Go All the Way (song)

This article is about the Raspberries song. For the Isley Brothers song, see Go All the Way (album).
"Go All the Way"
Single by Raspberries
from the album Raspberries
B-side "With You in My Life"
Released July 1972
Genre Power pop
Length 3:10
Label Capitol Records
Writer(s) Eric Carmen
Producer(s) Jimmy Ienner
Certification Gold (U.S.)
Raspberries singles chronology
"Don't Want to Say Goodbye"
(1972)		 "Go All the Way"
(1972)		 "I Wanna Be With You"
(1972)

"Go All the Way" is a hit single by Raspberries, released in July 1972 written by band leader Eric Carmen. The song reached the Top 5 on three principal U.S. charts, #5 on the Billboard Hot 100,[1] #4 on Cashbox[2] and #3 on Record World. The tune sold more than 1.3 million copies and earned the band their first Gold Record Award. It was their second single release, their all-time biggest U.S. hit, and appeared on their debut LP, Raspberries.

Because of its sexually suggestive lyrics, considered risqué for the day, the song was banned by the BBC.[3][4]

The repeat of the words "come on", in the bridge or middle section, is loosely based on the "come on"s that The Beatles did in "Please Please Me" (another sexually suggestive song).

The tune ranked at #33 on Billboard‍ '​s Top 100 Singles of 1972 year-end list (#39 on Cashbox‍ '​s year-end best-sellers countdown). In 1989, Spin magazine named "Go All the Way" in its list of the "100 Greatest Singles of All Time", ranking it at #91. "Go All the Way" appeared in Blender magazine's July 2006 issue as one of its "Greatest Songs Ever".

Director Cameron Crowe, a Raspberries fan, used the song in his 2000 film Almost Famous. Matthew Sweet and Bangles member Susanna Hoffs included a faithful rendition of the song in their 2009 collaboration Under the Covers, Vol. 2. The Killers recorded a cover of the song for the 2012 film Dark Shadows, an adaptation of the 1966–1971 TV series Dark Shadows.[5][6] The song briefly appears in the 2014 Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy.

In interviews with hard rock/metal personality Eddie Trunk, he states that this song, largely due to its distorted guitar riffs, was the song that first got him into hard rock.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1972) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 5
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [7] 4
U.S. Record World 3
Canadian RPM [8] 5

Year-end charts

Chart (1972) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [9] 33
Canada 80

References

  1. ↑ "Go All The Way by The Raspberries". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  2. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 10/14/72". Cashbox. 1972-10-14. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  3. ↑ Jordy Kasko (2012-05-03). "Surfer Blood make Raspberries’ “Go All the Way” more of a raw rock song". The-tune.net. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  4. ↑ "Boats Against The Current". Ericcarmen.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  5. ↑ Hogan, Marc (2012-05-14). "Hear the Killers Cover the Raspberries' 'Go All the Way'". SPIN. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  6. ↑ Bain, Becky (2012-05-11). "The Killers Cover The Raspberries’ “Go All The Way” For Tim Burton’s ‘Dark Shadows’". Idolator.com. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  7. ↑ http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19721014.html
  8. ↑ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4217&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=592s0rt79l8s43v9tbma18ocq6
  9. ↑ http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1972.htm

External links