Needles and Pins (song)
"Needles and Pins" is a rock song credited to American songwriters Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono. Jackie DeShannon recorded it in 1963 and other versions followed. The most successful ones were by the Searchers, whose version reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart in 1964, and Smokie, who had a worldwide hit in 1977. Others who have notably recorded the song include fellow singer and Bono's then-wife Cher, the Ramones, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Stevie Nicks.
Jackie DeShannon version
In his autobiography, Bono states that he sang along with Nitzsche's guitar-playing, thus creating both the tune and the lyrics, being guided by the chord progressions. However, Jackie DeShannon claims that the song was written at the piano, and that she was a full participant in the song's creation, along with Nitzsche and Bono, although she did not get formal credit.DeShannon was the first to record the song; in the US it peaked at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in May 1963. Though it was only a minor US hit, DeShannon's recording of the song topped the charts in Canada, hitting number one on the CHUM Chart in July 1963.
| Chart | Peak position |
| Canada | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 84 |
The Searchers version
the Searchers heard British performer Cliff Bennett perform "Needles and Pins" at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, instantly wanted it to be their next single and recorded it before Cliff Bennett could. The band recorded their version on December 16 and 17, 1963 at Pye Studios. The Pye Records single was released on January 7, 1964. It was number one in the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States. Soon after, in April 1964, "Needles and Pins" appeared on the Searchers' next album, It's the Searchers.Audible during the Searchers' recording of "Needles and Pins" is a faulty bass drum pedal, which squeaks throughout the song. It is particularly noticeable during the opening of the number.
Part of the Searchers' version can be heard as the intro of the song "Use the Man" from Megadeth's Cryptic Writings album, although it does not appear on the remastered version.
A German version sung by the Searchers is called "Tausend Nadelstiche".
Cher version
In 1965, the song was covered by American singer/actress and Bono's then-wife and bandmate Cher for her debut solo album All I Really Want to Do, which was produced and arranged by Bono himself and later replaced her cover of Ruby & the Romantics' 1962 hit "Our Day Will Come" as the B-side on the US and Italy versions of her 1966 single "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)". In a review by Matthew Holder for Beyond the Encore in a retrospective article commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of All I Really Want to Do, her version was described as being delivered with a "languid melancholy" compared to The Searchers' "jangly and insistent" version.Smokie version
In 1977, at the height of their popularity, English rock band Smokie recorded the song as a rock ballad for the album Bright Lights & Back Alleys, and got a European and an Australian hit with "Needles and Pins". The song reached number one in Austria. Later, ex-Smokie vocalist Chris Norman included his solo cover of the song on his studio album Full Circle.Ramones version
The Ramones' cover of "Needles and Pins" appears on their fourth studio album, Road to Ruin, released in 1978. The version of the song that appeared on the album was later issued as a single.The Ramones' version of "Needles and Pins" is notable within their early catalog. Its inclusion marks an instance where the band chose to record a melodic, pop-oriented song. The track was one of a small handful of songs on the Road to Ruin album that pushed beyond the extremely short, rigid song structure that defined their first three records. This approach to recording classic-style pop music in their punk-rock style was consistent with the band's appreciation for 1960s rock and roll.
Rolling Stone critic Charles Young noted that the song could have easily been a joke, but was not since Joey "really puts his guts into these antiquated but beautiful lyrics and pulls it off".
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers version
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their first live album in 1985 called Pack Up the Plantation: Live! where singer-songwriter and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks performed on "Needles and Pins" with Tom Petty at the Forum in Los Angeles, California in June 1981.Cash Box said that "a great song is given a great treatment."