"Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera

#1 Alert!

Song#:  2753
Date:  06/07/1986
Debut:  62
Peak:  1 (2 weeks)
Weeks:  21
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary, Soundtrack



Pop Bits:  The 80s comeback of the band Chicago was mainly orchestrated by producer David Foster over the course of two albums. It put a bigger spotlight on Cetera who had worked closely with Foster and happened to have been the lead singer on all the hits from both LPs. With some name recognition coming his way, Cetera had interest in doing solo work. He also wanted to remain with Chicago, but in order to do both the heavy touring schedule of the band would have to be cut back. This caused further friction in the band that was already at odds over the new direction of the band headed up by Foster and Cetera. In the end, Cetera decided to leave Chicago and head out on his own. He began work on a solo disc with producer Michael Omartian and among the first songs they recorded was this single that was picked up for use in the hit film The Karate Kid, Part II. It would be released as a single to promote the film, its soundtrack, and Cetera's solo album Solitude/Solitaire. At first, many folks thought it was a new Chicago song because it sounded similar to the band's recent hits, but soon everyone figured out it was Cetera on his own. The big ballad became a major hit reaching #1 at both Pop and AC. It would also earn Cetera an Oscar nod for Best Original Song (along with co-writers David Foster and Diane Nini). Cetera's album would get to #23 and eventually go platinum while the film soundtrack would reach #30.

ReduxReview:  I will say that this big AC ballad is well written, produced, and performed. It's like a big, lovable can of spray cheez that you wanna cozy up to with a package or Ritz. I can certainly appreciate it, but I can't say that I actually like it. In fact, when this came out I kind of hated it. I thought it was just a rehash of stuff Chicago had already been doing with Foster. Even Omartian's production practically mimicked Foster's style. I'm guessing the original intent was that Chicago would record this song but then the fallout happened and Cetera claimed it as his own. It became a big hit thanks in part to the movie doing well, but for me I was like - been there, heard that, yawn.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) Although many people assumed it was, Solitude/Solitaire was not Cetera's first solo album. In 1980, Chicago was at a low point in their career. Their popularity had been in slow decline over the past few years and then their album Chicago XIV tanked at #71, the worst showing of their career and their first album not to at least reach gold level sales. Around this time, Cetera decided to do a solo album. It was to be issued out on the band's label Columbia, but then after Chicago XIV nosedived, the label bought the band out of their contract and let them go. The work Cetera did for his album would then be shelved. Luckily, Warner Bros. scooped up the band and agreed to releasing Cetera's solo disc. The unfortunate part was that Cetera had to buy the rights to the work he already did when with Columbia. Once everything was settled, Cetera's self-titled debut album was released in the fall of '81. The more rock-oriented LP featured the song "Livin' in the Limelight," which was able to reach #6 at Rock. The album only got to #143. Both might have done better had Warner Bros. promoted them, but the label wasn't interested in Cetera as a solo artist at the time and was more focused on getting Chicago back on track. That happened when David Foster stepped in and led the band to their second #1 hit "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" in 1982.  2) Cetera has said that this song was originally written to be the final song for the film Rocky IV, but the movie studio rejected the song for that film and instead pushed it over for use in Karate Kid, Part II.

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