Trivia / Bob Seger

• Black Sheep Hit:
  • His version of "Shame on the Moon" (originally by country singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell) managed to get some airplay on country radio.
  • The Oscar-nominated "Shakedown", from the Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack, was his only #1 despite sounding nothing like the rest of his music. In fact, it wasn't even supposed to be his song: it was originally given to Glenn Frey, but he lost his voice on the day of the session and Seger was called in as a replacement.
• Chart Displacement: "Old Time Rock and Roll" only got to #28, but is hands-down his most famous song, and at the least, a great deal better-known than the #1 "Shakedown".
• Creator's Oddball: Regarded as among the best heartland and blues rockers of the 1970s onward, Seger had an unexpected country crossover hit in 1983 with "Shame on the Moon." While failing to chart country, several of his other songs, including "Fire Lake" from 1980, also had strong country elements about them, though not to the same extent as "Shame on the Moon."
• Denial of Digital Distribution: Seger (and his longtime business manager, "Punch" Andrews) have been notoriously reluctant about allowing most of his early material to be reissued on CD, digital downloads, or streaming services like Spotify. Some albums (including Noah, Brand New Morning, and Back in '72) haven't been reissued at all, others were made available for only a short time before getting yanked back out of print, and his earliest recordings with the Last Heard didn't get an official digital release until 2018.
• Development Hell:
  • Face the Promise was supposed to be released in 2004, but was delayed to 2005 and finally came out in September of 2006.
  • The same thing happened with his next album, Ride Out, which was originally supposed to be released in 2012 but didn't come out until two years later.
• Referenced by...: In The Speed of Sound, Eddie and Skylar walk into a bar that has Bob Seger playing on the radio.
• Sequel Gap: He usually released an album every 1-2 years, but as of the mid-'80s, new albums came out every 4-5 years. Face the Promise (2006) was released eleven years after his previous album, It's a Mystery (1995). His next album, Ride Out, released eight years later in 2014. His next album, I Knew You When came out three years later, which is a little bit better.
• Throw It In!: The piano intro to "Old Time Rock and Roll" was only meant to be played once, but it ended up being played twice due to a missed cue.
• Vindicated by Reruns: "Old Time Rock and Roll" only got to #28, but is his Signature Song and a staple of classic rock radio.
• Write What You Know: "Makin' Thunderbirds" from The Distance. The line "We filled conveyors, we met production" shows Bob knows a little about working in an automobile assembly plant.

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