"If She Would Have Been Faithful..." by Chicago

Song#:  3062
Date:  03/21/1987
Debut:  84
Peak:  17
Weeks:  19
Genre:  Adult Contemporary, Soft Rock



Pop Bits:  This band's Chicago 18 album nearly tanked, but it got revived by its second single, "Will You Still Love Me," which got to #2 AC/#3 Pop. Realizing that their bread 'n' butter at the time was power ballads, the band kept along those lines with the release of this third single. It would win over the AC crowd getting to #9 on that chart. At Pop it wasn't quite as successful only cracking the Top 20. Still, the hits helped the album sell well enough to reach platinum status.

ReduxReview:  Like their previous single, this was a nice song, but it didn't bring anything new to the table that the band hadn't already dished out. It was just another entry in their line of power ballad hits that featured a massive production by David Foster. While it contained some interesting compositional choices and was a better song than "Will You Still Love Me," it was still just another steroidal Chicago ballad trying to muscle its way up the charts.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  This song was written by Steve Kipner and Randy Goodrum. Kipner's career as a songwriter really kicked in when Olivia Newton-John recorded "Physical," a song he co-wrote with Terry Shaddick. That 1981 song would spend ten weeks atop the Pop chart. He would go on to write several other major hits including Christina Aguilera's #1 debut single, 1999's "Genie in a Bottle." But like many for-hire songwriters, Kipner spent time trying to make it as a recording artist. Born in Ohio, but raised in Australia, Kipner's band Steve & the Board scored a hit there in 1966 with "The Giggly-Eyed Goo," a song written and produced by Kipner's father, Nat. The band broke up the following year, but then Kipner had bigger success as a member of the band Tin Tin. Their 1970 single "Toast and Marmalade for Tea" made it to #10 in Australia and #20 in the US. Once again, the band was short-lived and broke up a couple years later. He made a move to the US and was in three bands that all got signed to major labels and recorded albums, but nothing came from them. He even released a solo LP in 1979 to little notice. Luckly his compositions got noticed and a new career as a pro songwriter began. One of the more interesting songs from Kipner's early career came during the sessions for Tin Tin's self-titled debut album, which was produced by Bee Gee Maurice Gibb. At one session, they happened to be recording a song called "Have You Heard the Word." That day, Gibb had fallen and shown up to the studio with an arm cast. He was also on painkillers. A little booze in the studio added to his day. The band wasn't happy with the song and left the studio. The feeling-no-pain Gibb stayed behind and decided to finish it off playing bass and doing vocals that mimicked John Lennon's. Somehow, the recording got released as a single in 1970 as by The Fut. Not long after it got out, rumors started that it might possibly be a bootleg recording of The Beatles, thanks in part to Gibbs' impersonation. One person who thought it was real was Yoko Ono. After John Lennon's death, she discovered the song and thought it was a Lennon track and tried to copyright it. She discovered later it was just a Gibb brother doing his best Lennon voice.

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