"This Woman" by Kenny Rogers

     Hello, friends! We welcome you back to the Dial, as we are spotlighting the last major pop crossover hit for a man recognized as a legend of country music. Read on for Kenny Rogers’ rock and slightly disco flavored 1984 single “This Woman”.

“Well she walks like you, in so many ways… it’s a different look, different time of day…

One look in her eyes…”

Written by Barry Gibb and Bee Gees’ producer Albhy Galuten, and featuring both Barry and Maurice Gibb on backing vocals, “This Woman” was pulled from Rogers’ Eyes that See in the Dark LP, which also contained the extracts “Evening Star” (US Country #11), the title track (#79 pop, #30 country) and the monster smash duet with Dolly Parton, “Islands in the Stream”, which topped both the country and pop charts in ’83. "This Woman" charted at US #23 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Upon first listening to the lyrics, you’ll recognize that Kenny is telling the story of a man with an all-consuming attraction to a woman… however, if you dig a little deeper, you’ll realize that Kenny is telling a prior lover (girlfriend? wife?) all about the new object of his affection!

I get the vibe that this is about a crumbling marriage as Kenny relates that he and his former flame “lost the dream and the winter came”, resulting in the couple splitting, then states that this new woman is the “one good thing that’s happened in so many years”, OOOO… BURRRNN! So, Kenny falls head over heels in love with “this woman”, a classic case of a rebound romance.

However, it seems to me that there are several unanswered questions here… was Kenny falling for “this woman” before the split? Did this obsession lead to the breakup? And why exactly IS he telling his ex all about the new woman? Is this discussion taking place in a lawyer’s office as they are figuring out custody of the children and who gets to keep the boat and ‘68 Mustang? Sorry… went off on a weird tangent there. Forgive me.

“You be all you want to be… you got the longest night…

Baby… be alone… I share my dream with someone else…
I don’t want to talk about her.”

The video clip posted below, stars Kenny as an artist that draws sketches of “this woman” in his study. Along the way, we visit such diverse locations as a jungle, an elegant ballroom, and what appears to be a Roman bathhouse. Japanese fans and parasols get involved as well, as does a dancer that leads the viewer’s eyes back into Rogers’ studio with a flourish of her hand.

“This Woman” was not pushed to country radio, only pop stations, which makes sense, given that the song shares less in common with country music than it does with MTV inspired rock and pop, and is quite far removed from the country ballad sound Kenny had become associated with through hits like “The Gambler”, “Coward of the County”, “She Believes In Me”, “Love The World Away”, and “Through The Years”.

I’ve always found it interesting that once the disco backlash hit in late ‘79 going into early ‘80, The Bee Gees were quite successful in repositioning themselves as songwriters and producers. In addition to Rogers’ material, the brothers Gibb put their creative forces behind several hit songs of the era, including Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” (#10/’83), Barbra Streisand’s “Woman in Love” (#1/’80), “Guilty” (#3/’81), and “What Kind of Fool” (#10/’81), and material by Diana Ross, Samantha Sang, Frankie Valli, and of course, Andy Gibb.

You could make the argument that Kenny’s hit is a cover tune, as Barry wrote and recorded a demo of “This Woman” in early ’83 before giving the song and the entirety of the Eyes that See in the Dark LP to Rogers. Barry’s demo recordings were released in 2006 on iTunes, so I recommend checking it out just to hear more of the history of the song. It’s interesting to wonder if Barry would have scored a solo hit with his version if it was fleshed out a little more musically. Perhaps a Barry Gibb “This Woman” would have been a breakout solo single for the Bee Gees leader? But if it had, we probably wouldn’t have gotten Kenny’s great rendition, so I think it worked out for the best.

Check out the video below in all of its awesome 1980’s-ness (I may have just made a word there), and enjoy Kenny’s final major crossover hit. And be sure to stay tuned to the Dial, as our annual April Fools selection is on the docket for our next review!  Kyle’s Radio Dial… the more you listen… the MORE you remember!

“This woman, she’s tearing my world apart… this woman, don’t know what she’s doing,

This woman, touches me and I lose control… she’s living inside my soul”