"Driver's Seat" is a 1978 song by the British band Sniff 'n' the Tears that appears on their debut album, Fickle Heart. The band is considered a one-hit wonder as "Driver's Seat" was their only hit.
The genesis of the song dates back to 1973 and a demo tape recorded for a French record label by singer/guitarist Paul Roberts for the band Ashes of Moon. However, that band broke up and, at the suggestion of drummer Luigi Salvoni, Roberts re-formed it as Sniff 'n' the Tears with guitarists Laurence "Loz" Netto and Mick Dyche and bassist Nick South. They shopped the demo tape and signed with the small Chiswick label in 1977.
According to Paul Roberts, "Driver's Seat" isn't about driving, but rather "fragmented, conflicting thoughts and emotions that might follow the break-up of a relationship". One of the key decisions made in recording the song was to start with Roberts' acoustic guitar and drums and gradually fade in other instruments.
"Driver's Seat" reached #15 on the American Billboard Pop Singles chart in the fall of 1979, and reached the top 10 in The Netherlands in November 1980. It reappeared at #1 on the Dutch Top 40 eleven years later as a result of use of the song in a Pioneer commercial.
Read more about Driver's Seat: Chart Performance, Cover Versions, Use in Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words driver and/or seat:
“God help the horse, and the driver too!
And the people and beasts who have never a friend!
For the driver easily might have been you,
And the horse be me by a different end!
And nobody knows how their days will cease!
And the poor, when they’re old, have little of peace!”
—James Kenneth Stephens (1882–1950)
“My taking a seat on the Council of the Fathers caused a desperate fluttering among my ghosts.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)