Song of the Day 2/20: The Hooters, “Fightin’ on the Same Side”
No, I didn’t watch the “debate.” Open up your eyes, folks — we’re fighting on the same side.
In their early days gigging around Philadelphia, years before they signed a major-label record deal, the Hooters played a ska-influenced blend of pop and rock, sounding a bit like the Police. Their catchiest tune was this one, a highlight of their live shows at the time and one of the first they released as a 45, in 1981.
By 1983 major record labels were sniffing around, and the Hooters released an independently produced LP, “Amore,” with a reworked version of the song. This time around they goosed the arrangement by modulating the key right after the intro, but the song’s ska roots are still audible, if somewhat obscured by the heavier production.
By the time they got around to recording the song for their second Columbia album, “One Way Home,” in 1987, producer Rich Chertoff had added his own touches — so many that he received a co-writing credit. The beat was slower, the arrangement busier and the simple metaphor of the original cluttered by the recitation of six days of the week. It just goes to show how a producer can ruin a song as easily as improve it.
When the Hooters played the song live in 1990 at the Philly Freedom Fest, they used the 1987 arrangement. In recent years, they’ve gone back to the “Amore” version.
