“She and I”
Alabama
Written by Dave Loggins
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
February 28, 1986
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
April 12, 1986
Alabama’s era of multiplatinum success goes out with a bang.
Greatest Hits, their first RCA compilation, would sell five million copies, which remains their highwater mark for a single disc set, matched only by their studio album, Mountain Music. It’s a skimpy collection by modern standards, but it was a real value back in the day, aided especially by its new song.
“She and I” is easily the coolest record among the band’s dozens of No. 1 singles. It has a pulsating groove inspired heavily by John Waite’s “Missing You,” which topped the pop chart in 1984. Lead singer Randy Owen gives an idiosyncratic performance that is a little rough around the edges, and it works so well with the lyric’s storyline about a very idiosyncratic couple.
These two people “live in their own little world,” and it’s got the neighbors talking. Do they have something to hide? Do they have no individual identities outside the relationship?
Hell no. They just lucked out, each of them finding a partner that’s so cool and comfortable that they just don’t give a damn about what anybody else thinks about them.
Truth be told, it reminds me of the relationship my parents had. No wonder they blasted this one so much in the car when I was a kid.
Alabama was so important to RCA’s bottom line that innovative records like this would become few and far between. That’s a shame because they are so much more clearly invested in their performances here than they sound on most of their upcoming chart toppers. They won’t get this creative again until they finally switch producers at the end of the decade.
“She and I” gets an A.
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I wish Alabama would have done more songs in this vein…their later hits (prior to the Southern Star album) in the decade seem to try at a similar pop aesthetic, but just aren’t as distinctive. To me, this is one of those few Alabama hits that’s almost underrated now, as it was a pretty big hit at the time. The music video was also a childhood memory for me, and honestly, it’s goofiness still makes it hold up for me to this day.
As fun as it is to hear the band stretch their sound here, my enthusiasm is restrained by knowing they will be either unlikely or unable to extend their musical exploration any further than this.
They have exhausted me with the ups and downs of their output.
Beyond the commercial restraints of their situation, I still never believed Alabama was capable of artistic growth much beyond this level of experimentation.
At this point, to paraphrase a Chris Stapleton lyric, Alabama can either go or stay, I won’t love them either way.