Song#: 2418
Date: 08/10/1985
Debut: 84
Peak: 68
Weeks: 6
Genre: Pop, Adult Contemporary
Pop Bits: After years of making soft rock hits (eight Top 10's in all), the band hit a snag with the first single from their self-titled eighth studio album. "Just As I Am" would do just fine at AC reaching #3, but at Pop the big ballad stalled just inside the Top 20. It seemed the band's sound was out of favor in the changing sounds of the mid-80s. They gave it another go with this second single, which was another big power ballad. This time around the single missed the AC Top 10 (#13) and couldn't get out of the bottom half of the Pop chart. The results didn't bode well for the album, however enough fans showed up to make the LP reach gold level sales.
ReduxReview: I call this "the song that would not die." While it was a mega hit in Europe (see below), it was lost on US ears. Yet there were artists that were determined to be the one to make it a hit here. Several singers covered the tune and within three years, three different artists got on the Pop chart with the song (Air Supply, Jennifer Rush, and Laura Branigan). By the time Branigan's version came around I was like "noooo...enough...not again!!!" But lo and behold la diva Celine Dion felt the need to revive the thing and she finally made it a #1 hit in the US in 1994. Okay. That's it. No more versions of this dang thing! I was never really a fan of the tune with it's chugging undercurrent and painfully slow build until the end. No matter who sang it, I found the tune and its melody lethargic. It just kept slowly meandering on and would not end. This song was a good fit for Air Supply, but with folks lumping them in the "mom and dad's" music category and dissing their soft sounds, the single was just not going to make it up the mountain. Overall, I will say that I prefer Air Supply's version to the others. They don't overdo it and keep things nicely reined in where the others seem to want to go balls to the wall until they pass out. Still, I'd be happy not to hear this song again.
ReduxRating: 5/10
Trivia: Double Shot! 1) This is a remake of a song originally co-written and recorded by singer/songwriter Jennifer Rush. Rush recorded it for her self-titled 1984 debut album. The following year it was released around Europe and became a huge hit in several countries including the UK where it stayed at #1 for five weeks. The record would finally be issued in the US in 1986, but Air Supply's cover version ended up beating Rush's original take to the charts. 2) The original title of this song is "The Power of Love" and that is the way it was listed on Air Supply's album. However, when this single was released, there was already a different song called "The Power of Love" on the Pop chart. That song was by Huey Lewis & the News and their Back to the Future theme was on it's way to #1. To avoid any confusion with that song, it was decided that the Air Supply single would have the subtitle "You Are My Lady," which is the phrase that begins the chorus.
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