Stop This Game

Last updated
"Stop This Game"
Cheap Trick 1980 Single Dutch Release Stop This Game.jpeg
Single by Cheap Trick
from the album All Shook Up
B-side "Who D'King"
ReleasedOctober 1980 [1]
Genre
Length3:45
Label Epic Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) George Martin
Cheap Trick singles chronology
"Day Tripper (Live)"
(1980)		"Stop This Game"
(1980)		"World's Greatest Lover"
(1981)

"Stop This Game" is a song by American rock band Cheap Trick, released in 1980 as the lead single from their fifth studio album All Shook Up . It was written by Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander, and produced by George Martin. [2] "Stop This Game" reached No. 48 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 32 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles. [3] [4]

Contents

Critical reception

Upon release, Billboard described the song as one that "starts off on a mellow note before some thunderous guitar licks take charge and the tune becomes a forceful rocker. Lead vocals are full of gut level intensity." [5] In a review of All Shook Up, Billboard described the song as an "epic, mid-tempo rocker". [6] David Fricke of Rolling Stone described the song as one of the album's "clever pop curves", describing it as recalling The Who and noting the "dense, pseudo-ELO orchestration". [7] Record World said of it that "Robin Zander provides one of his finest vocal efforts on this insistent rocker." [8] In a retrospective review of the album, Stewart Mason of AllMusic recommended the song by selecting it as an AMG Pick Track. [9]

The song did best in the group's home base of northern Illinois, where it reached #27 on superstation WLS-AM in Chicago. It spent 14 weeks in the Top 40 on their weekly survey. [10]

Track listing

7" single
  1. "Stop This Game" – 3:45
  2. "Who D'King" – 2:16
7" single (US promo)
  1. "Stop This Game" – 3:50
  2. "Stop This Game" – 3:50

Personnel

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (1980–81)Peak
position
Canadian RPM Top Singles [4] 32
Netherlands (Tipparade) [11] 12
US Billboard Hot 100 [3] 48
US Cash Box [12] 44

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References

  1. ↑ "Cheap Trick - Stop This Game / Who D' King - Epic - USA - 19-50942". 45cat. 2015-09-09. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
  2. ↑ "Cheap Trick - Stop This Game at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  3. 1 2 Billboard. "Cheap Trick Stop This Game Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
  4. 1 2 "Item: 264 - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
  5. ↑ Billboard magazine - Billboard's Top Single Picks - November 8, 1980 - page 62
  6. ↑ "Billboard - Google Books". 1980-11-08. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
  7. ↑ David Fricke (1981-03-19). "All Shook Up | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  8. ↑ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. November 15, 1980. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  9. ↑ Mason, Stewart. "All Shook Up - Cheap Trick". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  10. ↑ WLS Musicradio Survey, February 14, 1981
  11. ↑ "Cheap Trick - Stop This Game" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 . Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  12. ↑ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 20, 1980
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