WE SALUTE @ IT'S LATE

It's Late Ricky Nelson Produced by Chris Neil, It's Late was Shaky's first release of 1983. It followed the Special Edition EP (aka Blue Xmas EP) and was released on the 16th July spending a total of 7 weeks on the UK chart. It was the first single to appear on the forthcoming The Bop Won't Stop, released in November '83.

It's Late was a cover of a classic Ricky Nelson track. It was originally a hit in 1959 in both the US (No.9) and UK (No.3). It was written by Dorsey Burnette who was actually a big fan of Ricky's. In fact, Dorsey sat on the doorstep of Ricky's home in LA with penned songs for him. Dorsey's songwriting pal John Campbell bought a copy of 'A Map To The Stars' which showed the location of Ricky Nelson's home. This persistence worked and Nelson was impressed with their work, enough so that he recorded 'Believe What You Say You Say' and 'It's Late' among others.

Ricky actually signed briefly to Epic too in 1975, although it was short lived. He signed to Capital shortly after. Ricky died in a plane crash on New Years Eve 1985. He was 45.

It's Late Backside Shaky had the biggest hit with It's Late in Ireland, reaching No.3. It peaked at No.11 in the UK and No.18 in Germany. In fact, the previous single in Germany was Your Ma Said You Cried In Your Sleep Last Night which was not released in the UK. The B-Side of Your Ma.. was the Shaky penned 'If It's Good For You (Baby) which later featured on the UK It's Late. As it was already used for 'Your Ma' the B-Side was changed on the Europe It's Late release to 'Josephine (Live)'. Seeing as the Blue Xmas/Special Edition EP which featured Josephine (live) was not released in Europe, it seemed perfect to include that track on the non UK edition.

There was no 12" released for It's Late, although a superb shaped picture disc was issued in the UK. The spanish 7" release included the lyrics on reverse of the sleeve as did the Brazilian release. In fact, the release in Brazil had a totally different sleeve in black & white and played, strangely, on 33/3 RPM. Some lucky collectors will also own the Spanish edtion as a rare one sided promo.

It's Late Shaped Picture Disc The video for It's Late is much loved too with a great quirky Vampire story. The last line sung in the song is "It's Late" and was mimed by the black chauffer driver when in fact, it was actually sung by the white singer Alan Carvell.

HERE'S SOME CHART STATS...

23/07/1983 New entry at 23
30/07/1983 Up to 12
06/08/1983 Up and peaking at 11
13/08/1983 Down to 14
20/08/1983 Down to 22
27/08/1983 Down to 32
03/09/1983 Down to 56 in it's final appearance.

I always love hearing It's Late live nowadays,
especially with the key change and repeated verse.