Square Rooms

Last updated

"Square Rooms"
Square Rooms.jpg
Single by Al Corley
from the album Square Rooms
B-side "Don't Play with Me"
Released1984
Genre Techno-pop [1]
Length3:39
Label Mercury
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Harold Faltermeyer
Al Corley singles chronology
"Square Rooms"
(1984)		"Cold Dresses"
(1985)

"Square Rooms" is a song by American singer and actor Al Corley. It was the first single from his debut album of the same name. First released in 1984; the song was a hit single in Continental Europe, and had a moderate success in the United States in 1985.

Contents

Background and writing

After two seasons playing one of the leading characters in the American TV series, Dynasty , Al Corley left the nighttime soap opera to become a singer.

The media-savvy singer affected the brooding look and attitude popular among pop stars and GQ models at the time: pouty, dark glances and tousled hair. His choice of image worked best in France, where his television performances elicited the unbridled enthusiasm of teenage girls. However, according to Elia Habib, a French charts specialist, his success was not only based on his physical appearance. Indeed, "Square Rooms"' music had a large popular appeal and had a production designed for the dance floor. It was produced and composed by the German musician Harold Faltermeyer, who had previously arranged "Self Control", a worldwide pop and dance-floor smash for Laura Branigan in 1984 which featured a similar vocal hook. Faltermeyer would achieve his greatest personal success later the same year, composing, performing and producing the score to Beverly Hills Cop , a 1984 film directed by Martin Brest, including its hit instrumental theme composition "Axel F". [2]

Chart performance

"Square Rooms" was released first in Switzerland, where it peaked at number six on 21 October 1984, and staying in the top 30 for ten weeks. [3] The single debuted at number 47 on the French Singles Chart on 5 January 1985, and topped the chart for five nonconsecutive weeks, from 9 March to 13 April 1985. After its peak, it lingered on the charts until its 27th week, on 20 July 1985. [4] The song reached number 12 in Italy, number 13 in Germany, and number 15 in Austria. [5] "Square Rooms" was released last in Corley's native US, where the single reached number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 1 June 1985, as well as number 26 on the Billboard dance chart [6] the week of 22 June 1985.

Formats and track listings

7" single
No.TitleLength
1."Square Rooms"3:39
2."Don't Play with Me"4:20
12" maxi
No.TitleLength
1."Square Rooms (12" version)"8:02
2."Square Rooms (7" version)"3:39
3."Don't Play with Me"4:20

Charts

Covers

A French cover version was recorded by France Lise under the title "On vit à deux". [15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dance/Disco > Picks > Al Corley – Square Rooms (8:00)". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 17. 27 April 1985. p. 67. ISSN   0006-2510.
  2. ↑ Habib, Elia (2002). Muz hit.tubes (in French). Alinéa Bis. p. 35. ISBN   2-9518832-0-X.
  3. 1 2 "Al Corley – Square Rooms". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Al Corley – Square Rooms" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Al Corley – Square Rooms" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Al Corley – Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Al Corley – Square Rooms" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "European Top 100 Singles". Eurotipsheet . Vol. 2, no. 16. 22 April 1985. p. 9. OCLC   29800226.
  9. ↑ "European Airplay Top 50". Eurotipsheet . Vol. 2, no. 16. 22 April 1985. p. 6. OCLC   29800226.
  10. ↑ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 3 June 2022.Select "Singoli" in the "Tipo" field, type "Square rooms" in the "Titolo" field and press "cerca".
  11. ↑ "Hot 100 Singles". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 22. 1 June 1985. p. 68. ISSN   0006-2510.
  12. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending May 18, 1985". Cashbox . Archived from the original on 17 September 2012.
  13. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Al Corley – Square Rooms" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  14. ↑ "Top – 1985". Top-france.fr (in French). Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  15. ↑ Lemonier, Marc (2008). Nos années Top, clips et 45 tours: 1984–1991 (in French). pp. 31–32. ISBN   978-2-258-07648-8.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.