Song#: 3240
Date: 08/22/1987
Debut: 73
Peak: 29
Weeks: 11
Genre: Soft Rock
Pop Bits: Mr. Mister's second album, Welcome to the Real World, became a platinum #1 hit thanks to three Pop Top 10 hits including the #1s "Broken Wings" and "Kyrie." With that success under their belt, the pressure was on to deliver a solid follow-up. The band went into the studio and emerged with their third album Go On... To kick things off, this first single was released. The tune started off well as the top debut of the week on the Pop chart and made good strides for a couple of weeks, but once it reached the Top 40, it experienced difficulty. After two months on the chart, the song peaked just inside the Top 30. It was a big disappointment and the news would only get worse. A follow-up single failed to chart and that left the album peaking at #55 and missing the gold sales mark. The band tried to shake it off and recorded a fourth album, but after its completion their label, RCA, chose not to release it. (The LP would see the light of day in 2010 under the title Pull.) The bad luck affected the band and they parted ways in 1990.
ReduxReview: Mr. Mister did what I think is the exact wrong move for an artist who broke through in a big way. With their newfound stardom and clout, they decided to become more artistic and "serious" with their follow-up. Usually what this means is that the material is darker and less commercial than the songs that made them famous. This rarely works out and indeed Go On..., which screamed "take us seriously!," lacked anything remotely as radio-ready or catchy as their previous hits. Its fine to reach for better songs with deeper subjects (including the LP's Christian overtones), but if you want to retain your star status, you have to at least include a couple of crowd/chart pleasers and Mr. Mister failed on that part. This song was truly the closest thing on the LP that could pass as a single, but it was a weak one at best. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that the band turned in the album and the label didn't hear a single and forced them to get one. Then the band either chose to remake this tune (see below) or the label recommended it. Whatever the case, none of it worked and the band would never recover.
ReduxRating: 4/10
Trivia: Double Shot! 1) This is actually a remake of a song originally done by - Mr. Mister. The band had previously recorded this song in 1986 and it was included on the soundtrack to the Rob Lowe sports flick Youngblood. It seems the band thought the song had more to offer than just being on an obscure soundtrack, so they decided to re-record the track for their third album. It ended up being the LP's lead single, but it didn't perform all that well. 2) After the band's breakup, lead singer/songwriter Richard Page would join forces with Madonna producer/songwriter Patrick Leonard in the band Third Matinee. They would release one album in 1994 to little notice. However, in the same time period Leonard and Page would co-wrote a song with Madonna that would become a hit. The trio came up with "I'll Remember," a song Madonna would record and contribute to the soundtrack of the comedy/drama With Honors. The track was released as a single and it would reach #2 Pop/#1 AC. After Third Matinee failed to make waves, Page would then try for a solo career. He released a 1996 debut LP titled Shelter Me. The LP and its singles failed to chart. Although Page could not replicate the success of his time in Mr. Mister, he would remain an in-demand background singer and songwriter for many top artists.
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