Song#: 1320
Date: 01/22/1983
Debut: 29
Peak: 12
Weeks: 16
Genre: Soft Rock, Adult Contemporary
Pop Bits: Cross was riding high thanks to his 1980 multi-Grammy award winning debut album and his recent #1 Oscar-winning song "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)." All ears were awaiting the release of his sophomore album "Another Page." This first single slammed onto the pop chart at a very high #29. It was the week's top debuting single, even besting the debut of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," which came in at #47. It seemed destined to be a major hit, but after its splashy debut, the song just kind of fizzled and peaked outside of the Top 10. It was a surprising result for the singer/songwriter. The lack of support for the song affected the album which would also fail to reach the Top 10 (#11). AC radio was still on board with Cross and the single did better there reaching #3.
ReduxReview: I remember when this song came out. After "Arthur's Theme" even I was expecting something great from Cross. And then I heard this tune. Yeesh. It was like an instant thud heard 'round the pop music world. Apparently "Arthur's Theme" really was the best that he could do! Granted, the song is not really that bad. It has a nice soft rock sound, a good chorus, and it falls right in line with the songs from his debut album. But I think that was the problem. The song offered nothing new and in the short couple of years since his debut, pop music had changed. His yacht rock offerings were fine for 1980, but 1983 just wasn't having it. I wasn't either.
ReduxRating: 5/10
Trivia: Cross played guitar for Deep Purple for one gig. When Deep Purple came to the States for the first time, leader Ritchie Blackmore got ill before they could even do their first show. The band didn't want to cancel the show so through connections they found a guitarist (Cross) to fill in for the night. Deep Purple wasn't Cross' only brush with hard rock. His early band in Texas, Flash, opened for several big artists who swung through the state. Most notably, they opened for Led Zeppelin.
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While it may not be true, another reason I heard for Cross's decline, was that he had a face made for radio. When you look at the acts that were popular in '83, many of them seemed tailor-made for MTV. Cross most definitely was not. Certainly, this song was not that strong, but if it had come out in 1980/81 I believe it would have been far bigger.
ReplyDeleteActually, I believe that is true. While researching I did read an interview done with Cross where he basically said just that - he didn't have the right look/image for MTV and therefore received little support. He also said that his first album becoming a major hit was a total fluke. He expected to record two or three albums before being able to grab a significant hit. In essence, the album was so big that there was no way he could follow it up.
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