"Runaway Rita" by Leif Garrett

Song#:  0838
Date:  12/05/1981
Debut:  90
Peak:  84
Weeks:  6
Genre:  Pop



Pop Bits:  Garrett's run as a popular teen idol was declining as was his music career. He cranked out an album a year since 1977 and had some success along the way, particularly with his lone Top 10 hit "I Was Made for Dancin'" (#10, 1979). But returns faded on subsequent releases and as 1982 approached, he put forth one last effort with the LP "My Movie of You." The album was his first to not chart and it didn't help that this single faded quick. It would be his last chart single and his final album from his teen idol days.

ReduxReview:  Isn't a runaway 'rita a margarita that spilled? No? Well, it's probably a little more preferable than this song. Actually, the song is not that bad. It's miles better than his last effort, the drab "I Was Looking for Someone to Love," but it sounds like it's stuck in the early 70s. This is not a song that's going to get you back into the upper-levels of the chart and I think it pretty much killed his music career.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  Beginning in 1979, Garrett dated actress Nicollette Sheridan. Their relationship lasted for six year. It was soon after their break-up that Sheridan got her first major role co-starring in the TV series "Knots Landing." She remained on the series for seven seasons. Then in 2004 she found herself on another hit show with "Desperate Housewives."

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