"How Much Love" by Survivor

Song#:  3032
Date:  02/21/1987
Debut:  83
Peak:  51
Weeks:  9
Genre:  Rock, Pop



Pop Bits:  Survivor's album When Seconds Count got started with the #9 "Is It Love." They decided to follow it up with another question about love, "How Much Love." This time around the answer wasn't as good. The track just missed out on the Pop Top 50 while not even making an appearance on the Rock chart. The album would stall at a low #49, yet on the strength of their popularity at the time and "Is It Love," the LP would actually go gold. It would end up being their last studio album to reach that sales level.

ReduxReview:  Band members Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan had honed their songwriting skills to the point where they could easily toss off a hooky, commercial-leaning tune. While that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, the problem came when they didn't expand their horizons and it began to sound like they were repeating themselves. I think that was the issue with this track. It sounds an awful lot like their #8 hit "High on You," especially the opening keyboard lick. Their sound was getting formulaic and it caused listeners to become less interested. That said, this is still a quality pop/rock track that is hooky and well-done. However, since we've heard this before from the band, it ends up being a bit banal.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  Jim Peterik's songwriting skills later got him hooked up with The Beach Boys. Sometime in the late 90s, Peterik ended up writing a song titled "Dream Angel" with Brian Wilson for Wilson's 1998 album Imagination. Peterik also played some guitar on the recording. Flash forward about 13 years and Peterik found himself at a restaurant with Wilson, who was beginning to work on a reunion album with The Beach Boys to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary. During their conversation, Peterik talked about how great songs used to sound on the AM radio in the car and that it was just the best sound ever. Wilson then responded, "yeah, that's why god made the radio." Peterik found inspiration in that phrase, wrote it down, and the pair then later began to co-write the title track to The Beach Boys' 2012 reunion album That's Why God Made the Radio. Peterik would also co-write another song for the album, "Isn't It Time." Both songs would be released as singles with "That's Why God Made the Radio" reaching #30 on the AC chart. The album would hit #3 becoming the band's first Top 10 studio album since 1976. Peterik would later co-write the song "Sail Away" for Brian Wilson's 2015 solo album No Pier Pressure.

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