"Best Years of Our Lives" is a song recorded by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

band Modern Romance. It was released in October 1982 as a

7-inch single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

and

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

WEA The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...

. A Japanese and German edition was also released.

Formats

7-inch single

The 7-inch single was available in two versions: *''Best Years of Our Lives'' *''We've Got Them Running (The Counting Song)'' A limited edition "Xmas Party Mix" remix of the song became available as a 7-inch single over Christmas 1982, which received substantial radio airplay in place of the original version over Christmas 1982.

12-inch single

*''Best Years of Our Lives'' (Parts 1&2) Midnight Mix *''Best Years of Our Lives'' (Parts 1&2) Extended Mix *''We've Got Them Running'' (The Counting Song)

Chart position

History

"Best Years of Our Lives" was the biggest-selling single for Modern Romance. It was the first single to feature

Michael J. Mullins Michael J. Mullins (born Michael John Mullins on 9 November 1953) is an English lead vocalist, backing singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of salsa band Modern Romance (1982–85). Modern Romance achieved eight top 40 singles a ...

lead vocalist The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

and peaked at number 4 on the UK chart in late 1982. The single can be found on Modern Romance's hit albums '' Trick of the Light'' (1983) and ''

Party Tonight ''Party Tonight'' is the third album by English band Modern Romance. It was a compilation album released in 1983 on LP and Cassette tape by Ronco. A Japanese reissue on LP was released, titled Juanita, but is long out of print.Modern Romance, ...

'' (1983). It also made an appearance on their farewell single ''

Best Mix of Our Lives "Best Mix of Our Lives" is a song by English band Modern Romance. It was released in 1985 as a 7-inch and 12-inch single by WEA. The track is a mix of their biggest hits, and was the last single before the band split. It reached No. 81 on the UK ...

'' (1985) in a medley with four other singles: '' High Life'', ''

Don't Stop That Crazy Rhythm "Don't Stop That Crazy Rhythm" is a Top 20 single from UK band Modern Romance. It was released in 1983 as a 7-inch single, 7-inch picture disc, and 12-inch single by WEA. German and Spanish versions were also released. Formats 7-inch single *" ...

'', ''Everybody Salsa'', and ''Ay Ay Ay Ay Moosey''. It served as a

e-mixon the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of ''

'' and as a

e-mixon the

of the 12-inch version of ''Best Mix...''. The original

, ''We've Got Them Running (The Counting Song)'', is taken from the Modern Romance debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Adventures in Clubland ''Adventures in Clubland'' is the debut album by English band Modern Romance. It was released in 1981 on LP and Cassette tape by WEA, and in 2008 a CD reissue was released by Wounded Bird Records. Track listing ''All tracks written by Geof ...

'' and features the lead vocals of

Geoff Deane Modern Romance is a British pop music band that found popularity in the early 1980s. Formed in 1980 by previous members of an earlier band, the Leyton Buzzards, the band achieved a string of UK chart hits before the original band broke up in 1 ...

. It was written by Modern Romance founder member David Jaymes. The latest appearance of ''Best Years...'' is on the compilation CD ''Modern Romance: The Platinum Collection'' (2006). As part of a long string of cover-version songs,

Black Lace Black Lace are a British pop band, best known for novelty party records, including their biggest hit, "Agadoo". The band first came to the public eye after being selected to represent the UK in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, in which they f ...

released their re-creation in 1989.

Personnel

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*David Jaymes -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Robbie Jaymes -

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

*Paul Gendler -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

John Du Prez John Du Prez (born Trevor Jones; 14 December 1946) is a British musician, conductor and composer. He was a member of the 1980s salsa-driven pop band Modern Romance and has since written several film scores including ''Oxford Blues'' (1984), '' ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

*Andy Kyriacou -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

producer (music) A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

- vocals (on We've Got Them Running (The Counting Song))

Baha Men cover

In 2001, the song regained popularity after it was

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

by the Bahamian

soca Soca or SOCA may refer to: Places * Soča, a river in Slovenia and Italy * Soča, Bovec, Slovenia * Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, by ICAO code * Soca, a village in Banloc Commune, Timiș County, Romania * SoCa, Southern California Other u ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

group

Baha Men The Baha Men are a Bahamian junkanoo band formed in New Providence, Bahamas in 1977. They are best known for their Grammy Award-winning hit song "Who Let the Dogs Out". History Early years The Baha Men formed in 1977 as High Voltage, initia ...

and featured in the hit 2001

computer animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...

fairy tale comedy ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 book of the same name by William Steig. It is the first installment in the ''Shrek'' franchise. The film was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenso ...

''. It was the Baha Men's sixth single and reached number 49 on the Australian

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and number 70 on the

Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Hitparade (german: link=no, Schweizer Hitparade) is Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland. The Swiss charts include: * Singles Top 7 ...

. It also appeared on their album '' Move It Like This''.

Critical reception

The Baha Men cover received generally positive reviews. According to the ''

Baltimore Afro-American The ''Baltimore Afro-American'', commonly known as ''The Afro'' or ''Afro News'', is a weekly African-American newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the flagship newspaper of the ''AFRO-American'' chain and the longest-running Africa ...

'', the song was "shaping up to be a worthy follow-up to

Who Let the Dogs Out? "Who Let the Dogs Out" is a song performed by Bahamian junkanoo band Baha Men. Originally released by Anslem Douglas (titled "Doggie"), it was covered by producer Jonathan King who sang it under the name Fat Jakk and his Pack of Pets. He brough ...

," while Terry vanHorn of

MTV.com MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

called it a "playful dance song." Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen, also of MTV.com, referred to the song as ''upbeat''.MTV.com II
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Charts

References

{{authority control 1982 singles Modern Romance (band) songs 2001 singles Baha Men songs Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti Songs written by Geoff Deane Songs written by David Jaymes 1982 songs