Alan Parsons Project “Damned if I Do” charted

Damned if I Do The Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson (see lyrics here) First Charted: September 29, 1979 Peak: 27 US, 30 CB, 28 HR, 25 RR, 10 CL, 16 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.55 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Each of the first two Alan Parsons Project albums produced a top-40 hit, but the highest charting song from 1978’s Pyramid was “What Goes Up” at #87. That fall-off suggested the Project’s fourth album, Eve, might continue the commercial slide, but the lead single, “Damned if I Do,” assured the band wasn’t done yet when it became their highest charting hit yet at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100. As Richard Challen says on the Spandex & Synths website, “it was an early indication of things to come.” SS Indeed. The collective would go on to reach greater heights in the 1980s with top 20 hits “Games People Play,” “Time,” “Don’t Answer Me,” and the #3 hit “Eye in the Sky.” The two primary members, Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, worked with a slew of session musicians and vocalists over the years to craft a “cultivated respect via a small-but-loyal cult audience: sci-fi geeks, audiophiles, musicians into ‘the craft,’ and basically anyone with a decent pair of headphones or an expensive stereo system.” SS Throughout the Alan Parson Project’s history, they leaned on a number of vocalists – as many as fifteen on the first four albums alone. SS In this case, the singing was handled by Lenny Zakatek. At the time, he was with the group Gonzalez, who had a disco hit with “Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet.” However, he had already worked with the Project on the previous two albums and was “dubbed ‘The Voice’ of the Project in certain circles.” SS After all, of the group’s twelve singles released from 1977 to 1980, he sings on the three that hit the top 40. That included this song, 1977’s “I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You” and the top-20 hit “Games People Play” in 1980. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Alan Parsons DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Eric Woolfson SS Spandex & Synths (3/23/2020). Review by Richard Challen. Related Links: First posted 7/7/2022.