Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds had scored a #4 Billboard hit in 1971 with "Don't Pull Your Love," but soon found themselves unable to sustain the momentum that hit had generated. Their next two singles, also released in 1971, were only moderately successful on the charts, not quite reaching the top 40. During the next few years, the band underwent several changes, including the replacement of group member Tommy Reynolds with Alan Dennison (although the group would continue to use its original moniker for a time afterward), and signing with a new label, Playboy Records.
Their first album on the Playboy label, Fallin' in Love, was released in 1975. The title track became a major hit for the group in the summer of 1975, reaching #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. In November of that year, the band followed it up with the release of “Winners and Losers,” an excellent ballad written in a similar breezy, soft rock/pop style as its predecessor, although slightly more uptempo. While “Winners and Losers” did not duplicate the success of “Fallin’ in Love,” it achieved a very respectable #21 placing on the Hot 100 in early 1976.
Until fairly recently, “Winners and Losers” was a difficult track to obtain on CD, but happily that changed with the release of the compilation Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds: The Playboy Years in 2005. A sample of the song can be heard via Barnes & Noble at http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/mediaplayer.asp?ean=630428014428&disc=1&track=1.
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