"
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (also simply titled "
Against All Odds") is a song originally written and recorded by British singer
Phil CollinsPhilip David Charles "Phil" Collins LVO is an Academy Award-winning English singer-songwriter, drummer, keyboardist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for English progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
. The song was the main theme for
the 1984 film of the same nameAgainst All Odds is a neo-noir 1984 film, a remake of Out of the Past. The movie was directed by Taylor Hackford and features Rachel Ward in a variation of Jane Greer's original role, Jeff Bridges filling in for Robert Mitchum, and James Woods in a version of Kirk Douglas's part...
, and first appeared on its
soundtrackAgainst All Odds: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack for the 1984 film, Against All Odds. The album includes the original score by Larry Carlton, as well as several tracks by artists popular at the time of the film's release...
. 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.
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. Phil Collins released the song on the soundtrack to the film
Against All OddsAgainst All Odds is a neo-noir 1984 film, a remake of Out of the Past. The movie was directed by Taylor Hackford and features Rachel Ward in a variation of Jane Greer's original role, Jeff Bridges filling in for Robert Mitchum, and James Woods in a version of Kirk Douglas's part...
, and it was produced by
Arif MardinArif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco, and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for over 30 years, before moving to EMI and serving as vice-president and general manager of...
.
Rob MounseyRob Mounsey is an award-winning composer, music producer, and musician. He was born in in Berea, Ohio and grew up in Seattle, Washington and several Ohio towns. At the age of 17, he was awarded a BMI Student Composer's Award in New York. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston from 1971 to...
played piano and keyboard bass, Collins sang and played the drums with his (and
Hugh PadghamHugh Padgham is a British record producer. He has won a string of awards, including four Grammys, with Producer of the Year and Engineer of the Year amongst them...
's) trademark
gated reverbGated reverb is an audio processing technique that is applied to recordings of drums to make the drums sound powerful and "punchy," while keeping the overall mix clean and transparent-sounding...
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 2 in the UK upon its release as a single] in 1984 and became Collins' third top ten single there, and it peaked at number 1 on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
for three weeks, from 15 April to 5 May 1984. It replaced "
Footloose"Footloose" is a single by Kenny Loggins which spent three weeks at number one, March 31—April 14, 1984 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and was the first of two number-one hits from the motion picture, Footloose...
" by
Kenny LogginsKenneth Clark "Kenny" Loggins is an American singer and songwriter best known for a number of soft rock and adult contemporary hit singles beginning in the 1970s...
, and was replaced by
Lionel RichieLionel Brockman Richie, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, record producer who has sold more than 100 million records.- Early years :...
's "
Hello"Hello" is a song by Lionel Richie. Taken as the third single from Richie's multi-platinum album Can't Slow Down, the song was released in 1984 and reached number one on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart , the R&B chart , and the adult contemporary chart . The song also went to #1 on the...
." It is the first of six songs by Collins written specifically for a film soundtrack to 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,
GenesisGenesis are a Grammy Award-winning English rock band formed in 1967, and are among the top 30 highest-selling recording artists of all time with approximately 150 million albums sold worldwide, including 21.5 million albums sold in the United States. In 1988, the band won the Grammy Award for Best...
.
"Against All Odds" won the
Grammy AwardThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
for
Best Male Pop Vocal PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance has been awarded since 1966. The award had several minor name changes:*In 1966 the award was known as Best Contemporary Vocal Performance - Male...
in 1985, and it was also nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Original SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
. Collins was the only nominee in the category not invited to sing his song on stage, and sat in the audience as
Ann ReinkingAnn Reinking is an American actress, dancer, and choreographer. Her creative and personal association with choreographer Bob Fosse is well-known.-Biography:...
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 MillerDennis Miller is a 5-time Emmy winning American stand-up comedian, political commentator, actor, sports commentator, and television and radio personality. He is known for his ability to improvise critical assessments laced with pop culture references...
to relate someone reacting in a horrified fashion.
When another song Collins performed for a movie, "
Separate Lives"Separate Lives" is a 1985 song recorded by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin and featured on the soundtrack to the motion picture White Nights. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #4 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also topped the adult contemporary chart in the U.S. for three...
" 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 if the Stephen Bishop written song were to win the award.
Collins lost to the
Stevie WonderStevie Wonder is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. Blind from birth, Wonder signed with Motown Records at the age of eleven, and continues to perform and record for the label. He has recorded more than thirty U.S...
song "
I Just Called to Say I Love You"I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a song written, produced, and performed by Stevie Wonder. The midtempo song expresses how simply telephoning someone to tell them you love them can make even a very unremarkable day rewarding...
." The song was first included on a Collins album on the 1998 compilation
Hits…Hits, released in 1998, was the first greatest hits collection of Phil Collins studio recordings. The collection included fourteen Top 40 hits, including seven American #1 songs, spanning from the albums Face Value through Dance Into the Light...
, and it also appeared on his compilation
Love Songs: A Compilation... Old and NewLove Songs: A Compilation... Old and New is an album by Phil Collins, released in 2004, only a few months after the release of the three-album boxed set The Platinum Collection...
(2004).
A live performance of the song also appears on the
Serious Hits… Live!Serious Hits... Live! is the name of Phil Collins' 1990 live album with a CD as well as the DVD video recording of that concert.- History :...
album. The live version was recorded in 1990 on the B-side of the single "
Do You Remember?"Do You Remember?" is a single performed by Phil Collins released in 1990 from his album ...But Seriously. The song had minor success in European countries, but peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year....
."
Music video
The song's music video, directed by
Taylor HackfordTaylor Edwin Hackford is an Academy Award-winning American film director.-Early life:Hackford was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Mary , a waitress, and Joseph Hackford. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1968, where he was a pre-law major focusing on...
, 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 triangleA love triangle is a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two. The relationships can be friendships, romantic,...
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 tubesA neon lamp is a gas discharge lamp containing primarily neon gas at low pressure. The term is sometimes used for similar devices filled with other noble gases, usually to produce different colors.- Description :...
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 WilliamsKeith Williams is a British architect.-Education and career:He studied architecture at Kingston and Greenwich Schools of Architecture before co-founding Pawson Williams Architects in 1987...
, a Welsh-born writer who had already worked with Abelson on the video for "Dancin' With Myself" (
Billy IdolWilliam Michael Albert Broad , better known as Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. He first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X. He then embarked on a successful solo career, aided by a series of stylish music videos, making him one of the first MTV stars...
) and would go on to also create concepts for "Holding Out for a Hero" (
Bonnie TylerBonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer. She is recognisable by her distinctive, husky voice.- Early life :...
) and "Ghostbusters" (
Ray Parker, Jr.Ray Erskine Parker, Jr. is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer and recording artist. Parker is known for writing and performing the theme song to the motion picture Ghostbusters.-Early life and career:...
) for the same producer as well as "Say You Say Me" (
Lionel RichieLionel Brockman Richie, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, record producer who has sold more than 100 million records.- Early years :...
) from "White Nights" which Taylor Hackford also directed.
A number 1 MTV video for several weeks,
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
ranked it as number 4 in its 1984 year-end top 20 video countdown.
Collins discussed the song in a phone interview as an example for break-up songs in act one of
This American LifeThis American Life is a weekly hour-long radio program produced by Chicago Public Radio and hosted by Ira Glass. It is distributed by Public Radio International on PRI affiliate stations and is also available as a free weekly podcast. Primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, it has also...
, episode 339 "Break-Up" on 24 August 2007.
Charts
| Chart (1984) |
Peak
position |
| Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....
|
1 |
| Dutch Singles Chart |
12 |
| German Singles Chart |
9 |
| UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
|
2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
|
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
|
3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks |
1 |
Mariah Carey version
American
popPop music is a music genre that developed from the mid-1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often orientated towards a youth market, usually through the medium of relatively short and simple love songs...
/
R&BContemporary R&B is a music genre of western popular music. Although the acronym “R&B” originates from its association with traditional rhythm and blues music, the term R&B is today most often used to define a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in the 1980s...
singer
Mariah CareyMariah Carey is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart...
co-produced her version of the song with
Jimmy Jam and Terry LewisJames Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
for her sixth studio album
RainbowRainbow is the ninth album and seventh studio album by American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey, released in the United States on November 2, 1999 by Columbia Records. Rainbow has been certified 3x platinum by the RIAA...
.
Carey co-produced the single edit of the song with
Steve MacSteven McCutcheon , also known as Steve Mac, is a songwriter, record producer and owner of Rokstone Studios in London....
. The song was released as the third single from
Rainbow. 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.
The song received moderate success only, although it reached Top 20 in several countries. The highest peak of the song was #2 in Norway.
Track listings
European CD single
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"
- "Crybaby
"Crybaby" is a song written by American singer Mariah Carey, Trey Lorenz and rapper Snoop Dogg, and produced by Carey and Damizza for Carey's sixth studio album, Rainbow . It features Snoop Dogg and its production is built around a sample of the song "Piece of My Love," originally performed by Guy...
" (featuring Snoop DoggCordazar Calvin Broadus , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is a Grammy Award-nominated American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as an MC in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of producer Dr. Dre's most notable protégés...
)
European CD maxi-single
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"
- "Crybaby" (featuring Snoop Dogg)
- "Thank God I Found You
"Thank God I Found You" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for Carey's sixth studio album Rainbow . It features Joe, and boyband 98 Degrees, and was inspired by Carey's boyfriend at the time, Luis Miguel...
" (Stargate Radio Edit featuring JoeJoe Lewis Thomas , usually credited simply as Joe, is a seven-time Grammy Award-nominated American R&B singer and record producer.-Early life and career:...
& 98°98 Degrees was an American adult contemporary boy band consisting of four vocalists: brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, Justin Jeffre, and Jeff Timmons. The group was formed by Timmons in Los Angeles, California....
)
- "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)
"Can't Take That Away " is a song written by American singer Mariah Carey and Diane Warren, and produced by Carey, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for Carey's ninth album Rainbow...
" (Morales Club Mix Edit)
Japanese CD single
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (featuring Westlife
Westlife is an Irish boy band formed on July 3, 1998.The group's original lineup comprised Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan and Brian McFadden...
)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (album version)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Pound Boys Radio Edit)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (instrumental)
Music video
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 TourThe Rainbow World Tour was a worldwide arena concert tour in the year 2000 by American pop/R&B artist Mariah Carey.-History:Carey had released her ninth album Rainbow in November 1999 and decided to go on tour to promote it. Unlike her previous outing, the Butterfly World Tour, marked Carey's first...
stops to cullings from her
Homecoming special.
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 |
Westlife and Mariah Carey version
Mariah CareyMariah Carey is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart...
later re-recorded "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" as a duet with Irish boyband
WestlifeWestlife is an Irish boy band formed on July 3, 1998.The group's original lineup comprised Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan and Brian McFadden...
. This version was released as the first single from Westlife's second album
Coast to CoastCoast to Coast is the second album by Irish boyband Westlife, released on November 6, 2000 on RCA records. This was released again into a boxed set with their album World of our Own last 25 January 2005...
. 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 1 entry in the UK charts and making them the first act in the UK to have their first six singles enter at number 1. It also gave Carey her second number 1 single in the UK; however, to date she has only managed one solo UK number 1, "Without You".
The song has received a silver sales certification in the UK for 200,000 copies sold. The single sold 111,693 copies in its first week to debut at number 1. It has since sold 354,815 copies making it their 6th biggest selling single in the UK. The song was also the 28th best selling of 2000 in the UK.
Track listing
European CD single #1
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Single Edit)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Album Version)
European CD single #2
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Single Edit)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Pound Boys Radio Edit)
Australian/European CD maxi-single
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Single Edit)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Album Version)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Pound Boys Main Mix)
Japanese CD maxi-single
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Mariah featuring Westlife
Westlife is an Irish boy band formed on July 3, 1998.The group's original lineup comprised Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan and Brian McFadden...
)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Album Version)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Pound Boys Radio Edit)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Instrumental)
UK CD maxi-single #1
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Mariah featuring Westlife)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Pound Boys Main Mix)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Mariah Only Version)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" Westlife interview (CD Extra Video Version)
UK CD maxi-single #2
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Mariah featuring Westlife)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Westlife Only Version)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Pound Boys Dub)
- "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Mariah Carey featuring Westlife) (CD Extra Video Version)
Music video
The video of this version was more popular than the video of Mariah Carey solo version. The video shows Carey and Westlife recording the song and exploring the island of
CapriCapri is an Italian island off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of southern Italy...
by boat.
Charts
| Chart (2000) |
Peak
position |
| Australian Singles Chart |
52 |
| Belgian Flandres Singles Chart |
50 |
| Belgian Wallonia Singles Chart |
31 |
| Dutch Singles Chart |
29 |
| Irish Singles Chart |
1 |
| Japanese Singles Chart |
78 |
| Swedish Singles Chart |
3 |
| UK Singles Chart |
1 |
| UK Radio Airplay Chart |
10 |
The Postal Service version
American indietronica band
The Postal ServiceThe Postal Service is an American electronic indie pop band composed of vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel, Headset and Figurine.-Background:...
covered "Against All Odds" for the soundtrack to the 2004 film
Wicker ParkWicker Park is a 2004 psychological drama/romantic mystery film directed by Paul McGuigan. The movie is a remake of the 1996 French movie L'Appartement...
. The cover was later named as one of the best cover songs of all time by the
New York PostThe New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
.
Music video
A music video was aired on
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
containing scenes from the movie and odds disappearing in a room.
Steve Brookstein version
Against All Odds is the debut single by British
X FactorThe X Factor is a British television music talent show, contested by aspiring pop singers drawn from public auditions. It is broadcast on the ITV network in the United Kingdom and on TV3 in Ireland, with spin-off "behind-the-scenes" shows The Xtra Factor and The X Factor 24/7 screened on ITV2 and TV3...
winner
Steve BrooksteinStephen "Steve" Desmond Brookstein is a British jazz and soul singer, who rose to fame in the United Kingdom after becoming the winner of the first series of The X Factor in 2004...
. It was released in 2004 by Syco Records. The single charted at number 1 in the UK and number 11 in Ireland.
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 1, a position it held for one week from 2 January 2005 to 8 January 2005. It replaced "
Do They Know It's Christmas?"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money for relief of 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The original version was produced by Midge Ure, and released by Band Aid on 29 November 1984....
" by Band Aid 20, and was replaced by
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King....
's "
Jailhouse Rock"Jailhouse Rock" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit for Elvis Presley. The song was first released as a 45rpm single on September 24, 1957, to coincide with the release of Presley's motion picture, Jailhouse Rock...
." It was later included on Brookstein's debut album
Heart and SoulHeart and Soul is the debut album from X Factor winner Steve Brookstein, released in May 2005. It was released only several months after his X Factor win and therefore he opted to produce a record of cover songs of classic soul and jazz songs, including "If You Don't Know Me By Now" and his debut...
.
Music video
In the music video for the song it shows Steve's highlights from the show through to the moment he was announced X Factor winner, 2004. Unlike other X Factor winners Steve was not seen atol singing the song in the music video. Cowell did not get the idea of the winner singing the song as well on the music video (like
Leon JacksonLeon Jackson is a Scottish singer and songwriter who won fourth series of the British television talent show The X Factor in 2007...
's "
When You Believe"When You Believe" is an Academy Award-winning song composed by Stephen Schwartz for the 1998 DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt. A pop version of "When You Believe" was produced as a single with additional music by writer-producer Babyface for the film's soundtrack album...
" shows moments from his time on the show but also featured him singing the song in front of a billboard. Cowell did not get this idea until series 2 of the X Factor seeing
Shayne WardShayne Thomas Ward is an English pop singer, who was discovered on the second series of UK television talent contest The X Factor...
winning with his debut "
That's My Goal"That's My Goal" is a popular song, released as the first single by the second United Kingdom X Factor winner Shayne Ward. The song was first heard in the final of the aforementioned series, where it was performed by both Ward and X Factor runner up, Andy Abraham.The single was rush-released on...
."
Charts
Second Version
Chart |
Peak
position |
Irish Singles ChartThe Irish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. They are a for profit association set up by record companies and companies carrying on associated trades in the Republic of Ireland, to provide members with a means to discuss matters of common interest between...
|
11 |
| UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
|
1 |
Other covers
- American Pianist and Singer Eli Mattson
Eli James Mattson is an American pianist and singer. He was the runner-up on the third season of America's Got Talent, beating out over 200,000 contestants. The difference in the votes during the final was less than 0.5%...
sang this song in the final of Americas Got Talent Season 3 as part of the final five.
- Recently, rapper Cuban Link
Felix Delgado ,, better known by his stage name Cuban Link, is a Cuban-American rapper.-Biography:Delgado was born in Havana, Cuba in 1974. He and his family emigrated to the United States in 1980 and settled in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City. When Delgado was growing up, hip hop...
sampled the original song in the track "Take a Look at Me Now" as a tribute to friend and deceased rapper Big PunChristopher Rios , better known by his stage name Big Pun , was an American rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s...
.
- Montell Jordan
Montell Jordan is an American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. Jordan was the second R&B artist signed to the Def Jam label and became the main male artist on its Def Soul imprint until leaving the label in 2003.-Biography:Jordan attended Pepperdine University in California, where he...
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
Dancemania is a series of remix compilation albums by i-DANCE in Japan. The series deals primarily with dance music, and many songs from the series have been licensed for use in Bemani games by Konami, such as Dance Dance Revolution or Dance Maniax.-Releases:*MAIN SERIES**NONSTOP MEGAMIX...
X8 and was licensed to be featured in the dance video game Dance Dance Revolution 5thMixDance Dance Revolution 5thMIX, or DDR 5th Mix, is the 5th game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released to the arcades by Konami on March 27, 2001. Although only officially released in Japan, units exist worldwide. DDR 5th Mix contains a total of 122 songs, nine of...
. It later appeared in North America in Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2 is the tenth home version of Dance Dance Revolution to be released in the United States. It was released by Konami on September 28 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console...
.
- In the summer of 2004, a trance version of the song recorded by Belgian singer Kira
This article is about the Belgian singer. For the Kira responsible for "Wenn du den Himmel nicht aufmachst", see Kira .Kira is a Belgian singer and model.-History:...
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
, typeset as BEAT CRUSADERS and also known as BECR, are a Japanese rock/punk-pop band. During all promotional appearances, their faces are masked by drawings resembling themselves as printed by a dot-matrix printer.-History:...
recorded "Against All Odds" for their covers album Musicrusaders.
- Another dance version was recorded in 2006 by Karen Parry
Karen Parry is a dance vocalist who has featured on a number of European hits in the 2000s. Parry featured with Flip & Fill on chart hit "Shooting Star" in 2002, originally recorded by happy hardcore act Bang! in 1998. This reached number 3 in the UK....
.
- Korean R&B singers Wheesung
Choi Whee-Sung often credited by his stage name Wheesung is a Korean R&B singer.- 1999: Debut :...
and Lena ParkLena Park, also known as Park Jung-hyun, , is a Korean American R&B singer. Early in her life, Park showed talent for singing, mainly in the choir of her father's church in Downey with her siblings Brian and Uriah. She also learned to play saxophone and piano...
recorded a cover of "Against All Odds" for a 2006 HyundaiHyundai Motor Company , a division of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, is the world’s fourth largest automaker in terms of units sold and one of the Big Asian Four...
television commercial, and their version was later released as a digital singleA music download is the transferal of a music file from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment if required....
.
- 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
Lutricia McNeal is an American R&B/pop singer who mainly releases her records and CDs in Europe. Her biggest hit records so far were "Ain't That Just the Way" which was released in 1997 on Colin Lester's and Ian McAndrew's Wildstar label made it to , which sold 2 million copies worldwide,...
covered this song for her Japanese release of her album Soulsister Ambassador - Rise.
- British medical comedy duo, Amateur Transplants
Amateur Transplants are a London based, British parody musical duo consisting of medical professionals, Dr. Adam Kay and Dr. Suman Biswas, who came to prominence in 2005 with a song about London Underground, parodying the Jam song "Going Underground"...
, parodied the song, along with others in their song "Snippets" from their debut album Fitness to PracticeFitness to Practice is a 2004 album produced for charity by Amateur Transplants . 10% of the profits from the album sales go to Macmillan Cancer Relief....
.
Live cover versions
In 1984, Michael Damian and Tracey Bregman (Danny and Lauren) made a music video on "Young and the Restless." In 2005
Canadian IdolCanadian Idol is a Canadian reality television competition show airing on CTV. The show is based on the popular Fox show American Idol, which in turn is based on the British show Pop Idol. The show is a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada. It is hosted by Ben Mulroney...
competitors
Rex GoudieRex Goudie is a Canadian singer, songwriter and was the runner-up of Canadian Idol 3.-Biography:Rex Goudie was born in Dawson Creek, British Columbia on November 18, 1985 and moved back to his father's hometown of Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada with his family when he was one year...
and
Melissa O'NeilMelissa Crystal O'Neil is a Canadian singer who was the winner of the third season of Canadian Idol in 2005. She was the first female winner and is the second youngest idol winner in the world, with the youngest being 2004 Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan . She is of Chinese, Irish and French...
performed the song as their final duet together during the show's third season finale. The song has been performed six times on
American IdolAmerican Idol is a reality competition to find new solo musical talent, created by Simon Fuller. It debuted on June 11, 2002 on the Fox network, and has since become one of the most popular shows on American television...
. It has been performed by
Katharine McPheeKatharine Hope McPhee is an American pop and R&B singer, songwriter, actress, model, and television personality. She gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of the Fox reality show American Idol in 2006, eventually finishing as the runner-up.Her self-titled debut album was released on RCA...
,
Corey ClarkCorey Delaney Clark is an American singer. He is well known for his highly-publicized disqualification from the second season of American Idol and later allegations of a sexual relationship between him and then-Idol judge, Paula Abdul.-Early life and career:Corey Clark was born in San Bernardino,...
, George Huff,
Jessica SierraJessica Ann Sierra is an American singer and was the tenth-place finalist on the fourth season of American Idol. She was the third finalist eliminated, on March 30, 2005.-Biography:...
,
Scott SavolScott Thomas Savol is an American singer and was the 5th place finalist on the fourth season of American Idol.-Personal life:...
, and
Ramiele MalubayRamiele Macrohon Malubay is a Filipino-American singer and the ninth place finalist on the seventh season of the television series American Idol.-Biography:...
.
During their fall 2006 tour, New York band
We Are ScientistsWe Are Scientists is an American band, formed in 2000, featuring Keith Murray , Chris Cain , Max Hart , and previously Michael Tapper . In their own words, the band creates "rock music of the thoughtful, sometimes epic, often loud, vaguely danceable, implicitly humanist variety"...
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.
Internet
Seattle music columnist,
Megan Seling began an experiment on Monday, 6 July 2009 wherein she vowed to listen to Collins' '
Against All OddsAgainst All Odds is a neo-noir 1984 film, a remake of Out of the Past. The movie was directed by Taylor Hackford and features Rachel Ward in a variation of Jane Greer's original role, Jeff Bridges filling in for Robert Mitchum, and James Woods in a version of Kirk Douglas's part...
' at least once every hour that she was awake for an entire week and chronicled the journey
here.
I've done dumber things. - Megan Seling
Karaoke
This song is on the video game
Karaoke Revolution Volume 3Karaoke Revolution and its many sequels are video games for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Xbox, and Xbox 360, developed by Harmonix Music Systems and Blitz Games and published by Konami in its Bemani line of music games. The Original Concept for Karaoke Revolution was...
. It is also downloadable content for the game
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore.
See also