"What I Like About You" 41st Anniversary

Mike Skill: For the 41st Anniversary of "What I Like About You" Mike Skill records a new powerful recording of "What I Like About You". and now the release of a video showing the history of Mike Skill of The Romantics.....
Guitars, Bass and all Vocals: Mike Skill
Drums: Brad Elvis
Harp: Patrick Harwood
Produced by Chuck Alkazian & Mike Skill
Pearl Sound Studios (Detroit , Canton Michigan)
Mastered by Scott Hull at Masterdisk NY

www.mikeskill.com and streaming everywhere...

History of “What I Like About You”
It was never thought of more than just another good song.. simply my constant intentional attempt at writing another of my simple three chord treatise to simplicity, a good Syncopated verse, and a infectious chorus to become something that fans could join in instantly during the show and then sing on the way to the car when leaving the club, like the rest our songs!
Without thinking it seemed, I quickly came up with the chugging Guitar rhythm, in dads house and smoothed it out at the picnic table in the backyard of my family’s house one late summer, nearly fall, early afternoon. A tune that I/ we were always on the lookout for! That “Bolt of Lightning”, three or four chord “Latin Lupe Lu”, “Louie Louie”, “Your Gonna Miss Me”, Eddie Cochran/ Buddy Holly, Yardbirds, 2:00 minute and 45 second “white light” masterpiece.. but this tune didn’t seem any more special than any of the other ten to fifteen Guitar pieces I was inspired to rattle out in the first two months of our birth.

When Jimmy Marinos picked me up for rehearsal that day when I came up with What I Like About You, I first played him the cords as I was sitting on that picnic table in the back yard at my parents house. As I was getting ready to go to rehearsal with a ride from Jimmy, I was worried I would not remember the song, Jimmy even suggested I jump in the back seat of his car and keep playing the song I came up with......
We arrive at our rehearsal building alone just the two of us and It was dark with spot lights beaming over the drums and mic stands, in the cleaned up showcase like, store front/ clubhouse band studio. I immediately sat down and started playing my guitar and we went over what I came up with at my parents house and opened with the simple chords as Jimmy Marinos jumped in with his signature animal groove... and instantly dropped in singing, scatting, jamming in free form, sketching a lyric, throwing words against the wall to see what would stick, As I scattered with back ups.. Uh huh, Hey! Uh huh! And "What I Like About You" was created and completed by Marinos and myself.
I could always write something to his solid groove he laid down, as with too few drummers who just know how to “swing it”
PRESS RELEASE:
(New York, NY - July xx, 2021) Anyone watching TV in the late 80s and 90s can instantly identify the song “What I Like About You” from the first few bars of the famous guitar line. As the theme song of Budweiser’s national TV marketing campaign, the song by the 80s rock band, The Romantics, became a classic party anthem. The band’s guitarist, Mike Skill, who wrote the signature guitar riff, announces the release of his re-recorded version of “What I Like About You,” which hits all streaming platforms on July 16th.
The WILAY remake features Skill on lead and backup vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar and bass along with Brad Elvis (current member of The Romantics) on drums and Patrick Harwood on harmonica. Skill’s new version of the classic rock single marks the 41st anniversary of the song and precedes the release of Skill’s debut solo self-titled EP, out August 13, 2021.
Skill originally wrote “What I Like About You” with fellow Romantics band member Jimmy Marinos in 1979. As a teenager sitting in his family’s backyard, the budding rock musician created the famous three- chord guitar rhythm.
Skill recalls vividly the birth of the song before a band rehearsal. He says, “I offered that I had this new idea... I opened with the simple chords, and [drummer/singer Jimmy Marinos] jumped in with his signature animal groove... and [he] instantly dropped in singing, scatting, jamming in free form, sketching a lyric, throwing words against the wall to see what would stick, as I scattered with back ups... Uh huh, Hey! Uh huh!”
The original single, “What I Like About You,” released in December 1979 & was included on The Romantics' 1980 self-titled debut album that went Gold in the US. With Skill on lead guitar, the song charted on US Billboard at #49, and peaked at #2 in Australia and #8 in the Netherlands. MTV, which just launched in 1981, added the music video in heavy rotation, adding to the popularity of the single.
On July 16th, “What I Like About You” made another appearance on the New Music scene with the modern reboot by Mike Skill, and produced by Chuck Alkazian, who also produced songs for Eminem and Chris Cornell. The single comes from Skill’s upcoming self-titled solo album 'SKILL...MIKE SKILL" STREAMING NOW!

Видео "What I Like About You" 41st Anniversary канала Mike Skill