When I think of the 70s and early 80s Bob Seger always comes to mind. Here is a man who paid his dues and he deserved all the success he achieved. He is from Michigan and started in the early sixties and kept at it until he hit gold with the album Beautiful Loser in 1975. He did have a minor hit in 1968 with Rambling Gambling Man but failed to build on it.
The next album he did after Beautiful Loser was Night Moves which made him a star. That album was released in 1976. He formed the Silver Bullet Band in 1974 and he built on that.
Still The Same was on the album Stranger In Town and it was a huge hit. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard Album Charts, (from what I’ve found) #5 in Canada, #4 in New Zealand, and #31 in the UK. Four singles came off of that album and all were top 40 hits. Still The Same, Hollywood Nights, We’ve Got Tonight, and Old Time Rock and Roll. I have to admit… he got the “Steve Miller” treatment by radio. Many of his hit songs were played to death especially Old Time Rock and Roll which I cannot listen to anymore.
He did something different with many of his albums including this one. He would record half the songs in Muscle Shoals using some of their musicians and the other half he would use the Silver Bullet Band in the Criteria studios in Miami Florida. It would give him a different sound and actually was a smart thing to do.
Still The Same was recorded with the Silver Bullet Band in Miami. The B side to this single was also a well-known song… Feel Like A Number. That song was featured in the 1981 movie Body Heat.
Bob Seger about the type of people the song is about: “They’re just very charismatic, but they have tremendous faults, but part of the appeal is the charisma. You overlook everything because of the charisma. That’s a gift and a curse.”
Bob Seger on Feel Like A Number: I got the idea for the song after watching a show about computer banks and how many names were in them. We’re all in computer banks. Lord knows how many data collections there are. Everybody is a number and in the record industry you’re also thought of a lot of times as a number — the amount you sell or whatever. Some of the humanity gets lost and the hype takes over. You have to watch out. That’s the whole idea of Stranger in Town as an album, actually. It’s about identity and trying to survive and keep your identity.
The B side Feel Like A Number
Still The Same
You always won every time you placed a bet
You’re still damn good, no one’s gotten to you yet
Every time they were sure they had you caught
You were quicker than they thought
You’d just turn your back and walk
You always said the cards would never do you wrong
The trick you said, was never play the game too long
A gambler’s share, the only risk that you would take
The only loss you could forsake
The only bluff you couldn’t fake
And you’re still the same
I caught up with you yesterday (still the same, still the same)
Moving game to game
No one standing in your way
Turning on the charm
Long enough to get you by (still the same, still the same)
You’re still the same
You still aim high
(Still the same, still the same)
(Still the same, still the same)
There you stood
Everybody watched you play
I just turned and walked away
I had nothing left to say
‘Cause you’re still the same (still the same, baby, baby, still the same)
You’re still the same (still the same, baby, baby, still the same)
Moving game to game (still the same, baby, baby, still the same)
Some things never change (still the same, baby, baby, still the same)
Oh, you’re still the same (still the same, baby, baby, still the same)
Still the same (still the same, baby, baby, still the same)
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