Old Days

1975 single by Chicago

"Old Days"

Single by Chicago

from the album Chicago VIII

B-side

"Hideaway"

Released

April 1975

Recorded

1974

Genre

Rock

Length

3:31

Label

Columbia

Songwriter(s)

James Pankow

Producer(s)

James William Guercio

Chicago singles chronology

"Harry Truman"
(1975)

"Old Days"
(1975)

"Brand New Love Affair"
(1975)

"Old Days" is a song written by James Pankow for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago VIII (1975). It was the second single released from that album with lead vocals by Peter Cetera.^[1]

Background

Pankow has said that the song is a nostalgic piece about his childhood:

"It touches on key phrases that, although they date me, are pretty right-on in terms of images of my childhood. 'The Howdy Doody Show' on television and collecting baseball cards and comic books."^[2]

Pankow told group biographer James William Ruhlmann that the group stopped performing the song live because Cetera refused to sing it, unironically calling the lyrics "corny".^[3]

Cash Box praised the "great horn work," "Danny Seraphine's fine drum parts," and Terry Kath's "great guitar licks."^[4] Record World said that Chicago's "wall-to-wall sound returns, this time abetted by Pat Williams strings, on a side that's destined to be this year's 'Saturday in the Park.'" "^[5]

Chart performance

"Old Days" reached #5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Easy Listening chart.^[6]

Weekly charts

Chart (1975)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	80
Canada RPM Top Singles^[7]	6
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary^[8]	6
New Zealand^[9]	22
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	5
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	3
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	6

Year-end charts

Chart (1975)	Rank
Canada ^[10]	74
U.S. (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual) ^[11]	107

Personnel

Peter Cetera - lead vocals, bass
Robert Lamm - piano, Hammond organ, harpsichord, backing vocals
Terry Kath - fuzzed wah-wah electric guitars, backing vocals
Danny Seraphine - drums
Laudir de Oliveira - percussion
James Pankow - trombone, backing vocals
Lee Loughnane - trumpet
Walter Parazaider - tenor saxophone

Additional Personnel

Patrick Williams - string orchestrations

Later uses in popular culture

"Old Days" is featured on the soundtrack of the movie Starsky & Hutch (2004).
The band also reworked the song in 2009 to serve as the theme for the "Monsters in the Morning" show airing on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
"Old Days" is used in a 2018 internet meme in which a man reads the Wikipedia entry for cock and ball torture while the song plays in the background.

References

^ Chicago VIII liner notes.
^ "Chicago official website". Archived from the original on 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
^ Ruhlmann, James William (1991). "Group Portrait Essay". Album Liner Notes. p. 7. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. April 12, 1975. p. 22. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. April 12, 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
^ "Chicago Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1975-07-05. Retrieved 2018-03-10.
^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1975-06-21. Retrieved 2018-03-10.
^ "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1975-07-21. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
^ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.