80's Hit Song Review: "If It Ain't One Thing, It's Another" by Richard "Dimples" Fields (1982)

U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Peak Position No. 47

Backstory: Fields was born in 1941 or 1942 in either New Orleans or San Francisco (Not too much is known about his early life, unfortunately). He began singing professionally in the early 70's, purchasing a San Francisco cabaret called the Cold Duck Music Lounge, where he headlined. He got his "Dimples" nickname from a female admirer who remarked that he always had a smile on his face. He signed to the new defunct Boardwalk Records label in 1981, when he then recorded his first R&B hit, a cover of the Penguins classic 50's one hit wonder, "Earth Angel" during that same year. The following year, he released this breakthrough single which went all the way to No. 1 on the R&B Charts and made it near the Top 40 on the Hot 100. Despite having some more R&B Chart hits, this song would be his one and only Hot 100 Chart entry. He even worked as a record producer with artists such as the Ohio Players and even Pat Benatar. After having many unsuccessful releases, he released some more music simply under his "Dimples" nickname on the Columbia and Life Records music labels. Sadly, he died on January 12th, 2000 as the result of a stroke.

The Review: R&B was never really quite a quote-on-quote "weird" or "bizarre" musical genre, but while this song definitely isn't really strange or weird, the lyrics and spoken word content definitely make this tune a bit unusual. From Fields rambling about having an ugly girlfriend giving birth to his child, to his need of having to read the Holy Bible, this song has lyrics that are literally just all over the place and rather depressing, such as, "...phony ego trips, everyone has flipped..." and "...suicide is way up..." just show you how odd and depressing the lyrics of this song really are. Another good name for this song could've been "Life's Many, Many Problems, Bad and Egotistical Power Hungry People, and Depression, Money, and Living Problems in America Today." Fields voice is smooth and a bit corny, but the backup singers are pretty soulful and fine and the strings and soft instruments make this tune a fine yet somewhat odd R&B listen. I think the reason why this song may of been this successful is just because of how different it was for a soft extended R&B style tune. Either way, it's a very interesting and even somewhat cool and unique listening experience. And that is exactly why I decided to review this tune.

Final rating: 7/10

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