A Simple Game

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"A Simple Game"
Single by The Moody Blues
A-side "Ride My See-Saw"
Released12 October 1968
Recorded18 July 1968, Decca Studios, London
Length
Label Deram
Songwriter(s) Mike Pinder
Producer(s) Tony Clarke

"A Simple Game" is a 1968 song by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues. Written and sung by Mike Pinder, it was released as a non-album B-side to "Ride My See-Saw", a track from the album In Search of the Lost Chord . The song was produced by Tony Clarke and arranged by Arthur Greenslade. The track was included in the band's 1974 compilation, This Is The Moody Blues , remixed and with an earlier fade than on the single. It was also included, with its original mix and length, in the 1987 compilation Prelude .

Contents

The song was covered by The Four Tops, and their version was issued as a single in the United States in January 1972, reaching #90 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song had already been issued as a single in Britain in September 1971, having reached #3 in the UK and #14 in Ireland.

The song was also covered by Billy Ocean on compilations in 2016 and 2017.

Personnel

Billy Ocean version

A Billy Ocean cover version appears on the double-disc 2016 compilation Here You Are/The Best of Billy Ocean, and it's also on the similar single-disc 2017 compilation Here You Are: The Music of My Life.

Four Tops version

"A Simple Game"
Single by Four Tops
B-side
  • "You Stole My Love" (UK)
  • "L.A. (My Town)" (U.S.)
ReleasedSeptember 1971 (UK)
January 1972 (U.S.)
RecordedWessex Studios, London, England, 5 May 1970
Genre Pop, R&B, soul
Label Tamla Motown (UK)
Motown (U.S.)
Four Tops singles chronology
"MacArthur Park (Part II)"
(1971)		"A Simple Game"
(1971)		"You Gotta Have Love in Your Heart"
(1971)

The Four Tops released a cover version in the UK in 1971. The single peaked at position three on the chart. The song's B-side for the UK release was "You Stole My Love", a song written by Justin Hayward and Tony Clarke.

The song was released as a single in the U.S. in 1972, stalling on the chart at position 90. The B-side, which differed from its UK counterpart, was a song called "L.A. (My Town)".

Personnel

Chart history

Chart (1971/72)Peak
position
align="center"|15
UK Singles Chart [2] 3
U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles [3] 34
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [4] 90

References

  1. https://www.top40.nl/the-four-tops/the-four-tops-simple-game-7501.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. HIT Entertainment.
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2005). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research.
  4. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2007). Top Pop Singles: 1955–2006. Record Research.
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