| "Take Me Home" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) European vinyl single artwork | ||||
| Single byCher | ||||
| from the albumTake Me Home | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | January 29, 1979 (1979-01-29)[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1978 | |||
| Genre | Disco | |||
| Length |
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| Label | Casablanca | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Producer | Bob Esty | |||
| Cher singles chronology | ||||
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"Take Me Home" is a song recorded by American singer and actressCher for her fifteenthstudio album. The album, released in 1979, bore thesame name as the single. "Take Me Home" is adisco song conceived after Cher was recommended to venture into said genre after the commercial failure of her previous albums. The lyrics center around the request of a woman to be taken home by her lover. It was released as thelead single from theTake Me Home album in January 1979 throughCasablanca Records, pressed as a12-inch single.
Music critics gave positive reviews of "Take Me Home", highlighting its sound and melody. The single fared well in the United States charts, peaking at number eight on theBillboard Hot 100 and entering three of its component charts. In Oceania, it entered the singles chart of New Zealand at number 49. It was also a hit in Canada, reaching the top-ten of the singles chart.
After releasing the studio albumsStars (1975),I'd Rather Believe in You (1976),Cherished andTwo the Hard Way (1977), which became commercial failures, Cher went to the headquarters ofCasablanca Records, in order to start recording for a new full-length record. She was hoping to recordrock and roll-tinged music, though she was quickly advised byNeil Bogart to delve into disco music before recording with a genre that, according to him, she was not very good at. She was reluctant to take his advice, as she regarded disco as a "superficial" genre and did not believe it was "serious music". However, she took his advice, and started working with Bob Esty, who arranged and produced records forDonna Summer andBarbra Streisand. Esty was skeptical of Cher's decision to record disco music, although he changed his mind after he began recording with her. The first song he played her was a demo of "Take Me Home", which Cher said she liked.[2]
"Take Me Home" is adisco song running at a length of six minutes and forty-five seconds (6:45).[3] Its lyrics see Cher asking her partner to "take her home", which is an indirect way of expressing her desire to havesexual intercourse.[2] For the bookThe Persistence of Sentiment: Display and Feeling in Popular Music of the 1970s, Mitchell Morris commented on the song: "Ostensibly a plea to be chosen, the song relies on the musical force of the arrangement combined with Cher's vocal presence to turn this plea into an irresistible demand, the auditory equivalent of the showgirl's direct gaze."[4]
"Take Me Home" was released in the United States as a12-inch single at a 33 ⅓rpm by Casablanca Records, containing the original version of "Take Me Home" andB-side "Wasn't It Good". Therefore, it served as the album's lead single.[5] Promotional versions were also sent to radio stations in the United States with a different coloring on the vinyl, although with the same track listing.[6] In Germany and France, the vinyl was pressed by Philips and branded as a "Super Single" and substituted "Wasn't It Good" with "My Song (Far Too Gone)".[7][8] Some international pressings' vinyl sleeves had the same image as that of its parent album printed, featuring Cher dressed in a "gilded Viking warrior get-up", a winged bikini bottom, wings and a gold scabbard attached to her hip.[2]UGO Networks' K. Thor Jensen considered the sleeve to be her "bad taste highwater mark", and named her outfit "Flash Gordon-esque".[9] In the United Kingdom, when "Wasn't It Good" was issued as a vinyl single, "Take Me Home" served as its B-side.[10]
The staff ofBillboard magazine picked it as a recommended disco single and wrote: "[The song] is an upbeat, cleanly produced sound with a light, easy melody. It's sure to catch the ears of the disco set."[11] A reviewer forAllMusic singled out the track from its parent album, feeling it was one of its "track picks".[12] Having spent in total 20 weeks on the USBillboard Hot 100, "Take Me Home" peaked at number eight, thus making it Cher's first top 10 single since 1974's "Dark Lady". It also entered its component charts ofAdult Contemporary,Hot Dance Club Play (now the Hot Dance Club Songs) andHot Soul Singles (now Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs) charts, respectively, at numbers 19, two and 21.[13] It was certified Gold in the United States by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on May 3, 1979.[14]Billboard ran an article on Cher's biggest hits on the Hot 100, where "Take Me Home" was listed as the eleventh.[15] The single was a hit in Canada, where it reached the top 10 on the charts.[16] In New Zealand it reached number 49 and stayed for two weeks before leaving the chart.[17]
Cher performed the song on herTake Me Home Tour wearing a shiny silver wig along with a matching silver sequin dress. She performed the song for the first time in twenty years on her concerts from herDo You Believe? Tour, which ran from 1999 to 2000, wearing an almost identical silver sequined outfit she wore during the Take Me Home tour.[18] During herLiving Proof: The Farewell Tour (2002–05), she performed it in a similar fashion, changing the wig and shirt-and-pants set's color to a sparkly red. At her residence inLas Vegas atCaesars Palace, in the showCher at the Colosseum, Cher performed the song in a similar costume in turquoise color. Cher also performed the song in herClassic Cher shows with the turquoise costume from Caesars Palace.[19]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[14] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
| "Take Me Home" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | ||||
| Single bySophie Ellis-Bextor | ||||
| from the albumRead My Lips | ||||
| B-side | "Sparkle" | |||
| Released | August 13, 2001 (2001-08-13) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:06 | |||
| Label | Polydor | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Producer | Damian LeGassick | |||
| Sophie Ellis-Bextor singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Take Me Home" onYouTube | ||||
"Take Me Home" (also known as "Take Me Home (A Girl Like Me)") was covered by English recording artistSophie Ellis-Bextor for her debutstudio albumRead My Lips (2001). It contains rewritten lyrics by Ellis-Bextor, while British musician Damian LeGassick handled production and a few other tasks.Polydor Records released it as both a digital download and a CD single on August 13, 2001, alongside a remix and B-side track "Sparkle".
An accompanying music video, directed bySophie Muller, was included in the CD single release and features Ellis-Bextor in a variety of outfits and high-couture clothes. In 2018, "Take Me Home" was released in a re-recorded orchestral version as the second single off Ellis-Bextor's greatest hits compilationThe Song Diaries.
Ellis-Bextor first ventured into the music business as the frontwoman for indie rock bandtheaudience. A moderately successful band, they released an album withMercury Records and eLLeFFe, which spawned various singles, including "I Know Enough (I Don't Get Enough)", which reached number twenty-five on theUK Singles Chart.[27] After finishing up the promotion for their debut album, they recorded a demo tape for a potential second album, however, Mercury dropped them and they split shortly afterwards.[28] Following the disbandment of the group, Ellis-Bextor recorded vocals for DJSpiller's single "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)", which ultimately became a commercial success, peaking at number one on theUK Singles Chart in 2000.[29]
The track was produced by British musician Damian LeGassick, who also mixed and engineered the song. He additionally played the keyboards and the guitar while programming them. The bass guitar was played by Guy Pratt and programmed by Yoad Nevo. Jake Davis served as an engineer for mix; he also helmed the additional programming and sound design. The sound was remixed and additionally produced by Jeremy Wheatley at the Townhouse studios, while Ellis-Bextor's vocals were produced and recorded by Bacon & Quarmby at the Strongroom studios.[30]
Being a cover of Cher's song, the song retains writing credits for Bob Esty and Michele Aller, while Ellis-Bextor included new lyrics written by herself.[30] While both versions addresssexual intercourse, the publication noted that in the original version, Cher "sings romantically about 'makin' love'" while Ellis-Bextor sings "more aggressive" lyrics such as "only fair I get my way".[31] Even before Ellis-Bextor had released the cover, Cher's management deemed the rewritten lyrics overly sexual. ToNME, Ellis-Bextor stated:
I was told by my publishers that Cher heard my version and she doesn't like my new lyrics. She thinks it's too overtly sexual. But the original writers were happy for me to do that—Cher didn't actually write it so she didn't get approval about what happened to the song. Now apparently she's heard what I've done and she doesn't like it.[31]
Ellis-Bextor later admitted in her autobiography ‘Spinning Plates’ (page 197) that she had made this up, writing: “When it came to my first album, I think I felt the need to tell people I was a writer […] I had changed the lyrics and to make sure people knew I’d co-written the new lyrics (and I’m so sorry about this), I lied and made up a story that Cher didn’t like my new lyrics because they were too sexy. I am still a bit shocked that I was believed at all!”
"Take Me Home" was released byPolydor Records in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2001, and in the United States as an import. It was released as alegal digital download and an enhancedmaxiCD single; both featured the Ellis-Bextor cover, B-side "Sparkle" and a Jewels & Stone remix, while the latter contained the song'smusic video for the song.[32][33] The single was also pressed as an edition dubbed the "Mixes & Remixes" EP, released only in France.[34] A12-inch single was also pressed in the United Kingdom, with remixes.[35] TwoAllMusic writers reviewed the song. Upon its release as a single, Dean Carlson gave it a negative rating of one and a half star out of five, commenting: "[...] Ellis Bextor is well aware of what's required for beating the likes ofVictoria Beckham andEmma Bunton at their own game—simply take Cher's 'Take Me Home' and add one disco beat circaABBA's 'Fernando', being mindful to avoid its cocaine harmonies and the air of free love [...], techno-fy it with random fiddly bits, sing with the breathless detachment of someone getting a massage from a lumberjack, and chuck in some remixes just so everybody knows that you're not utterly out of step."[36] After its parent album's release, Kelvin Hayes denoted it as one of the album's strongest tracks, as did Toby Manning fromQ.[37][38] ForYahoo! Music, Gary Crossing wrote that the album "start[ed] well with the song", while describing it as Spiller-esque.[39] Betty Clarke ofThe Guardian regarded "Take Me Home" as a "pleasant enough song", though she called the production and Ellis-Bextor's vocals "more tired than sexy".[40]
On theUK Singles Chart, the song was a commercial success, debuting and peaking at number 2. While extensively analyzing the song, Justin Myers from theOfficial Charts Company observed that although the song had reached the runner-up position on the UK Singles Chart, it was largely overshadowed by "Murder on the Dancefloor".[41] In Netherlands and Germany, the song peaked at number 79, respectively on theDutch Top 40 andMedia Control Charts—staying on each chart for respectively 12 and 5 weeks. The song also reached top 20 on theRecorded Music NZ singles chart of New Zealand, where it stayed for 14 weeks before leaving the chart.
To promote the song,Sophie Muller filmed a music video for "Take Me Home" which was released on the song's CD single. The video was also included in hervideo albumWatch My Lips (2002).' It opens with Ellis-Bextor, dressed in a black one-strap dress, in front of a yellow-toned painting of a woman with red lips. Throughout the music video, Ellis-Bextor is seen in a variety of dresses and outfits—she appears standing in front of a green mural with a flowery large tablecloth, while dressing a see-through shirt, which reveals her black bra; other scene shows her with a dark green gown; other shows her with a flower and leaves pattern and holding a in front of a projected image which shows the Eiffel Tower from far. She also appears dressed in a green trench coat in another scene. Usually, costume and location scenes are accompanied by a change of gradient color, which are projected onto Ellis-Bextor. By the middle of the video, she walks across a street, surrounded by formally-dressed men, who dance around her and lift her. After the song's middle 8 plays, the lights of the street turn on and various French event posters are shown. The video concludes as they all enter a disco club. She also performed the track at theRead My Lips Tour (2002–03), serving as itsencore. Ellis-Bextor would shortly introduce the song, with green eye makeup and red lipstick, dressed in a cream-colored dress and pink heels. As the backing track started playing, she would start singing and clapping her hands as the public imitated her, and the audience was showered withconfetti.[42]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[56] | Silver | 264,000[55] |
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref(s). |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | August 13, 2001 |
| Polydor | [56][57] |
| Australia | CD | [58] |
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