Tom Rush Song No Regrets

It is the final song on his 1968 album The Circle Game and was released as a single in the UK in January 1968 and in the US in April. It peaked at number 57 on the UK BMRB Breakers, an official extension of the UK Singles Chart.

"No Regrets"
Single by Tom Rush
from the album The Circle Game
B-side	"Shadow Dream Song"
Released	January 19, 1968 (1968-01-19)
Genre	Folk rock
Length	3:50
Label	Elektra
Songwriter(s)	Tom Rush
Producer(s)	Arthur Gorson
Tom Rush singles chronology
"On the Road Again" (1967) "No Regrets" (1968) "Something in the Way She Moves" (1968)

His 1968 composition has become an acknowledged standard, with numerous cover versions having been recorded, most notably by The Walker Brothers. In addition to his 1968 sparse acoustic recording of the song, Rush later recorded a more lush, orchestrated pop version for Columbia Records featuring Carly Simon on background vocals and a screaming electric guitar solo for his 1974 album Ladies Love Outlaws.

"No Regrets"
Single by The Walker Brothers
from the album No Regrets
B-side	"Remember Me"
Released	November 14, 1975 (1975-11-14)
Recorded	1975
Studio	Marquee Studios (London) Kingsway Recorders (London) Air Studios (London)
Genre	Pop soft rock country rock
Length	5:47
Label	GTO
Songwriter(s)	Tom Rush
Producer(s)	Scott Walker Geoff Calver
The Walker Brothers singles chronology
"Love Her (reissue)" (1971) "No Regrets" (1975) "Lines" (1976)

The Walker Brothers recorded and released "No Regrets" as their comeback single in 1975, their first since 1967's "Walking in the Rain" and eleventh overall.

The song was also used as the title of its parent album. The single was slightly different as it features a John Walker harmony vocal not present on the album version which in turn includes female backing singers absent from the single.

"No Regrets" was a major hit spending twelve weeks on the UK Singles Chart and peaking at #7 in February 1976 giving Rush belated Top Ten exposure as a songwriter in the UK. The single would prove to be the group's final taste of commercial success while together, as the parent album and subsequent Walker Brothers releases failed to find a wide audience. The B-side "Remember Me" was written by John Walker under the pseudonym A. Dayam.

Track listing

Chart positions

"No Regrets"
12" single cover
Single by Midge Ure
B-side	"Mood Music"
Released	May 28, 1982 (1982-05-28)
Recorded	1982
Studio	Mayfair Studios (London)
Genre	Synth-pop
Length	4:00
Label	Chrysalis
Songwriter(s)	Tom Rush
Producer(s)	Midge Ure
Midge Ure singles chronology
"No Regrets" (1982) "After a Fashion" (1983)

In May 1982, Scottish musician Midge Ure released a cover of the song as his debut solo single. "No Regrets" was also produced by Ure, who was "tired of doing it for others, so I decided to do it for myself" and was co-produced and engineered by John Hudson.

Background

In 1976, Ure went on Top of the Pops as part of Slik with "Forever and Ever". At the same time, the Walker Brothers were also on with their version of "No Regrets". Ure said that "it just stuck in the back of my head" and after doing a favour for a studio engineer (presumably John Hudson), Ure was offered some studio time. So, he decided to record "No Regrets" based on what he remembered of the Walker Brothers' version. Ure also said that "it was dabbling with fire, I should not have gone anywhere near it". After the release of the single, Ure also thought about doing a solo album, but never found the time and it was not until 1985 that he released his album The Gift.

Reception

Reviewing for Record Mirror, Simon Tebbutt described the song as "a brilliant mixture of the big emotional American ballad … with the kind of clean cut and almost cold European precision we've come to associate with Mr Ure."

Track listing

Personnel

• Midge Ure – all instrumentation, producer
• John Hudson – co-producer (1), recording engineer (1)
• Brian Tench – co-producer (2), recording engineer (2)
• Jack Hunt – cutting engineer at Utopia Studios
• Peter Saville – design
• Trevor Key – photography

Charts

Collection of Versions

On March 12, 2023, Patrick Bryant of WMBR 88.1 FM Cambridge played many versions of "No Regrets" on his "Subject to Change" show. A permanent archive of this two hour show may be found at this link.