"No One Is to Blame" is a song by British new wave musician Howard Jones. The song, in its original version, can be found on Jones' second studio album, Dream Into Action, which was released in 1985. Following the success of the previous singles taken from the album, the original track for "No One Is to Blame" was re-recorded to give the song a more radio-friendly sound. Phil Collins produced the re-recording, adding his own backing vocals and drum work.^[1] The radio remix of the song was included on Jones' 1986 studio album, One to One.^[2]

"No One Is to Blame" was released as a single in March 1986, and became Jones' biggest hit single in the United States, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[1] The song also became the first of his two #1 songs on the U.S. adult contemporary chart ("Everlasting Love" would top this chart three years later, in 1989).^[3] The song was also a top 10 hit in Australia and a #16 hit in the U.K..^[4]

The song describes a number of frustrating situations, such as "You can look at the menu, but you just can't eat" and "It's the last piece of the puzzle, but you just can't make it fit", drawing parallels between these and the frustrations sometimes experienced in romantic relationships.

Track List

7”

• ”No One Is To Blame” – 4:14
• ”The Chase” – 2:53

12”

• ”No One Is To Blame (Extended Mix)” – 5:16
• ”The Chase” – 2:53
• ”No One Is To Blame (The Long Mix)” – 3:07

The Long Mix is a piano and vocal-only version of the song recorded in session for the BBC Radio 1 Janice Long show.

Other versions

• Played by Jones on grand piano accompanied only by a percussionist, the song appeared on the 1996 album “Live Acoustic America”.
• An entirely re-recorded version featuring the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra was included on Jones’ 2000 studio album ”Perform.00” (released the following year in the US as “Perform.01”).

Cover versions

In 2007, American singer-songwriter Katrina Carlson recorded a cover version, on which Jones contributed piano and backing vocals. Carlson’s version, which is taken from her album Here and Now, reached #20 on the US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.

References

External links

• Billboard.com for US artist chart history
• Chartstats.com for UK artist chart history
• Here And Now at cdbaby.com
• Katrina Carlson at Billboard.com