"Hey Deanie" is a song written by Eric Carmen. It was a popular hit single by Shaun Cassidy that was released the last week of November, 1977 from his album, Born Late. It was his third and final top 10 hit, peaked at number seven for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, spending four months on the chart from late 1977 to early 1978.[2] As with Cassidy's prior singles, this song also became a gold record.[3]
| "Hey Deanie" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US single picture sleeve, using image of parent album | ||||
| Single by Shaun Cassidy | ||||
| from the album Born Late | ||||
| B-side | "Strange Sensation" | |||
| Released | November 1977 | |||
| Recorded | 1977 | |||
| Genre | Pop[1] | |||
| Length | 3:37 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Eric Carmen | |||
| Producer(s) | Michael Lloyd | |||
| Shaun Cassidy singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| Listen to "Hey Deanie" on YouTube | ||||
"Hey Deanie" is ranked as the 68th biggest American hit of 1978.[4] Chicago radio superstation WLS, which gave the song much airplay, ranked "Hey Deanie" as the 45th most popular hit of 1978.[5] It reached as high as number 6 on their survey of January 21, 1978.[6]
"Hey Deanie" became an international Top 40 hit in both Canada and Australia, reaching #21 on station 2NUR in Sydney.[7]
Background
edit"Hey Deanie" was the second hit written by Carmen for Cassidy, the first being "That's Rock 'n' Roll," from Cassidy's previous album. Both songs charted concurrently with Carmen's own hit, "She Did It". Carmen recorded "Hey Deanie" himself for his 1978 album, Change of Heart, and it was also featured as the B side of the title track's 45 RPM release, which became a Top 20 hit.
Carmen wrote the song after seeing the film Splendor in the Grass, starring Natalie Wood as "Deanie" and Warren Beatty as her lover.[8] It was the second of two songs inspired by the movie, the other being "Splendor in the Grass", penned and sung in 1966 by Jackie DeShannon.
As with Cassidy's bigger hits, his version of "Hey Deanie" was featured in one of the episodes of The Hardy Boys, as performed by Cassidy's character Joe Hardy. The episode is entitled "Oh Say Can You Sing" (season 2, episode 14).[9]
Chart performance
editCover versions
edit"Hey Deanie" was covered by power pop artist Gary Charlson in 1981, as a live version. It was included on his Real Live album.[16]
Later uses
editA portion of the lyrics, "I stand accused, I'm in league with the forces of darkness; an incurable believer in the magic of a midnight sky" is being used for Cassidy's 2020–2023 American concert tour, The Magic of a Midnight Sky.[17]
References
edit- ^ Cafarelli, Carl (1998). "Shaun Cassidy". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 209.
- ^ "Shaun Cassidy lyrics". Top40db.net. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ^ "1977 Singles - Month By Month". Superseventies.com. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1978 - Longbored Surfer - Charts". longboredsurfer.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ "1978 Countdown : WLS". wlshistory.com.
- ^ "WLS MUSICRADIO 89". Oldiesloon.com. 1978-01-21. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
- ^ 2SM 1270 AM survey, 24 March 1978
- ^ "Hey Deanie by Shaun Cassidy Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ^ TV.com (1979-02-28). "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries Quotes, Facts & Trivia". TV.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 58. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Music: Top 100 Songs | Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.com. 1978-01-21. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
- ^ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
- ^ "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl".
- ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
- ^ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
- ^ "Gary Charlson - Real Live Gary!". Discogs.com. 1981. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
- ^ "Shaun Cassidy". shauncassidy.com. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
