Rogers, left the group, and Sammy Strain joined the group.
In late 1963, writer and producer Teddy Randazzo, a childhood friend of some of the group members and now a songwriter for Don Costa Productions, contacted the group, saying that he had written a song that he wanted them to record, and from that point on, things began to change for The Imperials. Gourdine, Wright, Collins, and Strain went to the studio and recorded "I'm On The Outside (Looking In)". With the help of New York disk jockey Murray the K, the song became an immediate hit and re-established The Imperials as a hitmaking force. This song was the first of a long string of hits by Randazzo for the group, which helped them transcend their status as a teen doo-wop group and established them as successful in the adult contemporary radio format.
Gourdine, Wright, Collins, and Strain reunited in 2003 and performed the song 39 years after they originally recorded it on the PBS special: Soul Spectacular: 40 Years of R&B.
Credits: The Imperials
[edit]- "Little Anthony" Gourdine
- Clarence "Wah-hoo" Collins
- Sammy Strain
- Ernest Wright
- Producers: Teddy Randazzo and Don Costa
Cover versions
[edit]Among the cover versions that were recorded:
- The Miracles, on 1967's Make It Happen.[3]
- Johnny Mathis, in 1972 during the Song Sung Blue sessions, unreleased until the album's 2017 reissue as a bonus track,[4] and again on 1988's Once in a While.[5]
- Baby Washington, on 1968's With You in Mind LP.
- The Moments
Sources
[edit]- When Rock Was Young, pp. 178–181
References
[edit]- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 372.
- ^ "RPM Top 40-5 Singles - October 19, 1964" (PDF).
- ^ "Make It Happen". allmusic.com. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ^ (2017) The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment 88985 36892 2.
- ^ "Once in a While". allmusic.com. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
