Song#: 3878
Date: 04/29/1989
Debut: 88
Peak: 15
Weeks: 19
Genre: Pop, Rock
Pop Bits: This singer/songwriter from San Antonio, Texas, began performing with bands at a young age. In 1980 while still a teen, Morales formed his own band called The Max and began to hit the clubs in the area. Over the next eight years, Morales would hone his craft and along with the band would write and record a few tracks that made their way to a couple radio station compilations of local artists. Eventually, the work would pay off when PolyGram Records came along and offered Morales a solo deal to be on their Mercury offshoot label Wing. For his self-titled debut album, Morales would pretty much do everything on the majority of tracks (he would work with producer Roy Thomas Baker on three of the tracks). He wrote the tunes, played the instruments, and produced the recordings. This first single was one that Morales pretty much did himself. It got some attention and began to climb the Pop chart. Eventually it would crack the Top 20. The hit would help the album make the chart at #113.
ReduxReview: I liked this song back in the day and ended up buying the single. It was a well written, catchy tune with a nice vocal turn from Morales. The break/key change near the end provided an extra boost of urgency. The production was fine and I think Morales had a vision and knew what he wanted to do, but on his first major LP he might have been better served by working with a good rock-oriented producer. The Roy Thomas Baker-produced tracks are a bit better, but the whole album could have had a meatier, cleaner sound and the arrangements given a little boost. Still, this was a good single and it holds up pretty well.
ReduxRating: 7/10
Trivia: In an article published in 2003 in Texas Monthly, there was a mention that Morales appeared on the 80s talent contest TV show Star Search. It seems to be the only reference to Morales being on the show. One could assume that since he was with his band The Max at the time, it might have been with them. The band name could have changed as well. For those that may remember, Destiny's Child appeared on Star Search, but they were known then as Girls Tyme. Star Search was only accessible via TV and most of the videos from the show on YouTube come from viewers who taped the show. While it is odd that the original shows have never been publicly documented or available, chances are good they may never be. Getting the rights to the songs and artists would be so expensive and time consuming. Plus there was nothing at the time like what we have now with Wikipedia where the shows could be documented nearly in real time, such as with American Idol, The Voice, and other competitions shows. I still find it amazing that there wasn't a super fan out there that taped all the shows and/or wrote down the competitors and the results. If there is a list out there, I can't find it.
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