Ready To Take A Chance Again

Ready To Take A Chance Again: Barry Manilow's Film Soundtrack Success and Late-1970s Adult Contemporary Dominance

"Ready To Take A Chance Again" was released by Barry Manilow in 1978 as part of his contribution to the soundtrack of the comedy film Foul Play, which starred Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 16, 1978, at number 70, and climbed steadily over 16 weeks to peak at number 11 during the week of November 18, 1978. The song was written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel, the same team responsible for numerous successful film and television themes of the 1970s, and its placement in the film gave it immediate cross-promotional visibility.

By 1978, Barry Manilow was one of the most commercially successful artists in the United States. Following the enormous success of "Mandy" (1974), "I Write the Songs" (1975), and a string of subsequent hits, Manilow had become the dominant figure in adult contemporary pop, an artist whose appeal to middle-of-the-road radio audiences was nearly unmatched. His Arista Records releases were consistent chart performers, and his albums were among the bestselling of the decade. The decision to record "Ready To Take A Chance Again" for Foul Play was a logical extension of his commercial profile into the increasingly lucrative film soundtrack market.

Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel had an exceptional track record as a songwriting team by this point. They were responsible for "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (recorded by Roberta Flack in 1973), "I Got a Name" (Jim Croce, 1973), and the themes for numerous television series. Their approach to "Ready To Take A Chance Again" followed their established formula for emotionally accessible, melodically memorable material: the song builds from a gentle verse through a soaring chorus, with Manilow's orchestral arrangement amplifying the emotional arc at each turn. The recording was made at Arista's affiliated studios and featured the production team that had shaped Manilow's sound throughout the decade.

Foul Play was released in July 1978 and was a substantial box-office success, grossing over 60 million dollars against a modest production budget. The film's light comedic tone and the romantic subplot between Hawn and Chase's characters provided an ideal context for the song, which plays during key scenes and over the closing credits. The association between the song and the film gave it a specific emotional context for listeners who saw the movie, enhancing its radio appeal with a narrative frame.

The single was included on the Foul Play soundtrack album as well as on Manilow's Greatest Hits compilation released later in 1978, ensuring wide distribution across multiple commercial formats. The soundtrack album itself performed well on the charts, and "Ready To Take A Chance Again" was its clear standout track. The song's pop chart performance at number 11 was complemented by strong showing on the adult contemporary chart, where Manilow was even more dominant than on the Hot 100.

The recording features Manilow's characteristic production style of the period: a piano-led introduction that establishes the harmonic framework, followed by a gradual layering of strings, horns, and background vocals that builds through the song's structure. The climactic final chorus features the full arrangement at maximum dynamic range, a technique Manilow had refined across dozens of recordings and that remained highly effective with his core audience. His vocal performance emphasizes the lyric's themes of hope and renewed emotional openness, deployed with the kind of earnest commitment that defined his public persona.

Critically, "Ready To Take A Chance Again" received the mixed notices that characterized most critical responses to Manilow during this period. While his commercial success was undeniable, critics oriented toward rock and R&B often dismissed his work as overly polished and sentimental. The song earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the 1978 ceremony, testimony to its quality within the film song category even if rock-focused critics remained skeptical. Norman Gimbel also received ASCAP recognition for the lyric.

In the subsequent decades, the song has remained a staple of adult contemporary oldies formats and Barry Manilow compilations. It is regularly cited as one of his more enduring recordings of the late 1970s, a period during which he was at the absolute peak of his commercial influence. The film Foul Play has enjoyed continued appreciation on cable and streaming platforms, and the song's association with it has kept it culturally present in a way that many standalone singles of the era have not managed to sustain. Fox and Gimbel's songwriting is consistently praised in retrospective assessments of the song's durability.