"Here She Comes" by Bonnie Tyler

Song#:  2008
Date:  08/11/1984
Debut:  88
Peak:  76
Weeks:  5
Genre:  Synthpop, Soundtrack



Pop Bits:  In 1984, superstar music producer Giorgio Moroder turned into a film producer when he restored the classic 1927 Fritz Lang silent film Metropolis. In addition to adding color shading and using subtitles instead of the old dialogue cards, Moroder also added a new score that was made up of contemporary pop songs, which he wrote (or co-wrote) and produced. Many of the songs were performed by popular artists like Freddie Mercury, Adam Ant, Pat Benatar, Loverboy, and Bonnie Tyler. A soundtrack album would be created and this Tyler song became the introductory single. The tune didn't catch on and it fell off the chart after a few weeks. Without a significant hit, the album sold poorly and couldn't even crack the Top 100.

ReduxReview:  I think I was one of the few at the time that really enjoyed this soundtrack. While the decision to use pop music in the film is debatable, I thought the tracks stood up on their own. It was highly overlooked at the time due to its use in the film, but I think later years have been kind to it. I've run across several folks who later discovered the LP and now love it. This Bonnie Tyler tune has a rock/blues feel smashed into robotic synthpop and it's pretty delicious. Tyler sells it well and I think it is one of her best performances. I'm not sure why it did not catch on at the time. Was it too dark? Maybe a bit too mid-tempo? I have no clue. Whatever it was, folks certainly missed out.

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  Lang's Metropolis suffered the fate of a lot of early films. It's original premier form was lost to time, decay, and other factors. But sometimes whole films or parts of films once thought lost are suddenly discovered in vaults, old movies houses, or even someone's basement. That was what happened with Metropolis. Moroder worked with several film archival organizations to assemble the existing portions of the film with newly discovered sections. The goal was to replicate Lang's original vision as best as possible. Such things as coloring the film was part of Lang's goal, but it could not happen at the time. Other items like the new score were done to help enhance the film and introduce it to a new generation. Critics were divided over the new edition, but many agreed that it was the most complete version of the film that had existed up to that point. Decades later, more footage was discovered and there were new versions of the film done in 2002 and 2010. The 2010 version is now considered the most complete with only a small fraction of the film still missing or unusable from any of the prints found.

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