Victim of Love (The Cars song)

"Victim of Love" is a song by the American new wave band the Cars, appearing on their fourth studio album, Shake It Up. It was written by Ric Ocasek.

"Victim of Love"
Single by the Cars
from the album Shake It Up
B-side"This Could Be Love"
ReleasedJune 1982
Recorded1981
StudioSyncro Sound, Boston
Genre
Length4:24
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)Ric Ocasek
Producer(s)Roy Thomas Baker
The Cars US singles chronology
"Since You're Gone"
(1981)
"Victim of Love"
(1982)
"You Might Think"
(1984)
Shake It Up track listing
9 tracks
Side one
  1. "Since You're Gone"
  2. "Shake It Up"
  3. "I'm Not the One"
  4. "Victim of Love"
  5. "Cruiser"
Side two
  1. "A Dream Away"
  2. "This Could Be Love"
  3. "Think It Over"
  4. "Maybe Baby"

Release and reception

edit

"Victim of Love" was first released on Shake It Up in November 1981. However, in June the next year, it was released as the third American single from Shake It Up (the first two being "Shake It Up" and "Since You're Gone"). Although the song did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100, it hit #39 on the Mainstream Rock chart.[1] The single was not released in Britain; another track from Shake It Up, "Think It Over", was released as a single instead.

AllMusic critic Greg Prato described the track as "pop-oriented" and listed it as one of "many lesser-known album tracks [that] prove[d] to be highlights [on Shake It Up]."[1] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Bryan Wawzenek described it as a "modern rock radio favorite."[2]

B-side

edit

The B-side of "Victim of Love" is the Greg Hawkes-Ric Ocasek written track, "This Could Be Love". The song appeared on the second side of the Shake It Up album.

Charts

edit
Chart performance for "Victim of Love"
Chart (1982) Peak
position
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[3] 39

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Prato, Greg. "Shake It Up". allmusic.com.
  2. ^ Wawzenek, Bryan (November 6, 2016). "How the Cars Balanced Rock and New Wave on 'Shake It Up'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
  3. ^ "The Cars Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 May 2021.