Orchard Road (song)

Last updated
"Orchard Road"
Leo Sayer Orchard Road.jpg
Single by Leo Sayer
from the album Have You Ever Been in Love
B-side "Gone Solo"
ReleasedFebruary 1983 (1983-02)
Genre
Length4:29
Label Chrysalis
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Alan Tarney
Leo Sayer singles chronology
"Paris Dies in the Morning"
(1982)		"Orchard Road"
(1983)		"Till You Come Back to Me"
(1983)

"Orchard Road" is a song by Leo Sayer released in February 1983 as the second single from his tenth album Have You Ever Been in Love . It peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his final top-twenty hit until his 2006 feature on "Thunder in My Heart Again". [1]

Contents

Release and composition

The music for "Orchard Road" was composed by Alan Tarney, with the lyrics by Sayer. [2] Tarney, who also produced the song, had previously worked with Sayer producing his 1980 album Living in a Fantasy , which included the top-ten hit "More Than I Can Say".

According to Sayer, the lyrics to the song are based on an all-night phone conversation out in a public telephone booth he had with his then-wife, Janice, pleading for her return from her flat and forgiveness after a lapse of judgement in their 7-year marital life. In reality, his wife had moved to Churchfield Road, Acton in Greater London. [3] However, the name "Churchfield Road" "didn't sing very well", so it was changed to "Orchard Road", the name coming from the shopping area in Singapore as Sayer had recently performed there. [4]

The song was originally recorded in one take as a demo, with Sayer "[making] up the words as we recorded it, with Alan Tarney playing to my hand signals". [5] However, the demo became the final version with the slightly unpolished guide vocal kept because of how it felt. [6]

Track listing

7": Chrysalis / CHS 2677 (UK)

  1. "Orchard Road" – 4:29
  2. "Gone Solo" – 3:58

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Orchard Road"
Chart (1983)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [8] [9] 17
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [10] 8
Ireland (IRMA) [11] 8
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [12] 7
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [13] 5
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [14] 18
South Africa (Springbok Radio) [15] 9
UK Singles (OCC) [1] 16

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Orchard Road"
Chart (1983)Position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [9] 95
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders) [16] 81
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [17] 68
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [18] 71

References

  1. 1 2 "Leo Sayer: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  2. ↑ "Orchard Road". National library of Australia. Retrieved 4 September 2012. music / words by Allan Tarney ; music by Leo Sayer
  3. ↑ Interview with Leo Sayer, The Bob Rogers Show, Radio 2CH, 10:31:30 AEST 31 July 2008.
  4. ↑ "8 Questions with Leo Sayer: He still makes you feel like dancing | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. 2014-12-01. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  5. ↑ "INTERVIEW: Leo Sayer looks ahead to show at Floral Pavilion". Wirral Globe. 10 April 2017. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  6. ↑ O'Connell, John (2013-07-12). "100. Orchard Road by Leo Sayer". What We Talk About When We Talk About Talk Talk. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  7. ↑ World Radio + Have You Ever Been in Love (booklet). Edsel. 2009. EDSD 2062.
  8. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 265. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  9. 1 2 "Kent Music Report – National Top 100 Singles for 1983". Kent Music Report . Retrieved 22 January 2023– via Imgur.com.
  10. ↑ "Leo Sayer – Orchard Road" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  11. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Orchard Road". Irish Singles Chart.
  12. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Leo Sayer" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  13. ↑ "Leo Sayer – Orchard Road" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  14. ↑ "Leo Sayer – Orchard Road". Top 40 Singles.
  15. ↑ "SA Charts 1969–March 1989" . Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  16. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1983". Ultratop. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  17. ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1983". www.top40.nl. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  18. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten - Single 1983". www.dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
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