Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady

The song was written in 1973 by Harriet Schock and first appeared on her Hollywood Town album. It became a smash for Australian vocalist Helen Reddy, whose other hits include "I Am Woman," "I Don't Know How To Love Him," "Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)," "Angie Baby," and "Delta Dawn." The song resulted in a Grammy nomination (vocal category) for Reddy in 1975. Schock told Songfacts, "I can't speak for why Helen Reddy decided to record the song. I think she may have seen the universality in it and the fact that melodically, the chorus walked the line between pop and classical in a strangely interesting way that would fit her voice wonderfully."

Harriet Schock, who wrote the song, told Songfacts the story behind it: "I started writing the song on an airplane as I was leaving someone for the last time. It was one of the last times I left him for the last time. When I got back home, I finished it at the piano. The music came a bit faster, but the whole song came pretty quickly. Most of my songs have been inspired by a desire to communicate something to one person. In the case of this song, it was a scolding, a gentle finger wagging, but in the face of only one man. It was not a protest song about how all women were treated. If it became interpreted that way later, it was because it was a hit by the same artist who spoke so widely for all women in 'I Am Woman.' We all remember turning up our car radios to that one and feeling empowered. But in the case of my song, it was very personal, very microcosmic, if you will. I find that the more personal and specific a song is, the truer it will be and therefore, the more universally it will be received. I was saying as specifically as I could something I had a burning desire to say to one person, and apparently other women wanted to say that to someone. I received a number of calls from women telling me it was just the kick they needed to get that divorce. This was certainly not my intention when I wrote the song, but I can only hope, and in some cases know, that my song served as a catalyst to move my friends out of a bad situation into a new freedom."

The song was Schock's second single as a solo artist ("Hollywood Town" was her first). Its release was fraught with real-life drama, according to Schock. "Before it could become my second single, a group called LAX recorded it," she said. "By the time my single came out, some stations had already played the LAX recording and wouldn't play mine. However, there was one Top 40 station poised to play my record and another station waiting for the first one to play it. A program director at one of the stations requested that we recall the single, speed it up, and re-release it. He wanted it faster, to match his personality. We did this at great expense to the label. We got him the record on a Friday and Monday he was going to start playing it. The other Top 40 station was waiting for him to play it and the rest would be Billboard history. Well, Sunday the program director had a fight with someone at the station and quit. Paul Lovelace, the head of promotion at 20th Century Records still puts his head in his hands when he talks about this. My version got just enough airplay for Helen Reddy to hear it. She recorded the song and my publishers and I were all very excited. The folks at the record company were still bandaging their wrists over the death of my original version when I got the call in Dallas from Helen Reddy's manager and ex-husband, Jeff Wald, that KHJ, a major Top 40 station had started playing the album cut (it was the title song of Helen's album) and they were forcing it out as a single. Helen had always been one of my favorite singers and it was a thrill to hear her sing such a faithful, inspiring version of the song."