Should I Do It (song)

"Should I Do It"
Single by Tanya Tucker
from the album Should I Do It
B-side	"Lucky Enough For Two"
Released	June 1981
Recorded	April 1981
Studio	Sound Labs, Hollywood CA
Genre	Country
Length	3:00
Label	MCA
Songwriter	Layng Martine Jr
Producer	Gary Klein
Tanya Tucker singles chronology
"Love Knows We Tried" (1981) "Should I Do It" (1981) "Rodeo Girls" (1981)

Tanya Tucker recorded "Should I Do It" in the sessions for her twelfth studio album - which would be entitled Should I Do It - at the Hollywood Studio the Sound Labs in April 1981.^[11][12] Tucker was produced by Gary Klein, a veteran producer of several Pop & C&W acts including Tucker's swain Glen Campbell.^[13]

The Tucker/ Campbell May-December romance was perennial tabloid press fodder, with reports, particularly from February 1981, attesting to the romance being a rocky one.^[14] Tucker's tabloid profile seemingly undermined her recording career: subsequent to a Top Ten C&W hit: "Can I See You Tonight", in February and March 1981, Tucker's two springtime single releases were both chart disappointments, with "Love Knows We Tried", stalling at #40 on the Billboard C&W chart where the Tucker/ Campbell duet: "Why Don't We Just Sleep on It Tonight", barely ranked at #85.^[9]

Chart (1981–1982)	Peak position
Billboard Hot Country Singles[15]	50
Cashbox Top 100 Country[16]	38
Record World Country Singles[17]	45
Record World Singles 100-150[18]	131
RPM (Canada) Country Singles[19]	16

Released in June 1981 as the lead single from the album of the same name, "Should I Do It" failed to reverse Tucker's chart fortunes: despite spending seven weeks on the Record World Singles 101–150 chart rising as high as No. 131,^[18] "Should I Do It" rose no higher than No. 45 on the magazine's Country Singles chart ^[17] - with a similar peak (No. 50) on the Hot Country Singles chart in Billboard^[15] - indicating a lack of support from C&W radio.

"Should I Do It"
Single by The Pointer Sisters
from the album Black & White
B-side	"We're Gonna Make It"
Released	December 1981
Recorded	1981
Genre	Pop[20] doo-wop[20]
Length	3:53
Label	Planet
Songwriter	Layng Martine Jr
Producer	Richard Perry
The Pointer Sisters singles chronology
"Sweet Lover Man" (1980) "Should I Do It" (1981) "American Music" (1982)

"Should I Do It" was one of two songs by Nashville-based composers to be recorded by the Pointer Sisters for their June 1981 Black & White album release, the other being the album's lead single: "Slow Hand" which had reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Like "Slow Hand", "Should I Do It" was recorded by the Pointers with their regular producer Richard Perry so as to barely resemble a standard C&W song: in the case of "Should I Do It" the Pointers turned the song into (Ruth Pointer quote:) "an ode to the early '60s girl groups in the vein of the Shirelles and the Chiffons."^[21] The Pointers had a #3 hit in 1980 with "He's So Shy", which had evoked the elements of the late 1950s/early 1960s girl group classics while being a contemporary number. With "Should I Do It", June Pointer (the lead vocalist on "Should I Do It" and "He's So Shy") had sung lead on "a marvelous recreation - as opposed to modernization - of the late '50s/early '60s sound of the all-girl vocal groups."^[22]

"Should I Do It" was mentioned as the choice for the second single from Black & White,^[23] and at the time of the album's release it was announced that music videos would be shot for both "Slow Hand" and "Should I Do It";^[24] "Slow Hand" was promoted via video as the first single. The label then decided to release two other songs as singles from Black and White; "What a Surprise" and "Sweet Lover Man", released in October and November of 1981, respectively. Neither became a significant hit. In December 1981, the label released "Should I Do It" as an unprecedented, at the time, fourth single from a Pointer Sisters album. The song became a major hit, rising to #13 on the US Billboard Hot 100, dated April 3, 1982. This made Black & White the first Pointer Sisters album to spawn two Top 20 US hits. "Should I Do It" also reached #19 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.^[10]

Outside of the U.S. and Canada, "Should I Do It" was released in November 1981 as the immediate follow-up single to "Slow Hand" with the single reaching the Top 20 in Australia, Flemish Belgium, and the Netherlands prior to its January 1982 Billboard US Hot 100 debut. "Should I Do It" had its greatest chart impact in Belgium's Flemish Region and the Netherlands with respective peaks of #6 and #12, topping the chart peak in those territories for "Slow Hand" (#22 Belgium and #33 Netherlands).^[25][26]

The Pointer Sisters would record another Layng Martine Jr. composition: "I Want to Do It With You", to serve as B-side of their followup single to "Should I Do It": "American Music". (Never featured on a Pointer Sisters' album, "I Want to Do It With You" - as "I Wanna Do It With You" - would become a Top Ten UK hit for Barry Manilow in 1983).^[27]

Chart (1981–1982)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[28]	16
Belgium (BEL charts)[25]	6
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19]	37
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[29]	29
Germany[30]	75
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[26]	12
New Zealand (RIANZ)[31]	22
UK Singles (OCC)[32]	50
US Billboard Hot 100[33]	13
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[34]	19
US Cashbox Top 100 Singles[35]	16
US Record World[36]	15
US Record World A/C[37]	15

Year-end chart (1982)	Ranking
US Top Pop Singles of 1982[38]	89