"Cry for Help" is a song by British

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

singer

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song "Ne ...

, released as the first single from his third studio album, ''

Free Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procur ...

'' (1991). It was written by Astley and Rob Fisher, formerly one half of the 1980s pop outfits

Naked Eyes Naked Eyes are an English new wave band"All Eyes on Pete Byrne", ''Newsday'', 15 October 2013 that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. The band had four US top 40 singles. The group's first hit, "Always Something There to Remind Me", was ...

and

Climie Fisher Climie Fisher were a British pop duo formed by vocalist Simon Climie and former Naked Eyes keyboardist Rob Fisher. In 1987–88, they had two international hit singles: " Rise to the Occasion" and "Love Changes (Everything)". Career Simon Cli ...

. The

Andraé Crouch Andraé Edward Crouch (July 1, 1942 – January 8, 2015) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer and pastor. Referred to as "the father of modern gospel music" by contemporary Christian and gospel music profess ...

Choir provided backing vocals. The song is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, unlike Astley's other more dance-oriented hit singles such as "

Never Gonna Give You Up "Never Gonna Give You Up" is the debut single recorded by English singer and songwriter Rick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. It is one of Astley's most famous songs. It was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, and was released as ...

" (1987). Released as a single on 14 January 1991, "Cry for Help" reached number seven on both the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Astley's last top-10 hit in either country. It also reached number four in Canada and was a number-one hit on both the US and Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. The song's number-seven UK chart placing meant that Astley became the first male solo artist to have his first eight singles reach the British top 10. Its accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

received

heavy rotation In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely sh ...

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

. The song has been sung by Rick Astley in duet with

Søren Sko Søren Sko (born Søren Svenninggaard 4 July 1963 in Aalborg, Denmark) is a Danish singer and songwriter, best known as a member of the duo ''Sko/Torp''. The artist got his stage name, Sko, which means shoes in danish, from his father who was a sh ...

and covered by

Thomas Anders Bernd Weidung (born 1 March 1963), known by his stage name Thomas Anders, is a German singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the pop duo Modern Talking. Starting his singing career while still in schoo ...

(ex-

Modern Talking Modern Talking was a German pop music duo consisting of arranger, songwriter and producer Dieter Bohlen and singer Thomas Anders. They have been referred to as Germany's most successful pop duo, and have had a number of hit singles, reaching th ...

). In 2019, Astley recorded and released a "Reimagined" version of the song for his album '' The Best of Me''. On 27 April 2021, the original music video was upgraded to 1080p HD to celebrate 30 years of the song reaching number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Critical reception

Eleanor Levy from ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' described the song as "a Michael McDonald style ballad that, rather than shocking the world, cuddles it instead."

Track listings

* 12-inch single # "Cry for Help" – 6:26 # "Behind The Smile" – 4:33 # "Cry for Help" (Album version) – 4:50 * CD single # "Cry for Help" (7" version) – 4:20 # "Behind The Smile" – 4:37 # "Cry for Help" (12" version) – 6:27 * 7-inch and cassette single # "Cry for Help" (Edit) – 4:03 # "Behind The Smile" – 4:33

Personnel

* Rick Astley – lead vocals * Dave West – acoustic piano,

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, synthesizers * Hywel Maggs – guitars *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Colai ...

– drums *

Anne Dudley Anne Jennifer Dudley (née Beckingham; born 7 May 1956) is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genre ...

– string arrangements and conductor * The Andraé Crouch Choir – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* http://www.discogs.com/release/836168 {{Authority control 1991 songs 1991 singles 1990s ballads RCA Records singles Rick Astley songs Songs written by Rick Astley Songs written by Rob Fisher (British musician)