(If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here! - Shania Twain

ALL TIME GREATEST SINGLES - #972

(IF YOU'RE NOT IN IT FOR LOVE) I'M OUTTA HERE!

Shania Twain

(R.J. Lange, S. Twain)

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Chart Entry: 10th November, 1996

Highest Position: #5

Accreditation: Platinum

Points: 103,604

From the album "The Woman In Me".

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Shania Twain's career in the world of Country music was off to a slow start in 1993 with the release of her self-titled debut album. The cover depicting a very rugged up Shania next to a wolf and an arctic fire was quite different to the "sexy" Shania we would come to know half a decade later. Maybe the music buying public couldn't be swayed, but producer Robert "Mutt" Lange heard the songs and was instantly impressed. The producer of such great rock acts as AC/DC, Foreigner and Def Leppard during the 80's mellowed to help Bryan Adams, The Corrs and Michael Bolton to their own hits during the 90's. He offered to help Shania write songs for her second album, but not before tying the knot with her by the end of 1993.

The resulting The Woman In Me was either written or co-written entirely by Shania and Robert, impressing record executives with the fresh take on Country music they had created. It was a major hit in her native Canada, accredited 2xDiamond for sales in excess of 2 million copies. The album contained no less than six Canadian Country #1 hits, a vast improvement on the two minor hits her debut had given her. Success like that spilled over to the US Billboard charts topping the Country Albums chart and peaking at a respectable #5 in the mainstream chart, adding 12 million sales to an already impressive total.

Country music success in the Australian charts was an recurring phase that had previously exploded in 1992 with Billy Ray Cyrus, but female success in the genre was seemingly dead, the last major hit coming from Dolly Parton in the early 80's. A 13 year old LeAnn Rimes re-booted the female interest in the genre, but Shania Twain took it to heights that would eventually overshadow Dolly's efforts. "(If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here" was the first of five Top 5 hits for Shania here, spending a quarter of the year in the Top 10 alone despite a #5 peak. Both "I'm Outta Here" and The Woman In Me set up a chart domination that saw her follow-up album, Come On Over, become one of the biggest selling albums in Australian history.

Shania Twain's career stalled in Australia somewhat during the early 2000's with the 2002 album, Up!, which remains her last studio album to date. Robert Lange again helmed the release, but a confusing three version release was a little too imaginative for the majority of Shania's Australian audience. The modest 2xPlatinum accreditation for the short-lived #1 album was a drastic shortfall from Come On Over's 15xPlatinum haul. However, Shania scored her third successive Diamond album in the US anyway, Up! still managing to move 20 million copies worldwide.

So Shania left her career on the Up? Well, kinda, but an alleged affair between Robert and Shania's best friend put her personal life into turmoil. Shania was certainly "outta here" with the finalisation of their divorce coming through in 2010. Shania wasted no time to announced her return to music in 2011, working with producers David Foster and Nathan Chapman for the new material. So I guess it would be the sweetest revenge for Shania to come out of her musical hiatus with a hit without the aid of her now ex-husband. Fingers crossed.

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Chart Run: 74.66.37.24.13.9.6.6.6.10.8.5.5.7.8.9.8.10.21.21.26.28.33.43.48.49.58.

65.62.67.75.--.--.100 (32 weeks) (ARIA Top 100)