Today’s classic song of the day was written and originally recorded by Jackie DeShannon—although it was a bigger hit for the group the Searchers. The song is “When You Walk in the Room” and Ms. DeShannon released her version as a B-side to her “‘Till You Say You’ll Be Mine” single in November of 1963. She re-released it as an A-side in September of 1964, although it failed to chart—possibly because of a more successful cover.
That cover was by the Searchers, who released their version of “When You Walk in the Room” in September of 1964. Their single, which is the one you no doubt remember, went to #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. It did much better in Canada (#21), Ireland (#4), the UK (#3), and Australia (#1).
“When You Walk in the Room” is a terrific tune that has been covered by many other artists over the years, including Australian group the Sports in 1978 (#42 on the Australian charts); country singer Stephanie Winslow in 1981 (#29 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart); British singer Paul Carrack in 1987 (#90 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #48 in the UK); country singer Pam Tillis in 1994 (#2 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart); and former-ABBA singer Agnetha Fältskog in 2004 (#11 on the Swedish charts).
Jackie DeShannon was both a terrific performer and a top-notch songwriter. Her hits for others include “Dum Dum” for Brenda Lee in 1961, “(He’s) The Great Imposter” for the Fleetwoods in 1961, “Break-a-Way” for Irma Thomas in 1964, and “Bette Davis Eyes” for Kim Carnes in 1981. Jackie had several hits on her own with her own material, most notably “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” (#4 in 1969); she also had a huge hit with her recording of a Burt Bacharach/Hal David tune, “What the World Needs Now is Love” in 1965. She’s still around today, 83 years old.
