I Can't Take It

"I Can't Take It"
Single by Cheap Trick
from the album Next Position Please
B-side "You Talk Too Much"
Released November 1983[1]
Format 7"
Genre Power pop[2]
Length 3:26
Label Epic Records
Songwriter(s) Robin Zander
Producer(s) Todd Rundgren
Cheap Trick singles chronology
"Dancing the Night Away"
(1983)		 "I Can't Take It"
(1983)		 "Next Position Please"
(1983)

"Dancing the Night Away"
(1983)		 "I Can't Take It"
(1983)		 "Next Position Please"
(1983)

"I Can't Take It" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick, released in 1983 as the second single from their seventh studio album Next Position Please. The song was written by Robin Zander (his only solo credit on a Cheap Trick song) and produced by Todd Rundgren.[3]

Writing

After the band's original bassist Tom Petersson left in 1980, Pete Comita was hired as a replacement, only to leave the band by 1981. Later, Comita had stated that he co-wrote "I Can't Take It" and that Zander had stolen it from him.[4] In a 2009 interview with guitarist Rick Nielsen, the interviewer asked if Nielsen would comment on the claim that Comita wrote the song. Nielsen replied: "That's the first time I've heard about that. But it wasn't "I Can't Take It". He did write "Reach Out" which was on the Heavy Metal movie soundtrack. But he wrote that song with a guy named Bob James. He originally told us he had written it, but we later found out, he didn't write it (alone)."[5] Speaking to Punk Globe in 2012, drummer Bun E. Carlos said: "Pete might of came up with [the] riff. But he didn't write that song, Robin wrote that song. Robin had been working on that song for years!"[6]

Release

Although Rundgren had advised Epic to release "I Can't Take It" as the album's lead single, the label were less enthusiastic about the song. They had the band record a version of The Motors' "Dancing the Night Away". When that single failed to chart, the label released "I Can't Take It".[7] "I Can't Take It" was released by Epic on 7" vinyl in North America only.[8][1] The B-side, "You Talk Too Much", also featured on the cassette (and later CD) version of Next Position Please. A promotional version of the single was also issued on 7" vinyl in the US, which featured "I Can't Take It" on both sides of the vinyl.[9]

Promotion

A music video was filmed to promote the single.[10] The band performed the song on the American late night talk show Thicke of the Night,[11] hosted by Alan Thicke.[12] They also performed the song on the German TV show Rockpalast, along with numerous other tracks.[13] In 1984, the band performed the song on the show Rock Rolls On (RRO), along with "I Want You to Want Me".[14] The episode was hosted by Laura Branigan and Chuck Berry.[15]

Critical reception

In a review of Next Position Please, Cash Box stated: "Rundgren offers his nimble fingers to mold Cheap Trick into a viable pop force once again, and just judging from the first number - a sensational bass-driven song called "I Can't Take It" that sounds like an outtake from a vintage Beatles' session - he's succeeded admirably."[16] Rolling Stone commented: "A better title for this album would have been 'Next Producer Please', because from the signature harmonies of "I Can't Take It" to the predictable chorus of "Heaven's Falling," it's clear that this album belongs as much to producer Todd Rundgren as to the members of Cheap Trick".[17] AllMusic said: "The bright surfaces with the guitars and keyboards melding so tightly with the vocal harmonies they’re inseparable, produce a sound that is uncannily reminiscent of Oops! Wrong Planet, but Rundgren also helps keep an eye on quality control, letting Robin Zander's terrific "I Can't Take It" open the album".[18]

In a review of the 1996 box-set Sex, America, Cheap Trick, Billboard described the song as a "Beatlesque gem".[19] In the 2007 book Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide, author John M. Borack picked the song as one of twenty stand-out tracks from the band's career. He wrote: "This is pure, unfiltered power pop for the masses, with Todd Rundgren's bright 'n' shiny production, giving it a radio-friendly sheen. One of the great, semi-lost Cheap Trick numbers, and one they still perform live."[20]

Cover versions

  • In 2011, Todd Rundgren released his own version of the song on his 2011 solo album (re)Production.[21]

Track listing

7" single
  1. "I Can't Take It" - 3:26
  2. "You Talk Too Much" - 1:55
7" single (US promo)
  1. "I Can't Take It" - 3:26
  2. "I Can't Take It" - 3:26

Personnel

Cheap Trick
Additional personnel
  • Todd Rundgren - producer, guitar, engineer, mixer
  • Paul Klingberg - engineer

References

  1. 1 2 "Cheap Trick - I Can't Take It / You Talk Too Much - Epic - USA - 34-04216". 45cat. 2015-09-09. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  2. ↑ Borack, John M. (2007). Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide. Not Lame Recordings. p. 42. ISBN 0-9797714-0-4.
  3. ↑ "Cheap Trick - Next Position Please at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  4. ↑ "Pete Comita - eNotes.com Reference". Enotes.com. 1980-08-26. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  5. ↑ "Cheap Trick: 'Usually The Song Will Dictate What We Do With It' | Interviews @". Ultimate-guitar.com. 2009-08-19. Archived from the original on 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  6. ↑ http://www.punkglobe.com/bunecarlosinterview0512.php
  7. ↑ Hayes, M.; Sharp, K. (1998). Reputation Is a Fragile Thing. Poptastic. ISBN 978-0-9662081-0-8.
  8. ↑ "Cheap Trick - I Can't Take It / You Talk Too Much - Epic - Canada - 34 04216". 45cat. 2012-12-02. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  9. ↑ "Cheap Trick - I Can't Take It / I Can't Take It - Epic - USA - 34-04216". 45cat. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  10. ↑ "I Can't Take It - Cheap Trick". YouTube. 2009-07-04. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  11. ↑ "Cheap Trick - I Can't Take It - live "Thicke of the Night"". YouTube. 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  12. ↑ "Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me - 1983 Alan Thicke show". YouTube. 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  13. ↑ "I Can't Take It - Cheap Trick - Live Rockpalast 1983". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  14. ↑ "I Want You To Want Me - Cheap Trick - "RRO 1984"". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  15. ↑ "I Can't Take It - Cheap Trick - "RRO 1984"". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  16. ↑ Cash Box newspaper - 27 August 1983 - Reviews: albums - page 8
  17. ↑ J.D. Considine (1983-10-13). "Next Position Please | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  18. ↑ Thomas, Stephen. "Next Position Please - Cheap Trick". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  19. ↑ Billboard - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. 1996-08-10. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  20. ↑ Shake some action: the ultimate power pop guide - John M. Borack - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. 2007. ISBN 9780979771408. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  21. ↑ "Todd Rundgren - (Re)Production". Discogs. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
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