"Autograph" by John Denver

Song#:  0060
Date:  02/23/1980
Debut:  90
Peak:  52
Weeks:  10
Genre:  Pop



Pop Bits:  After being on a "Rocky Mountain High" for most of the 70s, the 80s found John Denver on the low side of the charts. Coming off of the box office hit movie "Oh, God!," he returned to the chart with the title song to his first album of the 80s. He got quite a chilly reception with this middling chart song and it was his first album not to reach gold status since 1970. He was one of the biggest stars of the 70s, but it was probably a combination of his hippy-dippy good guy persona, gentle songs, and changing musical landscape that made him more of a punchline than a continuing musical force into the 80s. Even today his name can elicit groans, but people forget he had a rich catalog of pop/folk/country songs and, if they were around during the 70s, were probably singing along to them.

ReduxReview:  Well, he certainly was infatuated with mountains. The "Autograph" album had four songs with "mountain" in the title. By this time in his career he seemed to just be running out of gas in regards to good singles material while others like Dan Fogelberg were taking over with their strong brand of mountain pop. This is a nice enough song, but it is just too subtle to make a lasting radio impression.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  Denver was born Henry John Deutschendorf in (of all places) Roswell, New Mexico. He was in an Air Force family, which meant moving all around the country for most of his younger years. His favorite state was Colorado, so when it was suggested his last name would not fit on a marquee, he opted to change it to Denver.

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