"Cover of Love" by Michael Damian

Song#:  3934

Date:  06/17/1989

Debut:  84

Peak:  31

Weeks:  12

Genre:  Pop

Pop Bits:  After a few early attempts, Young and Restless soap star Michael Damian finally grabbed his first Pop Top 10 with the #1 "Rock On," a remake of the 1973 #5 David Essex hit. Initially included the soundtrack to the comedy flick Dream a Little Dream, it would also be included on Damian's third album Where Do We Go from Here. To follow up the hit, this next track was selected for release. The song was an original co-written by Damian and producers Larry Weir and Troy Johnson along with Janeen Best. The track just missed out on the Pop Top 30. That result didn't do much for sales of the album, which had already peaked at #61.

ReduxReview:  It's not a bad thing to have a cover tune become your first major hit, but the trick is that you gotta have an original that is just as good or better to follow it up in order to keep folks interested. Damian gave it a go with this tune that he co-wrote and although it wasn't a bad song, it wasn't nearly as catchy or memorable as "Rock On." Thanks to that hit, this tune was able to make the Top 40, but had it been released ahead of "Rock On," I don't think it would have charted. It was a good album track, but it just wasn't single material.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  This song was co-written by Larry Weir and produced by him along with Tom Weir. Both are the brothers of Michael Damien, whose given name was Weir. The Weir family consisted of nine siblings and in the early 70s, they all got together to form the family band The Weirz. They would release three indie albums from '75-'82 with Larry writing most all of the songs and producing along with Tom. They grabbed enough attention to get signed to Curb Records and were able to issue out a couple singles for the label in '83 and '84, but neither charted. Meanwhile, Michael was appearing on The Young and the Restless and trying to kick off a solo career. His brothers helped and it paid off when "Rock On," which was produced by Larry and Tom (with Michael), made it to #1.

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