1975 · Behind the Songs
A songwriter’s demo becomes a top-ten hit.
Helen Reddy had a gift for finding songs that said what her audience felt. “Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady,” released as a single in 1975, was written by Los Angeles singer-songwriter Harriet Schock. Reddy’s recording — produced by Joe Wissert — climbed to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 late that year, and gave its name to Reddy’s 1975 album, No Way to Treat a Lady.
The song’s journey is a classic behind-the-scenes story: Schock recorded her own version, and Reddy’s hit grew out of hearing the songwriter’s work and making it her own. The lyric is a firm, elegant complaint — a woman telling a careless partner exactly where he is failing — and Reddy sings it with the authority of someone who means every word. It fit her perfectly: the “I Am Woman” singer as the era’s most dignified advice-giver.
Schock went on to a long career as a songwriter and teacher, and her original recording remains a favorite for those who dig past the hit. But it is Reddy’s version that carried the song into the top ten — another example of her unmatched ear for material.