"Too Young" by Jack Wagner

Song#:  2509
Date:  10/26/1985
Debut:  86
Peak:  52
Weeks:  14
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  The General Hospital actor showed off his musical talents and scored a #2 hit with "All I Need," which was the first track from his debut album of the same name. The song and album did well enough to call for a second album and Wagner headed back into the studio once again with producers Glen Ballard and Clif Magness. Lighting Up the Night would be Wagner's second LP and this track was issued out as the first single. While it did fairly well on the AC chart getting to #15, it just couldn't replicate the success of "All I Need" and the song stopped before the halfway point on the Pop chart. A second single, a duet with Valerie Carter titled "Love Can Take Us All the Way," also got to #15 AC, but failed to make the Pop chart. A few albums were sold, but the results were not what was expected after Wagner's breakthrough hit.

ReduxReview:  This is a nice ballad with a solid chorus and I liked it enough at the time to grab the single. However, the song takes a bit too long to rev up, especially with verses that are extra quiet. Wagner has a good voice, but his upper register is better than his low range, which he had to use on this song's verses. He lacks power there and that makes the verses lag and not stand out. Overall it's still a well-done pop tune that probably should have made the Top 40.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  This song was written by Jay Graydon, Steve Kipner, David Foster, and...Donny Osmond? Yup, the former teen idol is listed as a co-writer on the track. So how in the world did a song co-authored by Osmond make it onto Wagner's album? Osmond was last on the Pop chart in 1978 with "On the Shelf," a #37 duet with his sister Marie that was from their failed comedy caper film Goin' Coconuts. After that box office dud and the end of their weekly TV variety show, Osmond laid low. He wanted to return to music, but he had to shed his teeny bopper/idol image if anyone was going to take him seriously. In 1984, Osmond got teamed up with producer Jay Graydon and began some preliminary work for a comeback album. Although it's not been fully confirmed, it has been speculated that "Too Young" was a song that was slated to be on the album. When the album failed to materialize, it seems that Graydon may have revived the song for Jack Wagner. The Osmond/Graydon project remains vaulted, but portions of two songs "Take the Night" and "Chain Reaction" did slip through the cracks and can be found on YouTube. Although this album didn't work out, Osmond would later mount a successful comeback in 1989.

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