Who Did It Better? Gettin' Away With Murder

Who Did It Better? 

Gettin' Away With Murder

My heart holds a special place for those songs which created plenty of industry buzz, but failed to land anywhere near the Top 40. Today's chapter of Who Did It Better? pertains to one such song, Gettin' Away With Murder, which, despite being taken on by four rather diverse artists, still managed barely a ripple on the charts or airwaves. 

Let's take a look at these various versions and try determine why this particular song continued to stall outside Top 40 glory. 

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Gettin' Away With Murder is a song written by Terry Britten, Sue Shifrin. Britten, who is responsible for a number of sizeable hits, is one of the co-writers of the Tina Turner smash What's Love Got To Do With It.

This song was first released in April of 1985 as a single by Mystic Rhythm, a group name used by Barcelona's John Michael Aboro on Polydor Records. While fondly remembered, their version only made a minor ripple on the club scene.

In October of that same year, Qwest Records' Patti Austin would release Gettin' Away With Murder as the second single from her album of the same name. While the album would contain two Top 40 hits, this was not one of them, Despite it being released with an accompanying video, the song only rose to #72 on the Hot 100. 

Meat Loaf would be the next to take on the song. Produced by Frank Farian, his Blind Before I Stop album, released on Atlantic, found the artist fully embracing the sounds of the 80's. Released as the second single from the album, it also had an accompanying video, yet failed to chart in any market.   

Randy Crawford would release it as a single from her her 1986 Warner Bros. album Abstract Emotions, but only as a 12" dance version. Sadly, it would also fail to chart in any market. 

As a four time loser, the song was seemingly put up on a shelf, never to be recorded again.

And that's the whole story.

Now? On to the competition.

The Song: Gettin' Away With Murder

The Competitors: Mystic Rhythm vs. Austin vs. Meat Loaf vs. Crawford

Gettin' Away With Murder - Mystic Rhythm

Gettin' Away With Murder - Patti Austin

Gettin' Away With Murder - Meat Loaf

Gettin' Away With Murder - Randy Crawford

Mystic Rhythm

I know that's just an electric guitar, but it sounds like a ukulele. Tommy gun drums. Some kind of slap/clap with an icy synth. This is sounding fun. There's no bottom, but welcome to 1985. 

Huh. With that additional rhythm track beneath all that came before it, plus the over-saturated vocals? It's a bit messy. My ears don't know what to pay attention to. There's a lot going on. His vocals are fine. Likable. This is fun. 

The bridge to the chorus? Nice texture change. Oh, I don't like those vocals. It sounds amateurish. Very pitchy. The chorus itself is fine. The arrangement is very noisy. That said, in 1985? I would totally dance to this. It's got some drama going. And the chorus is catchy. 

The vocals. It would be nice to get a sense of the actual singer. It's hard to extract his essence from all the reverb, echo and ghosting. It's fun, but simply too much. 

The actual bridge is fun. Those slap/claps? I'm starting to get into them. Interesting instrumental section. Very theremin-like. I like the deeper synth jabs and the helicopter rhythm. Aww... that's it? I wanted to go back to the chorus. Huh. Well, leave them wanting more, I guess. The 12" version clocks in at just under five minutes. Might be worth checking out. 

I like the song. I like a lot of what they did here. Very upbeat and fun, though I have issues with some of the vocals and they way they are over-treated. 

Patti Austin

Deep bass. Woodblock percussion. I like all of this. Nice guitar line thrown in there. The keyboard's driving the rhythm.  This reminds me of Carly Simon's Tired Of Being Blonde album. It is a little draggy for my taste, but nice. 

Huh. With a voice like Austin's why would you not put it on top of the mix? She's all ghost like, but a bit buried. It's as if the keyboards take precedence. 

Don't roll your eyes, but I think it's a shame Melissa Manchester didn't record this song. Patti's vocals are lovely, but they're not cutting through. Her sound is nicely rounded and pretty. She needs to be a bit more biting with her attack in order to provide a bit more rhythm. Despite all the clunky percussion, this isn't very danceable. "No, not you." She's so... polite. Where's the attitude? 

This is a lovely slice of pop, but it's too damn polite. She opens up on the chorus, and while that sound is pure Patti Austin, it's not a good fit for the song. This song is a woman calling out her man and, dammit, Janet - I want to hear some nasty.  Austin is simply singing a pretty song prettily. 

That instrumental bridge sounds like a prerecorded synthesizer demo - as in, zero personality. 

Ooo... I like what they do with the chorus breakdown. Fun choir stuff. But then it goes on in that manner far too long... it needs to kick back in much sooner. Only it never does! I was hoping she'd come back like a tornado with the chorus. Instead we simply fade away.

Huh. Well. Interesting arrangement. But, vocally, it lacks bite. Kind of a miss for me.  

Meat Loaf

What a difference a year makes. That intro sounds like every song from this time period. I expect Whitney Houston to start singing any second. 

Lots of industrial sounding synths and treated guitars and a sense of rhythm hammered so hard even Wonderbread Xtians can dance to it. It's like the producer has gone out of his way to destroy music. 

But it is Meat Loaf. So it has to 'rock.' John Parr (whom Meat Loaf also does a duet with on this album) and the guy from Duran Duran mined this sound for all it was worth, appearing on countless soundtrack albums with what was basically the same song, the same formula. It was an awful clutter of sounds to endure with differentiating them from one another being the most challenging part of listening to them. 

Ugh. Meat Loaf is not in good form. He's pitchy and thus all the vocal treatment. Also, the vocals are rather buried in the mix underneath all that  constantly falling concrete. It's like music bytes. Hard to get a sense of the song at all. 

Those guitars are so incredibly loud. Such a shame. Not that the vocals are all that wonderful. Maybe this could have worked with a better vocalist? Those over-treated vocals are destroying my love for this song. This arrangement is cacophonous, for sure, yet it feels so pedestrian.  

The vocals on the bridge are even worse than the rest. When he goes for that yell/stretch and comes up so painfully short? Truly horrendous. I wonder, did someone kick him in the groin at that exact moment?

I wonder who the backing vocalist is on the final chorus? It must be Elain Goff. Too bad she didn't sing the whole thing. 

That weird breakdown thing at the end doesn't work for me. However, they do the right thing here (although I could do without the producer's vocal contribution) by reintroducing the full on chorus at the end. It really picks the song back up. And that is how this song should fade out.

I love Meat Loaf. When he's on? He's golden.

This one is tin, at best. 

Randy Crawford

Standard 12" dance mix rhythm track. Some very Dazz Band sounding synth and string stings; everybody wanted a little slice of Prince. By the time that guitar enters the picture I am already dancing. 

I'm in love. So, Randy Crawford, for those unfamiliar, is one amazing vocalist who never got her due. I am so happy that they placed her vocals on top of the mix. She simply hovers. And such a lovely sound. Yes, treated, but not overly so. The slight reverb they've flavored this with has more to do with the times than the need to bolster a subpar vocalist. 

Eh. It's getting a bit messy. And the bridge into the chorus... adding tinker bells. There's a lot going on. And they rush their way into the chorus without giving it its own personality. Boo. Her delivery on the chorus also lacks the rhythmic quality that sells it. Too bad. Hate the backing vocal sting (Mur-dahhh.) Ick. 

Well, it seems that 1985-1986 was simply a time when vocalists took a backseat to noisy, industrial, kitchen sink arrangements. How does a vocalist compete with that? I just want to run into the booth and say... turn that down. Get rid of that. Give that singer some room to breathe. Let her fill the space. And that's the main issue, here. There's no room for the vocalist. None. It's like that scene in The Poseidon Adventure, when they have their faces up to the hull, treading water while desperately trying to find an air pocket. 

I keep feeling assaulted by all the additional synths. Individually, it's all fine. Interesting. But when you pile it on and keep throwing things into the mix? It's like having garbage thrown at you. 

And, again, as with Patti Austin's version, Crawford lacks attitude. I want a sharper attack. I want Melissa Manchester in muscle-pop mode. I want Patti LaBelle doing Patti LaBelle. 

Of the various instrumental breaks? This one works best. It's mysterious. Sounds sneaky, slinky. Which is what the song is about. 

I don't need 16 bars of a lone drum machine. Zzzz.

It's obvious the intent here was to have Crawford compete with Control era Janet Jackson. With some tweaking? This could have done just that. As is? it's a mess of sound drowning a talented, but ill-informed vocalist. 

The Verdict

I had to go back and listen to Mystic Rhythm's version. Yes, their version is a bit messy (and amateurish). However, they come the closest to doing the song justice. 

I don't think any of these versions work completely. The perfect version of this song? Perhaps it was never recorded. These artists are not the right singers to take this on.

All the versions lack bottom, but deep bass really didn't become a thing until house music came to the forefront in the 90's. And they all feature messy, messy arrangements with busy production work. It's as if the vocalist is a secondary consideration. None of it does service to the song itself. 

I like the song. It's fun. It's got chops and hooks. It should've been a hit. Not with these versions, but a hit nonetheless. 

A real pity.

Because, today? I came to dance!

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And that's enough from me! I did have fun. Travelling in the Wayback Machine is always a blast. 

Now? It's your turn! Let me know what you think - leave your thoughts in the comments section. You know how I love to hear from you.

That's all for now.

Until next time...

Thanks for reading (and listening!)

Gettin' Away With Murder - Patti Austin

Gettin' Away With Murder - Meat Loaf