"Mainstreet"
Single by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
from the album Night Moves
B-side
  • "Jody Girl" (US)
  • "Come to Poppa" (UK)
ReleasedApril 1977
Genre
Length3:43
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Bob Seger
Producer(s)Bob Seger, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band singles chronology
"Night Moves"
(1976)		 "Mainstreet"
(1977)		 "Rock and Roll Never Forgets"
(1977)
Colored vinyl issue
Limited edition release

"Mainstreet" is a song written and recorded by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. It was released in April 1977 as the second single from the album Night Moves. The song peaked at number 24 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and has become a staple of classic rock radio; it also reached number one on the Canadian Singles Chart.[2]

Lyrics and music

Seger has stated that the street he was singing about is Ann Street, just off Main Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he grew up. There was a pool hall there where they had girls dancing in the window and R&B bands playing on the weekends.[3] He said, "Again, that's going back to the 'Night Moves' situation where I was writing about my high school years in Ann Arbor and what it was like — the discovery, the total naivete and fresh–faced openness that I went through. It was sort of an entire awakening of my life; before that I was kind of a quiet, lonesome kid."[4]

Seger later expanded on the origins of the song:

Just like "Night Moves," that song rings true. What do they tell you about writing? They say you have to write about what you know. I grew up near that street corner. My older brother was a lot of trouble and I was not. My parents always called me "the good one" and they said: "You're the one we can trust." So at age 10, 11, 12 I was able to walk through Ann Arbor until midnight if I felt like it.

There was a club, and this blues band from Chicago named Washboard Willie was playing there. In the window of this club there were people dancing, and occasionally there would be a beautiful girl dancing in the window. And at my age you were starting to wake up to girls. I would sit out there and watch through the window and listen to this great R&B. I'm looking and I'm listening and thinking this is what I wanna do with my life.

The club was very lively, and to a 12, 13-year-old that was pretty cool. I loved the groove because it's Chicago blues, and the women are dancing and you're starting to think the women are looking pretty good. So all that stuff ended up becoming the elements for the song "Mainstreet."[5]

Ultimate Classic Rock critic Jed Gottlieb cites "Mainstreet" as an example of Seger's love for "beautiful losers".[6] He notes that Seger sings about a "dancer in a downtown dive" rather than the waitresses, prom queens, or college girls who would be the subject of other singers' songs.[6] And he notes that unlike in their songs, the singer doesn't try to save or run away with the girl, but is content to just watch her walk on by him.[6]

Billboard felt that the imagery used by the singer to remember his love for the bar dancer was reminiscent of Van Morrison.[7] Billboard also found the organ counterpoint to be "clever".[7] Cash Box compared it to "Night Moves" saying that "this haunting ballad hits home with the same emotive chording, expressive vocalization and dramatic close."[8] Record World said that it focuses on "Seger's mellower, more introspective side."[9]

Classic Rock History critic Janey Roberts rated it as Seger's 7th best song, calling it "an ode to the romantic backstreets of hope and despair found on Springsteen's classic 1975 work [Born to Run]."[10]

It is in the key of E♭. During live performances the iconic Pete Carr guitar intro was replaced with a sax intro.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Seger's 1994 Greatest Hits compilation.[11]

Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

Reception

VH1's Mike McPadden selected "Mainstreet" as one of Seger's 10 most essential songs, describing it as "sad, sweet, soulful, and even spooky" for how it evokes the emotions of a hopeful but frustrated young man watching a woman he is too scared to approach.[12] McPadden particularly praises the keyboard playing for how it complements the song's "melancholy" mood.[12] Classic Rock History contributor Janey Roberts also selected "Mainstreet" as one of Seger's top 10 songs, particularly praising the opening guitar line and describing the song as an "ode to the romantic backstreets of hope and despair" found on Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run.[13]

Chart performance

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[19] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ Mainstreet / Jody Girl by Bob Seger - RYM/Sonemic, retrieved 2022-05-16
  2. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 27, No. 14, July 02 1977". RPM. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  3. ↑ Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band Greatest Hits, cd sleeve.
  4. ↑ Graff, Gary (October 19, 1994). "Rocker Tells the Stories Behind the Hits". Detroit Free Press. p. 3-C. Retrieved 2018-10-11 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Sharp, Ken (September 10, 2018). "How Bob Seger changed the face of American Music". Classic Rock. Louder Sound. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  6. 1 2 3 Gottlieb, Jed (October 22, 2016). "How Bob Seger Finally Became an Overnight Sensation with Night Moves". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  7. 1 2 "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. April 16, 1977. p. 76. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  8. ↑ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. April 16, 1977. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  9. ↑ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. April 16, 1977. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  10. ↑ Roberts, Janey (17 June 2022). "Top 20 Bob Seger songs". Classic Rock History. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
  11. ↑ Greatest Hits (CD). Bob Seger. Capitol Records. 1994. CDP 7243 8 30334 2 3.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. 1 2 McPadden, Mike (May 6, 2015). "Bob Seger's 10 Most Essential Songs". VH1. Archived from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
  13. ↑ Roberts, Janey (April 3, 2016). "20 Rocking Bob Seger Songs That Influenced A Generation". Classic Rock History. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  14. ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  15. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  16. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, June 4, 1977". Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Top 200 Singles of '77 – Volume 28, No. 14, December 31 1977". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  18. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
  19. ↑ "American single certifications – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – Mainstreet". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
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