Top 10 Alert!
Song#: 3757
Date: 12/24/1988
Debut: 80
Peak: 6
Weeks: 19
Genre: Pop, Soft Rock, Soundtrack
Pop Bits: With her band Heart's soaring popularity in the 80s, some other opportunities came Ann Wilson's way, which included lending her voice to a few songs for film soundtracks. Her first venture was the 1984 duet with Loverboy's Mike Reno "Almost Paradise" from the movie Footloose. It would become a #7 Pop hit. Wilson went solo for her next soundtrack contribution for Eddie Murphy's The Golden Child. "The Best Man in the World" would get to #5 Rock/#61 Pop. A third offer came her way when tunes were being assembled for the soundtrack to the Mel Gibson flick Tequila Sunrise. The song was scheduled to be a duet and this time around Wilson's partner would be Cheap Trick's lead singer Robin Zander. Cheap Trick was on a high at the time coming off of a pair of Top 10 hits, so the timing was right to bring Zander on board. The song selected, "Surrender to Me," was written by newly minted star Richard Marx and Ross Vanelli. It would be produced by Richie Zito, who had just worked with Cheap Trick. The song would be issued out as a single to coincide with the film's release. It would go on to reach the Pop Top 10 while getting to #42 Rock/#44 AC. The hit didn't really spur sales of the soundtrack album, which topped out at #101. It would be the last time that either singer would make the pop chart as a solo artists.
ReduxReview: This hit sounded like two things: 1) a song from a film, and 2) a Richard Marx tune. Combine those two things with Wilson and Zander and it was inevitable that this track was going to hit the Top 10. It did and it even bested Wilson's previous film hit "Almost Paradise" by a notch. Yet I don't find this song as good or as memorable. I don't think I've heard it since its charting days whereas "Almost Paradise" is still kickin' around. It was a good effort by all involved, but it just didn't make a lasting impact.
ReduxRating: 6/10
Trivia: Tequila Sunrise was a film written and directed by Robert Towne. It was only his second film where he did both jobs. Normally, Towne either wrote screenplays or served as a script doctor. He would be nominated for four Oscars for writing winning one for the 1974 classic Chinatown. The Tequila Sunrise cast included Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kurt Russell. Upon release, the romantic crime drama received mixed reviews from critics, however audiences showed up and it ended up being a good box office hit. The film would earn an Oscar nod for Best Cinematography.
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8/10 for me, I'm born in 1980 and I didn't even know this song existed until the early 2000's when I've heard it on the 80's channel on Music Choice, I was stunned to find out it was a Top 10 hit considering the lack of airplay or attention that it received after its chart run.
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