Saturday, January 20, 2018

"Say You're Wrong" by Julian Lennon

Song#:  2291
Date:  04/20/1985
Debut:  54
Peak:  21
Weeks:  12
Genre:  Pop



Pop Bits:  Lennon's debut album was a major success going platinum and spawning two Top 10 hits. He tried to keep the momentum going for the LP with this third single. While the song did well at Rock (#3) and AC (#6), it wasn't quite as successful at Pop and it faltered just short of the Top 20. Despite not being a major Pop hit like his previous two singles, it did well enough to keep sales of the album going.

ReduxReview:  This anxious tune has a lovely verse but there is no chorus to speak of. It's basically the verse, a section with punchy horns, and a guitar solo. It's a good track, but it lacks a memorable hook, which makes it a bit less Pop friendly. Besides the first two hit singles, there wasn't much on the album that was truly good enough for single contention. This one was the best bet and it did get some good airplay at Rock and AC. However, the label could have called it two-and-done and tasked Lennon to get a follow-up album done pronto.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  In the mid-80's, Dave Clark (leader/drummer of the hit 60's UK band the Dave Clark Five) wrote a sci-fi musical with Dave Soames and Jeff Daniels. It was titled Dave Clark's "Time" and when the book, lyrics, and music were completed, Clark called on some artist friends to help record a concept album of the musical. On board with the project were major artists like Cliff Richard, Freddie Mercury, Ashford & Simpson, Leo Sayer, and Julian Lennon. Lennon recorded three songs for the musical including "Because," which was selected to be released as a single. It did a little business in the UK getting to #40. At the time, three other singles were issued with Cliff Richard's "She's So Beautiful" doing the best at #17. However, years later after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991, one of his contributions to the album, "In My Defence," would get a posthumous release and reach #8 on the UK chart. The actual stage musical of Time would debut at London's West End in April of '86. Apparently, the stage sets were extremely elaborate and the theater it played in was nearly gutted and rebuilt to house the sets. Cliff Richard ended up starring in the musical, which ran for two years (David Cassidy would replace Richard later in the run). The musical was panned by critics, but it did fine at the box office. The album was successful selling around two million copies. The musical never made it to Broadway and its concept album never caught on in the US.

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