"I Surrender" is a song written by former

Argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

guitarist and singer

Russ Ballard Russell Glyn Ballard (born 31 October 1945) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Originally coming to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist for the band Argent, Ballard became a songwriter and producer by the late 1970s. His co ...

and first released by

Head East Head East is an American rock band, originally from East Central Illinois. The band was formed by vocalist John Schlitt, guitarist Danny Piper, keyboardist Roger Boyd, bassist Larry Boyd, and drummer Steve Huston. They met and formed the ba ...

as a single in October 1980 from their sixth album ''U.S. 1.'' It is better known for being a hit for

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

the following year, reaching number 3 on 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 ...

Rainbow version

Released in January 1981, the song became the band's biggest hit in the UK. Originally, some backing vocals were recorded by

Graham Bonnet Graham Bonnet (born 23 December 1947) is an English rock singer. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri.Pr ...

, but after he quit the band, lead and backing vocals were sung by his replacement

Joe Lynn Turner Joe Lynn Turner (born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito, August 2, 1951) is an American singer known for his work in the hard rock bands Rainbow, Yngwie J. Malmsteen and Deep Purple. During his career, Turner fronted and played guitar with pop ro ...

. Heavy metal band

Praying Mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They ha ...

band were originally in the running to release the song and had already recorded the backing track and were adding the vocals when they were told to stop as Rainbow, being the bigger name, had been given the nod to record and release the song. 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 ...

"Vielleicht Das Nächster Zeit" is an instrumental song written by

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...

and

Don Airey Donald Smith Airey (born 21 June 1948) is an English musician who has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, after the retirement of Jon Lord. He has had a long and productive career, playing with such acts as Gary Moore ...

and was titled with the English equivalent in brackets, "Maybe Next Time". Blackmore made a grammatical error with the German title, which was corrected for later releases as "Vielleicht das nächste mal". In 2017, the revived band, under the name Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, released a re-recording of the song as a digital single, with vocals from the current lead singer Ronnie Romero.

Track listing

7": Polydor / POSP 221 (UK) # "I Surrender" – 4:01 # "Vielleicht Das Nächster Zeit (Maybe Next Time)" – 3:23 12" Promo: Polydor / PRO 147 (US) # "I Surrender" – 4:01 # "Spotlight Kid" – 4:52

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other versions

* In 1981, Finnish singer

Markku Aro Markku Aro (; born Markku Tuomas Puputti on 3 February 1950 in Mouhijärvi, Finland), is a Finnish singer who represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 in Ireland with the pop-duo . They appeared with the song " Tie uuteen päivä� ...

covered the song in Finnish, titled "Ensi kertaa" for his album ''Mun suothan tulla vierees sun''. *In 1997, Cherie &

Marie Currie Marie Michelle Currie (born November 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and artist. Currie is best known for playing in a band with her identical twin Cherie Currie called Cherie & Marie Currie. Their song " Since You Been ...

re-released their 1980 album ''

Messin' with the Boys ''Messin' with the Boys'' (1980) is the second album by American singer Cherie Currie, and the first to feature her sister Marie Currie as a major contributor. Their band was called ''Cherie and Marie Currie''. Marie was a guest vocalist on Cher ...

'', with a cover of the song included as a bonus track * In 2001, Finnish metal band

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...

released a live cover on their 2001 compilation album ''

Intermission An intermission, also known as an interval in British and Indian English, is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening. It should not be confused with an entr'acte (F ...

''. * In 2002, German metal band

At Vance At Vance is a neoclassical/power metal band formed in Germany. They were formed by vocalist Oliver Hartmann (ex-Centers) and guitarist Olaf Lenk (ex-Velvet Viper) in 1998. Biography With the combined credentials of vocalist Oliver Hartmann a ...

covered the song as a bonus track for their album ''Only Human''. * In 2004, Japanese metal band Concerto Moon covered the song as a bonus track for their album ''After the Double Cross''. * In 2009, Swedish pop singer

Tove Lo Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born 29 October 1987), known professionally as Tove Lo (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She has been called "Sweden's darkest pop export" by ''Rolling Stone.'' She is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take o ...

(under the alias Sue Ellen) covered the song for her album ''Sunday Hangover''. * In 2010, German house music duo

The Disco Boys The Disco Boys are a German house music DJ and production duo from Hamburg, which consists of Raphael Krickow (* 1966) and Gordon Hollenga (* 1969). They play a mixture of disco classics and modern house songs. The Disco Boys have played at the ...

covered the song as a single for their album ''Volume 10''.

References

{{authority control 1980 songs 1981 singles Rainbow (rock band) songs Songs written by Russ Ballard Song recordings produced by Roger Glover Rock ballads Polydor Records singles