Driver's Seat Sniff N' The Tears

Driver's Seat Album: Fickle Heart (1978)
by Sniff 'n' the Tears

"Driver's Seat" is a 1978 song by the British band Sniff 'n' the Tears that appears on their debut album, Fickle Heart. The band is considered a one-hit wonder as "Driver's Seat" was their only hit, except in the Netherlands, where they had a second Top 40 single.

The genesis of the song dates back to 1973 and a demo tape recorded for a French record label by Sniff 'n' The Tears with singer/guitarist Paul Roberts, guitarists Laurence "Loz" Netto and Mick Dyche, and bassist Chris Birkin. The drummer Luigi Salvoni was a new addition at the time coming from the breakup of Moon, the band he'd been in. They shopped the demo tape and signed with the small Chiswick label in 1977. Keith Miller played the Moog solo and also toured America with the band. Noel McCalla sang the backup vocals.

The song is not really about the joys of driving, according to the official Sniff 'n' the Tears website. Rather, it is about the fragmented, conflicting emotions that occur after the end of a relationship. The line, "The news is blue. I'll never remember my time with you," points out the difficulty of imagining never being with the significant other again.

An early version of this song was demoed back in 1973 by singer/guitarist Paul Roberts' then-band, Moon, for a French label. However, that band broke up and, at the suggestion of drummer Luigi Salvoni, Roberts reformed it as Sniff 'n' the Tears with guitarists Laurence "Loz" Netto and Mick Dyche, and bassist Chris Birkin. They shopped the demo tape and signed with the London indie label Chiswick in 1977.

Released as a single, "Driver's Seat" was a relative failure in their home country, but more successful in the US where it reached #15 on the Hot 100 in August 1979. "It was a pretty massive hit everywhere apart from Britain," reflected Roberts to Mojo March 2011. "Britain is perverse in some respects, but it did get a lot of radio play. We were accused of ripping off Dire Straits. I never understood that, but I think it was more that we were different to the post-punk scene."

Any potential break at home was derailed by outside factors. "We did Top of the Pops as a last-minute replacement for the Gang of Four, they wouldn't go on for some political reason," recalled Roberts to Mojo. The following week the EMI pressing plant (where Chiswick's records were manufactured), went on strike and you couldn't buy 'Driver's Seat' for four or five weeks."

Sniff 'n' the Tears consistently found an audience outside Britain - in the USA and continental Europe - until they quit in 1983. They reformed in 1992 after Driver's Seat featured in a Dutch TV ad for Pioneer Stereos.
The BBC DJ Steve Wright has called this song his all-time favorite record.

Doing all right
A little jiving on a Saturday night
And come what may
Gonna dance the day away

Jenny was sweet
She always smiled for the people she'd meet
On trouble and strife
She had another way of looking at life

The news is blue (the news is blue)
It has its own way to get to you (ooh)
What can I do? (what can I do?)
I'll never remember my time with you
Pick up your feet
Got to move to the trick of the beat
There is no elite
Just take your place in the driver's seat

Driver's seat, ooh
Driver's seat, yeah

We're doing all right (ooh)
A little jiving on a Saturday night (yeah)
And come what may (ooh)
Gonna dance the day away (yeah)

Driver's seat, ooh
Driver's seat, yeah

Jenny was sweet (ooh)
There is no elite (yeah)
Pick up your feet (ooh)
Pick up, pick up (yeah)
Pick up your feet (ooh)
Gonna dance the day away (yeah)

Driver's seat, ooh
Driver's seat, yeah
Driver's seat, ooh
Driver's seat, yeah

Yeah
Driver's seat