While You See a Chance

Last updated
"While You See a Chance"
While You See a Chance Steve Winwood.jpg
UK 7-inch vinyl single
Single by Steve Winwood
from the album Arc of a Diver
B-side "Vacant Chair"
Released1 February 1981 [1]
Recorded1980
Genre
Length5:15 (album)
3:55 (single)
Label Island
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood singles chronology
"Time Is Running Out"
(1977)		"While You See a Chance"
(1981)		"Arc of a Diver"
(1981)

"While You See a Chance" is a song performed by Steve Winwood in 1980, [4] written by Winwood and Will Jennings. [5] It was released on his album Arc of a Diver [5] and peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1981 [4] and number 68 on the Billboard year-end top 100 for 1981. [6] The song was a bigger hit in Canada, where it peaked at number 3. [7] It also reached number 45 in the UK.

Contents

Background

Winwood co-wrote "While You See a Chance" with Will Jennings, who came up with the song's lyrics. Jennings did not discuss the song's lyrical subject matter with Winwood, who nonetheless decided that the song was suitable to record. He said that he "learned about discipline from Will. He just came up with the lyrics and it was right for me, right for him, and right for the song." [8]

While the song was being mixed, Nobby Clark, who served as an engineer for the recording sessions, accidentally deleted the drum tracks by hitting the "record" feature on the mixing console. Attempts to fully restore the drums were unsuccessful, so Winwood took a Minimoog solo that he had played at the end of the song and repurposed it for the intro. [8]

According to Clark, Winwood determined that the minimoog solo would be a "perfect way to open the song". Clark stated that "the disaster turned into something really memorable. It had been a terrible two weeks trying to patch things up and we ended with pure magic." [8] Winwood played all the instruments on the song. [9] By 1988, the song had received enough airplay to earn Winwood the Million Play award. [8]

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1981)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)16
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [10] 8
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [7] 3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [11] 10
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [12] 21
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [13] 28
UK Singles (OCC) [14] 45
US Billboard Hot 100 [15] 7
US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [16] 17
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [17] 2
US Cash Box Top 100 [18] 10

Year-end charts

Chart (1981)Position
Canada Top Singles (RPM) [19] 23
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [20] 96
US Billboard Hot 100 [6] 68
US Cash Box [21] 72

References

  1. ↑ "Steve Winwood – While You See a Chance" – via genius.com.
  2. ↑ Evans, Paul (2004). "Steve Winwood". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 882–883. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
  3. ↑ Tomlin, Edward (March 23, 2023). "10 Best Steve Winwood Songs of All Time - Singersroom.com".
  4. 1 2 "Steve Winwood". Billboard . Archived from the original on 1 July 2014.
  5. 1 2 Palmer, Robert (21 January 1981). "Arc of a Diver, Steve Winwood". New York Times. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Top 100 Hits of 1981/Top 100 Songs of 1981". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 16 May 1981. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Welch, Chris (1990). Steve Winwood: Roll With It . New York, NY: Perigee Books. pp. 140, 142–143. ISBN   0-399-51558-5 . Retrieved 18 January 2025– via Internet Archive.
  9. ↑ "Arc of a Diver by Steve Winwood – Classic Rock Review". 27 December 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  10. ↑ "Steve Winwood – While You See a Chance" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 9, 1981" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "Steve Winwood – While You See a Chance" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Steve Winwood – While You See a Chance". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "Steve Winwood: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  15. ↑ "Steve Winwood Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  16. ↑ "Steve Winwood Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  17. ↑ "Steve Winwood Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  18. ↑ "Top 100 1981-04-25". Cashbox Magazine . Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  19. ↑ "Top 100 Singles of 1981". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  20. ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1981". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  21. ↑ "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1981". Cashbox Magazine . Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
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