Second Chance (38 Special song)
Encyclopedia
"Second Chance" is a song by American
rock
band 38 Special, from their eighth studio album, 1988's Rock & Roll Strategy
. Written by keyboardist
Max Carl
, guitarist
Jeff Carlisi and Cal Curtis, the song was released as the album's second single in 1989 and became the band's highest-charting song in the United States.
; according to Carlisi 38 Special's original frontman Don Barnes
didn't wish the band to record the song: "[he] didn't feel [it] was really a 38 [Special] song."
When Max Carl replaced Don Barnes in 38 Special in 1988 Carlisi played the demo of "I Never Wanted Anyone Else But You" for Carl who remarked that "the guy in the song sounded like a real jerk"; Carlisi's reply: "yeah, but a lot of people have been through this and want forgiveness" prompted Carl's response: "yeah, maybe the guy needs a second chance" leading to the song's being reworked with the new lyric: "A heart needs a second chance" as its main hook line. Carlisi would state: "I think lyrically what [original lyricist] Cal [Curtis] sketched out was brilliant, but the real thing that touches people is that one simple phrase 'a heart needs a second chance.' No one had said it like that before and that’s what makes a great song...[Carl] really brought it home and had such a marvelous voice. I mean, the guy could sing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' and you'd go buy it, he was so good. He really sold that song."
Hot 100
singles chart at number 78 in February 1989.
The song was the highest-charting Hot 100 single of the band's career, as it peaked at #6 in May 1989 and spent 21 weeks on the chart. The song reached #5 on the Singles Sales
chart and #9 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.
It also peaked at #2 on the Mainstream Rock chart, and became the band's first #1 single on the Adult Contemporary
chart.
It was Billboard magazine's "Adult Contemporary Song of the Year" for 1989. The single peaked at #2 in Canada
and #14 in Australia, where it spent 12 weeks on the chart.
Despite "Second Chance"'s affording 38 Special an apparent breakthrough hit, A&M Records
did not renew the band's contract. The group's next album, Bone Against Steel
, was released on Charisma Records
in 1991.
Although "Second Chance" would remain 38 Special's career record, Carlisi stated in 2009: "To this day when the name 38 Special comes up nobody says 'Second Chance'! It was our biggest hit but people always think of 'Hold On Loosely
' or 'Caught Up in You
' first."
n reggae
singer
Dennis Brown
's version of the song appears on various 1990s dancehall
compilation album
s.
Tonga
n-American Jawaiian trio Kontiki covered the song on their 2008 album Free Again.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band 38 Special, from their eighth studio album, 1988's Rock & Roll Strategy
Rock & Roll Strategy
Rock & Roll Strategy is the eighth studio album by southern rock band 38 Special, released in 1988. It was the first album to feature new vocalist and keyboardist Max Carl...
. Written by keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Max Carl
Max Carl
Max Carl Gronenthal is an American rock singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He is the current lead singer of the classic rock band Grand Funk Railroad...
, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Jeff Carlisi and Cal Curtis, the song was released as the album's second single in 1989 and became the band's highest-charting song in the United States.
Background and composition
"Second Chance" began as a song written by Jeff Carlisi and Cal Curtis in 1983 entitled "I Never Wanted Anyone Else But You" which was only recorded as a demoDemo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
; according to Carlisi 38 Special's original frontman Don Barnes
Don Barnes
Don Barnes is an American rock vocalist and guitarist. He is one of the founding members of the Southern rock band .38 Special...
didn't wish the band to record the song: "[he] didn't feel [it] was really a 38 [Special] song."
When Max Carl replaced Don Barnes in 38 Special in 1988 Carlisi played the demo of "I Never Wanted Anyone Else But You" for Carl who remarked that "the guy in the song sounded like a real jerk"; Carlisi's reply: "yeah, but a lot of people have been through this and want forgiveness" prompted Carl's response: "yeah, maybe the guy needs a second chance" leading to the song's being reworked with the new lyric: "A heart needs a second chance" as its main hook line. Carlisi would state: "I think lyrically what [original lyricist] Cal [Curtis] sketched out was brilliant, but the real thing that touches people is that one simple phrase 'a heart needs a second chance.' No one had said it like that before and that’s what makes a great song...[Carl] really brought it home and had such a marvelous voice. I mean, the guy could sing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' and you'd go buy it, he was so good. He really sold that song."
Release and reception
"Second Chance" entered the U.S. BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
singles chart at number 78 in February 1989.
The song was the highest-charting Hot 100 single of the band's career, as it peaked at #6 in May 1989 and spent 21 weeks on the chart. The song reached #5 on the Singles Sales
Hot 100 Singles Sales
The Hot Singles Sales chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures sales of commercial singles and is one of three component charts, along with the Hot 100 Airplay and the Hot Digital Songs, that determine the chart positions of singles on the...
chart and #9 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.
It also peaked at #2 on the Mainstream Rock chart, and became the band's first #1 single on the Adult Contemporary
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
chart.
It was Billboard magazine's "Adult Contemporary Song of the Year" for 1989. The single peaked at #2 in Canada
and #14 in Australia, where it spent 12 weeks on the chart.
Despite "Second Chance"'s affording 38 Special an apparent breakthrough hit, A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
did not renew the band's contract. The group's next album, Bone Against Steel
Bone Against Steel
Bone Against Steel is the ninth studio album by southern rock band 38 Special, released in 1991. It was their last album until their 1996 comeback of their tenth album Resolution and the last album to feature vocalist and keyboardist Max Carl....
, was released on Charisma Records
Charisma Records
Charisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...
in 1991.
Although "Second Chance" would remain 38 Special's career record, Carlisi stated in 2009: "To this day when the name 38 Special comes up nobody says 'Second Chance'! It was our biggest hit but people always think of 'Hold On Loosely
Hold On Loosely
"Hold On Loosely" is a 1981 rock song by 38 Special and the first song to appear on their 4th studio album Wild-Eyed Southern Boys in 1981. It is the first single from the album, and made it to #3 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and #27 on the Billboard Hot 100...
' or 'Caught Up in You
Caught Up in You
"Caught Up in You" is the first single released from Southern rock band 38 Special's 1982 album, Special Forces. It became the band's first number-one single on the Billboard Top Tracks rock chart. It also became one of the band's two top ten pop hits, reaching number ten on the Billboard Hot 100...
' first."
Other versions
JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Dennis Brown
Dennis Brown
Dennis Emmanuel Brown was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lovers rock, a sub-genre of reggae...
's version of the song appears on various 1990s dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s.
Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
n-American Jawaiian trio Kontiki covered the song on their 2008 album Free Again.
Track listing
7" vinyl, CD single- "Second Chance" (Carl, Carlisi, Curtis) - 4:33
- "Comin' Down Tonight" (Carl, Carlisi, Johnson, Van Zant) - 4:25
Chart performance
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 6 |
| U.S. Adult Contemporary | 1 |
| U.S. Mainstream Rock | 2 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
14 |
| Canadian Singles Chart RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
2 |