"You Can't Change That" is a song by

Raydio Raydio is an American funk and R&B vocal group formed in 1977 by Ray Parker Jr., with Vincent Bonham, Jerry Knight, and Arnell Carmichael. Career 1970s and Raydio After securing a record deal, the group scored their first big hit in early 1978 ...

from their second studio album '' Rock On''. Released as a single in 1979, it reached #9 on the US ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart and #3 on the soul chart.

Critical reception

Robert Hilburn Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As critic and music editor at the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays and profiles appeared in publications around the wor ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called "You Can't Change That" a "good natured" tune that's one of "the album's high points". Craig Lytle of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

also called the song "a laid-back yet very danceable track; it features the vocals of the mild-tempered

Ray Parker Jr. Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song to the 1984 film '' Ghostbusters''. Previously, Parker achieved a US top-10 h ...

and the distinctive tenor of Arnell Carmichael."

Personnel

Raydio

*Arnell Carmichael – vocals *

– vocals, keyboards, synthesizers

Additional personnel

Jack Ashford Jack Ashford (born May 18, 1934), known to his friends as Jashford, is an American musician widely known as the percussionist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the 1960s and early 1970s. Ashford is most famous for playing th ...

– percussion * Ollie E. Brown – drums, percussion, vocals *Charles Fearing – guitars *Larry Tolbert – drums, percussion *Cheryl Brown, Darren Carmichael, Valorie Jones, Francis Pearlman – background vocals

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
1979 singles Ray Parker Jr. songs Songs written by Ray Parker Jr. Arista Records singles 1979 songs {{1970s-pop-song-stub