“I’m Gonna Get You”
Eddy Raven
Written by Dennis Linde
Radio & Records
#1 (2 weeks)
April 15 – April 22, 1988
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
May 14, 1988
Everything about this record is so strange and unexpected that I should’ve realized it was a Dennis Linde song.
“I’m Gonna Get You” could’ve come off as stalkerish in the hands of another artist, but it is perfectly calibrated to Raven’s wide grinning optimism. It’s the performance and the arrangement that really make this record work.
And that’s not a slight to Linde! One need only compare Sons of the Desert’s original recording of “Goodbye Earl” to the Chicks classic to understand how important it is to get a Dennis Linde song. That balance of humor and sincerity is tricky to strike, making it all the more impressive that contemporary talents were able to channel that gift of his on the Lindeville project.
I also can’t help but wonder if this is the origin story of Earl, and “Queen of the Double Wide Trailer” was the second part of a trilogy.
What I know for sure is that this Cajun-flavored bop is deliciously bizarre and unfailingly entertaining. There’s nothing else quite like it in this or any other era, and this was going to be a B+ but after a few listens, it’s gotten its hooks into me.
“I’m Gonna Get You” gets an A.
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…determination at its most joyful. almost makes it hard to imagine that there was a time without permanent concerns about potential shitstorms. just picture morgan wallen humming this one with a stool in his hand at eric church’s bar.
Much like his attempts to hit a melody, Morgan Wallen would miss.
An artist’s charisma and character matter.
The Bellamy Brothers mined a similar vein of music earlier in their careers that could have sounded far more menacing and sinister.
Those songs, like this Eddie Raven performance, sound silly and fun. Their greatest offense is a misguided optimism. I often wonder if even they actually believe what they are saying.
This delightful delusion does make for a weird and wonderful listen…in the right hands.
I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Eddy Ravens’ output at this point of the decade.
The “Cajun” sound has been hit or miss for me over the years but Eddy Raven was the Cajun high priest who pulled it off every time, and I’m glad he managed a string of big hits in the late 80s after a somewhat slow career launch. It speaks volumes about Raven’s delivery that despite the lyrics, I never thought of this song as creepy or stalker-ish. Perhaps the backdrop of “Every Breath You Take” and “What’ll You Do About Me?” desensitized me to the only “kind of” stalker-like songs, but I’m not sure this song would given me weird of vibes even in Morgan Wallen’s hands. I’m sure it would have if Tyler Farr had sung it though! Anyway, I credit this song as the one that really gave Raven sustained momentum, and deservedly so. But there’s still one song ahead by Eddy that I like even more!
Grade: A-