"Reason to Try" by Eric Carmen

Song#:  3670

Date:  10/08/1988

Debut:  90

Peak:  87

Weeks:  3

Genre:  Pop

Pop Bits:  After hitting it big with the Dirty Dancing soundtrack single "Hungry Eyes" (#4 Pop), Carmen went into the studio and recorded the one-off single "Make Me Lose Control." It would be Carmen's third Pop Top 10 hit reaching #3. Next up for him would be a song for a Clive Davis/Arista Records project. Carmen would contribute "Reason to Try" to the 1988 Summer Olympics soundtrack album. The track would end up being released as a single, but it didn't get anywhere. It would only reach the Pop chart and spend a few minor weeks at the bottom. It would end up being Carmen's last single as a performer to make any chart. Despite the success of "Hungry Eyes" and "Make Me Lose Control," for whatever reason Carmen didn't capitalize on the moment and record a new album. He would continue to write music and perform, but the only other new studio album he would record would be 1997's Winter Dreams, which was only released in Japan at the time. It would later be released in the States in 2000 as I Was Born to Love You.

ReduxReview:  This song was fine for the Olympics album (although the theme was a bit of a stretch for a sporting event), but it did not make a good single. It was a nice, reliable composition from Carmen yet it wasn't nearly as good as his previous two hits. It just wasn't strong enough to hook folks. I'm even surprised it got on the Pop chart. I think that Carmen kind of became a reluctant pop star again with the two recent hits and with this song failing it probably gave him the opportunity to fall back into the shadows of the music biz.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  In 1996, one of Carmen's hits would get a big makeover and become a signature hit for another artist. Carmen's first solo single after leaving his band the Raspberries was 1975's "All By Myself." Inspired by a theme from Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Carmen wrote the song and it would go on to be a #2 Pop gold record. Later in '96, singer Celine Dion would cover the song for her album Falling Into You. It would be given a massive arrangement by producer David Foster that breathed life into the soft rock classic. The track would be released as a single and would get to #4 Pop/#1 AC. Dion's version, which featured a bombastic ending with a soaring vocal, would go one to be one of her signature songs. Her version would also pretty much take over as the one that folks would cover. Thanks to this cover along with two other hits, Dion's Falling Into You would go on to win the Grammy for Album of Year.

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