"Third Rate Romance" is a song written by Russell Smith, first recorded in Montreal in 1974 by

Jesse Winchester James Ridout "Jesse" Winchester Jr. (May 17, 1944 – April 11, 2014) was an American-Canadian musician and songwriter. He was born and raised in the southern United States. Opposed to the Vietnam War, he moved to Canada in 1967 to avoid b ...

and his band the Rhythm Aces, assisted by Smith. It became a hit the following year by the newly re-formed

Amazing Rhythm Aces Amazing may refer to: Music Performers * The Amazing, a Swedish indie rock band Albums * ''Amazing'' (Banaroo album), 2006 * ''Amazing'' (Elkie Brooks album), 1996 * ''Amazing'' (Marcia Hines album) or the title song, 2014 * ''Amazin'' (Tri ...

on its 1975 album '' Stacked Deck''. It was the band's debut single, reaching #11 on the U.S. country singles chart and #14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, as well as #1 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Country Tracks and Top Singles charts.

Content

The third-person lyrics tell the story of a man and woman who meet at a restaurant and depart together for what presumably will prove to be a

one-night stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

at a motel (the "Family Inn"). At the door of the room, she nervously says, "I've never really done this kind of thing before—have you?" He admits that he has, "but only a time or two."

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sammy Kershaw version

American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Sammy Kershaw Samuel Paul Kershaw (born February 24, 1958) is an American country music artist. He has released 16 studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. More than 25 singles have entered the Top 40 on the ...

covered the song on his 1994 album '' Feelin' Good Train'', from which it was released as a single in 1994. It peaked at #2 in the United States country chartsWhitburn, p. 224 and at #10 in Canada. Russell Smith provided backing vocals on Kershaw's version.

Music video

The music video was directed by Michael Merriman, and premiered in late 1994. It features a woman luring an older man into going to a motel with her. She steals his money and watch and then drives off with another man, as the old man tries to chase them down.

Chart performance

Other versions

recorded the song on his 1974 album ''Learn to Love It''. *

Ace Spectrum Ace Spectrum was an American R&B, soul and disco musical group that was popular in the mid-1970s. History Based in New York City, the group consisted of Rudy Gay Sr., Elliot Isaac, Henry "Easy" Zant, Aubrey "Troy" Johnson, and, on their final al ...

recorded a more funky version of the song on their 1975 album ''Low Rent Rendezvous''. *

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

recorded the song as a demo in 1975 on the album known as the "Flip City Demos" * Tom Jones recorded the song in 1976. *

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...

recorded the song on her 1982 album ''

Somewhere in the Stars ''Somewhere in the Stars'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Rosanne Cash, released on June 16, 1982, by Columbia Records; her third album for the label. It produced three '' Billboard'' hits in the country top 20, including the #4 "A ...

''. *

Fabulous Poodles The Fabulous Poodles were a British pre- new wave band formed in 1975. Known for quirky stage antics, such as exploding ukuleles, as well as songs with funny lyrics, The Fabulous Poodles toured with Meat Loaf, Sha Na Na, Tom Petty, Bill Brufor ...

recorded the song on their 1978 album '' Unsuitable''. * Terry Rudenick recorded the song in 2019 on his EP ''The Road Is Long''. *Another version was performed on The

Earl Scruggs Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-fin ...

Review Anniversary Special (1975).

References

{{Sammy Kershaw 1975 songs Sammy Kershaw songs 1994 singles The Amazing Rhythm Aces songs 1975 debut singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Russell Smith (singer) Song recordings produced by Buddy Cannon Song recordings produced by Norro Wilson ABC Records singles Mercury Records singles