"Feels Like the First Time" | ||||
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Single by Foreigner | ||||
from the album Foreigner | ||||
B-side | "Woman, Oh Woman" | |||
Released | March 1977 | |||
Recorded | 1976 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Atlantic | |||
Songwriter(s) | Mick Jones | |||
Producer(s) |
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Foreigner singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Feels Like the First Time" on YouTube |
"Feels Like the First Time" is the debut single by British-American rock band Foreigner. It was written by Mick Jones and released in 1977 from the band's eponymous debut album. It reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. [2]
Jones wrote "Feels Like the First Time" while putting together the band that would become Foreigner. [3] According to Jones, "I started writing by myself. Before I knew it, I had two or three songs, and I wondered what to do with them. One of those songs was 'Feels Like the First Time.'" [3]
Jones also said:
"Feels Like The First Time" was written about a bit of a change in my life. I was coming out of a previous marriage with somebody I'd met in France. I'd gone back to England and then finally made the journey to America while I was in the band Spooky Tooth. And to me it was this challenge of really going for a new start in my life. ... to me it was signifying a new start. I'd met somebody, I got re-married and moved with her to America, and that was the song that described that experience." [4]
"Feels Like the First Time" was one of four songs (along with "Take Me to Your Leader," "At War with the World" and "Woman, Oh Woman") that Lou Gramm sang at his audition to become the lead singer of Foreigner. [5] These same four songs were used on the demo Foreigner used to get their recording contract. [5]
Billboard called "Feels Like the First Time" "tasteful, high energy rock" with "a direct, happy, love lyric." [6] Billboard called the guitars "booming" and Gramm's lead vocal "intense but controlled." [6] Cash Box said that "the heavy rock feeling is there at bottom, but glittering backing vocals and keyboard work add the patina necessary to soothe top 40" and also commented on the "spine-tingling guitar chords" that open the song. [7] Record World said that Foreigner "has elegantly captured the magic of power pop with their first effort." [8]
New York Times critic John Rockwell called the song a "none-too-imaginative" example of a "straightforward rock song" that combines "latter-day British rock with a hint of synthesizer progressiveness." [9] Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh said the song "combines Roxy Music-like synthesizer with the eternal thump" and said that Jones' songwriting on this song and its follow-up single "Cold as Ice" "places him among the better English hard-rock writers." [10] Henry McNulty's contemporary review of Foreigner in the Hartford Courant said that "Feels Like the First Time" was a good choice for the album's first single due to "Jones' guitar blasting out metal-tinged chords at the outset and plenty of clever little hooks." [11]
AllMusic critic Denise Sullivan described "Feels Like the First Time" as "one of those typically generic, much reviled by critics, '70s corporate rock hits" which nonetheless had "insta-appeal." [1] Sullivan attributed its popularity in part to its ability to bridge between heavy metal and MOR rock, with "hard-hitting" snare drum, "layered instruments and fist-pumping guitar riffs." [1] She describes lead singer Gramm as turning in a "blueprint metal screamer vocal performance." [1] Livingston County Daily Press and Argus critic Scott Pohl said the song "expressed how anyone feels with a new lover." [12]
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Matt Wardlaw ranked "Feels Like the First Time" as Foreigner's 7th greatest song, stating that it represented a new beginning for Jones "as he had gotten married, moved to America and started what would become a very successful rock 'n' roll band." [13] Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian ranked "Feels Like the First Time" as Foreigner's all-time top song. [14] Billboard reviewer Gary Graff rated "Feels Like the First Time" to be Foreigner's 3rd greatest song, calling it "a perfect introduction and statement of purpose, brimming with optimism and intent." [15]
In 2010, "Feels Like the First Time" was re-recorded to be included in the rhythm game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock . [16]
The song appears at the end of the 2012 film Magic Mike and was also used during the Riff Medley by the Treblemakers in the movie Pitch Perfect . It was also featured in the 2013 film Anchorman 2 , the 2017 film I, Tonya , [17] and the end credits of the 2021 film Eternals . [18] A heavily-edited version appears in the 2020 Netflix movie Spenser Confidential . [19]
Chart (1977) | Peak position |
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Australia (KMR) [20] | 41 |
Canada RPM Top Singles | 7 |
UK [21] | 39 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [2] [22] | 4 |
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 | 5 |
Chart (1977) | Rank |
---|---|
Canada [23] | 79 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [24] | 31 |
U.S. Cash Box [25] | 34 |
4, also known as Foreigner 4, is the fourth studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on July 3, 1981 on Atlantic Records. Several singles from the album were hits, including "Urgent", "Waiting for a Girl Like You" and "Juke Box Hero".
Foreigner is a British-American rock band formed in New York City in 1976 by guitarist Mick Jones, vocalist Lou Gramm, drummer Dennis Elliott, keyboardist Al Greenwood, bassist Ed Gagliardi and multi-instrumentalist, and original King Crimson member, Ian McDonald. Foreigner is one of the world's bestselling bands of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, including 37.5 million in the US.
Foreigner is the debut studio album by British-American rock band Foreigner, released on 8 March 1977. It spun off three hit singles, "Feels Like the First Time", "Cold as Ice" and "Long, Long Way from Home". It also features album tracks such as "Headknocker" and "Starrider", the latter of which features a rare lead vocal from lead guitarist and co-founder Mick Jones.
Head Games is the third studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on 11 September 1979 by Atlantic Records. Recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York, with additional recording and whole mixing taking place at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, it was the only Foreigner album co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker, best known for working on Queen's classic albums. It marked the first appearance of new bass guitarist Rick Wills who replaced Ed Gagliardi, and was the last album with founding members Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood, who would leave the band after the recording. Head Games is also the last Foreigner album to feature a lead vocal by guitarist Mick Jones.
Agent Provocateur is the fifth studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on December 14, 1984. The album was the band's first and only number one album in the United Kingdom, and it reached the top 5 in the United States. Although album sales were lower than their previous work in the US, it contains the band's biggest hit single, "I Want to Know What Love Is", which is their only #1 single in the UK and the US, staying at the top spot for three and two weeks, respectively. The follow-up single, "That Was Yesterday", also proved to be a sizeable hit, peaking at #12 in the US. The album was certified Platinum in the UK by the BPI, and triple Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
Louis Andrew Grammatico, known professionally as Lou Gramm, is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Foreigner from 1977 to 1990 and again from 1992 to 2003, during which time the band had numerous successful albums and singles.
"Juke Box Hero" is a song by British-American rock band Foreigner written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones from their 1981 album 4. It first entered the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in July 1981 and eventually reached #3 on that chart. Released as the album's third single in early 1982, it subsequently went to #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart
"Waiting for a Girl Like You" is a 1981 power ballad by the British-American rock band Foreigner released as the second single from the album 4 (1981) and was co-written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones. The opening motif was written by Ian McDonald and the distinctive synthesizer theme was performed by the then-little-known Thomas Dolby.
"Urgent" is a song by the British-American rock band Foreigner, and the first single from their album 4 in 1981.
"Hot Blooded" is a song by the British-American rock band Foreigner, from their second studio album Double Vision. It was released as a single in June 1978 and reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that September. The single was also certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It is also the theme song to the truTV scripted series Tacoma FD.
"Cold as Ice" is a 1977 song written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones that was first released by British-American rock band Foreigner from their eponymous debut album. It became one of the best-known songs of the band in the US, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was initially the B-side of some versions of the "Feels Like the First Time" 45 rpm single.
"Double Vision" is a single by Foreigner from their second album of the same name. The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks in 1978, behind "MacArthur Park" by Donna Summer. It became a gold record. The song was also a top 10 hit in Canada.
"Dirty White Boy" is a song recorded by British-American rock band Foreigner, written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, and produced by Roy Thomas Baker, Jones, and Ian McDonald. It was the first single taken from the band's third studio album, Head Games (1979). The B-side, "Rev on the Red Line" has also proven to be very popular among fans, but was never released as an A-side. Lou Gramm's trademark scream at the end of the song is missing from this abbreviated version of "Dirty White Boy". The song spent nine weeks in the Top 40.
"Blue Morning, Blue Day" is a song written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones that was first released as the third single on Foreigner's second album, Double Vision, reaching #15 on the Hot 100, the band's sixth top 40 single in two years, and #45 in the U.K. The song was backed with the Mick Jones song "I Have Waited So Long". "Blue Morning, Blue Day" is also available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series and was released on clear blue vinyl.
"Long, Long Way from Home" is a song written by Mick Jones, Lou Gramm & Ian McDonald that was initially released on Foreigner's debut album. It was the third single taken from the album.
"Head Games" is the title-cut and second single taken from the band Foreigner's third release. It was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, and released primarily in the U.S. in November 1979 while at the same time, "Love On The Telephone" was being released elsewhere. The song's b-side, "Do What You Like" uses multi-layered harmony vocals along the lines of their earlier single, "Cold as Ice."
"Luanne" was the fifth and final single taken from the album 4 by the band Foreigner, and the second to feature a B-side that was not available on one of their albums, a controversial live version of their hit, "Hot Blooded". The song was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones and reached number 75 in the U.S. charts, but was a live staple for years to come. The live version of "Hot Blooded" was later placed on the international release of their retrospective, Records, but in subsequent re-releases has been dropped in favour of the original album version due to a couple of choice words spoken in ad lib during the song's performance by its singer, Lou Gramm.
"That Was Yesterday" is the second single taken from the album Agent Provocateur by the band Foreigner. This song was available in four versions, as a remixed single, an extended remix, an orchestral version, and the original mix. The song was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, and the B-side "Two Different Worlds" is also of note for being the first solo-written Lou Gramm song to appear on a single.
"Point of Know Return" is a song by the progressive rock band Kansas written by Steve Walsh (lyrics), Robby Steinhardt, and Phil Ehart for their 1977 album Point of Know Return.
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