"One in a Million" by Eddie and the Tide

Song#:  2469
Date:  09/21/1985
Debut:  90
Peak:  85
Weeks:  2
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  This Bay area band was started up by singer/songwriter Steve Rice. Wanting to get involved in the music industry, Rice put out an ad in the local paper looking for other musicians who wanted to do the same. He rounded out the band with four other guys and initially they were called The Suburbs. Unfortunately due to another band having the same name, they were forced to make a change. After making lists of potential names, Rice went to bed and had a dream about a band named Eddie and the Tide. That ended up being the band name and Rice then became "Eddie." A club owner showed interest in the band and eventually became their manager and helped them to record an indie EP in 1982 and a full album in 1984. Both recordings became solid sellers locally and that along with their growing fan base got them signed to Atco Records. Within a year's time, the band had recorded their major label debut album Go Out and Get It. This first single was pushed out and it got some attention at Rock getting to #22. The song was able to cross over to the Pop chart, but just for a very minor two weeks. Despite the tepid results, Atco kept them on for a second LP, 1987's Looking for Adventure. Nothing happened with it and the band was dropped. They recorded two more indie albums before breaking up sometime around 1993.

ReduxReview:  This mysterious sounding track takes a couple of listens before it hooks you. The verses are the best part and they really set a cool tone. The chorus is solid, but I think it needed a little more oomph production-wise to really make it snap and stand out. This certainly could have done better on the chart. I wonder if the title was an issue as The Romantics had a Top 40 hit just the previous year with the same title. Sometimes that causes confusion especially if people think the second song is a remake of the first one. Regardless, this one was strong enough to stand on its own.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) Their first album for Atco got a helping hand from another Bay area resident, rock star Eddie Money. Money produced the majority of the album and co-wrote three songs with Rice. Although Money had produced some of his own records and perhaps a song or two for other artists, it seems that this was Money's first gig producing a full album for someone else. Having Money's name attached to the project most likely helped draw some attention to the band.  2) Before they signed with Atco, the band submitted a video to MTV for their "battle of the bands" series MTV Basement Tapes. The show featured videos from unsigned acts that would compete for viewer votes. Six videos would be shown each episode and the one with the most votes would move on to the next stage of the competition. In 1984, Eddie and the Tide's video for their song "Running Wild, Running Free" made it to the finals and seemed to be the odds on favorite to win. But in an upset, a band called TRAK made up of the four DeRita brothers ended up winning for the video to their song "Dancin'." Although the band won some kind of recording contract with EMI, it doesn't seem like they recorded anything for the label. Their lead singer was 13-year-old Kurt. Around the same time, Kurt also appeared on another competition show, Star Search. He competed in the junior vocalist category.

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