"Turn on Your Radar" by Prism

Song#:  0996
Date:  04/17/1982
Debut:  85
Peak:  64
Weeks:  7
Genre:  Soft Rock



Pop Bits:  With their new vocalist, Henry Smalls, Prism's album "Small Change" got off to a good start when the LP's first single, "Don't Let Him Know," hit the Top 40 (#39). It would be their only Top 40 hit. This second single was less successful and it became their final pop chart entry. After the album, all members quit the group save for Smalls. He carried on as Prism, but it was more or less a solo effort. Smalls hired session musicians to fill out the "group" and released an album in 1983. It failed to do any business and that ended the main era of the band. Versions of the group would reunite and record over the years, but their heyday had past.

ReduxReview:  This song is nothing like the rock of their previous single, which was co-written by Jim Vallance and a pre-stardom Bryan Adams. This soft MOR entry contradicts their other Foreigner-ish material. It's a pleasant, understated tune that I could hear an 80s British synth band do. Just imagine the chorus in a British accent with a female added. You'll probably hear what I mean then.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  The band's first single, 1977's "Spaceship Superstar" (#63 Canada, #82 US pop), was selected by NASA to be used as one of the morning wake-up songs for the space shuttle Discovery's crew. It was used during Discovery's last mission in 2011 before the shuttle was retired.

_________________________________________________________________________________