Player - "If Looks Could Kill"

(Debuted January 23, 1982, Peaked #48, 7 Weeks on the Chart)

The group Player was a Los Angeles-based unit that came together in 1976. Exhibiting solid studio perfection, they had some hits that will be forever linked with the late 1970s, including the #1 smash "Baby Come Back" and the Top 10 hit "This Time I'm in it For Love." They had a knack for sounding like others; "Baby Come Back" sounded almost like a Hall & Oates song, and Steely Dan seemed to be channeled for "This Time I'm in it For Love." By the end of the decade, however, there was some internal dissension that caused some lineup changes.

In late 1981, the group came up with its fourth LP Spies of Life and "If Looks Could Kill" was tagged as the first single.  By this time, only singer/guitarist Peter Beckett was left from the group's 1970s hit lineup and the band didn't seem to have the knack for replicating more than a generic studio sound. On the surface, "If Looks Could Kill" has a definitive 1980s "sound," but when you scratch that surface, it doesn't have the hooks or sharp songwriting that marked their earlier hits. It would be the band's final Hot 100 entry before the group was retired. Player has reformed a few times over the years, once in 1995 and again in 2007. They're still recording today.