Today’s classic song of the day was suggested by friend Phil Kitchel. The song is “Driver’s Seat” by the British band Sniff ‘n’ the Tears. The single, released in 1979, peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Driver’s Seat” was written and the demo originally recorded in 1975, before the band was even formed. According to singer/guitarist Paul Roberts, who wrote the thing, “Driver’s Seat” isn’t actually about driving, but rather about the “fragmented, conflicting thoughts and emotions that might follow the break-up of a relationship.” So now you know.
Sniff ‘n’ the Tears is a great example of a one-hit wonder band. Several members of the band had been playing together since 1974, but they didn’t form the band proper until 1977. They got a record deal with the small Cheswick label (which was distributed at the time by Atlantic Records) and released their first album, Fickle Heart in 1979. The band released three more albums (but no hit singles) before calling it quits in 1983. They got back together, with mainly new members, in 1992 for another album, and kept recording and performing live from there. They released their last album, Jump (a collection of acoustic versions of their older songs, including “Driver’s Seat”) in 2020.
And that’s pretty much all I know or care to know about Sniff ‘n’ the Tears. “Driver’s Seat” is a pretty good song that was all over the radio during the summer of 1979. It has kind of sort of a British pub rock feel, which isn’t a bad thing. You know it.
