It’s a tale that’s been told again and again throughout music history. A band or artist builds their reputation on one style of music. But they score their biggest ever hit with a song that’s somewhat unrepresentative of that style.
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That’s what happened with the Scottish band Del Amitri. After years of putting out high-quality music with emotionally complex lyrics that didn’t receive a lot of stateside attention, they smashed in the US with the lighthearted ditty “Roll To Me” in 1995.
Devising Del
Do yourself a favor. If all you know of Del Amitri is “Roll To Me”, we strongly advise you to take a deep dive into their back catalog. In fact, we’ve even got a little primer for you if you want to take some shortcuts to their best stuff.
One of the main reasons this band has been so consistently solid throughout their career is the songwriting of Justin Currie. The Scotsman founded the band in the early 80s by placing an ad looking for local musicians. If you’re looking for some deep explanation for the band’s name, don’t lose too much sleep over it. It was mostly just a nonsense name made up by Currie.
The band released their debut album in 1985. But they really found their stride on the 1989 album Waking Hours. That record included the moving ballad “Nothing Ever Happens”, which yielded their biggest ever UK hit. It also produced “Kiss This Thing Goodbye”, which received enough airplay to sneak them into the US top 40.
On a “Roll”
In 1992, Del Amitri solidified their success with Change Everything. “Always The Last To Know” gave them a second minor US hit from that record. It seemed, however, like they might be one of those bands that never made too much of a splash on the American charts despite success in the United Kingdom.
As the band worked on their 1995 album Twisted, Currie started to worry that the album was getting a little dark. This band generally tended toward brooding territory anyway, which is why he decided to lighten things up with a short, punchy pop song called “Roll To Me”.
Maybe the length of the song helped. American radio programmers could squeeze “Roll To Me”, barely more than two minutes long, into a short gap in their playlists. Or maybe it was just that it was so catchy. Whatever the reason, “Roll To Me” gave Del Amitri a Top 10 American hit.
Behind the Lyrics of “Roll To Me”
“Roll To Me” features Justin Currie’s writing at its most concise. His narrator is trying to convince a girl that he’s the guy to solve some of her ongoing romantic problems. For instance: “The wrong guy, the wrong situation / The right time to roll to me.”
“Is it aching with some nameless need?” he asks of the inner workings of the girl’s heart. He can barely watch her anguish. “And I don’t think I have ever seen a soul so in despair,” he notes. But he’ll be there waiting for her through all sorts of calamities. “When the engine’s stalled, and it won’t stop raining,” Currie sings. “It’s the right time to roll to me.”
Del Amitri never again made such a splash in the US, even as they continued to do excellent, thoughtful work. They’re still out there charming audiences overseas, ones who probably don’t mind too much if they skip “Roll To Me”, their biggest American hit.
Photo by John Lynn Kirk/Redferns
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