Pop Bits: This band's self-titled debut album contained a pair of Pop Top 10s including the #9 second single "Walking Away." Both hits utilized snippets of dialog from the Star Trek TV series, but that wasn't the case with this third single. Opting to go the ballad route, this song was pushed out. It didn't catch on nearly as well and would only spend a few weeks in the bottom quarter of the Pop chart. The album had already peaked at #25 and gone gold. Unfortunately, this single didn't help to further sales.
ReduxReview: I totally understand why the label went with this ballad instead of another upbeat banger. It was a nice song, but I think it was a little too plodding and low-key to be a radio hit. I was kind of irritated that the urgent track "Tomorrow" wasn't pushed out. With its soaring chorus, I thought it was an obvious single and might have had a chance to get the band a third Top 40 entry.
ReduxRating: 5/10
Trivia: After leaving Information Society in 1993, the band's main songwriter, Paul Robb, would take his music to other mediums. He began writing music for TV shows such as MTV's The Real World. That led to Robb doing his first film score for South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone's 1997 superhero sex comedy spoof Orgazmo. Then Robb was hired to create music for a series of BMW TV ads that aired in '97 and '98. His techno scores would earn him two Clio Awards - sort of the Oscars of the advertising world. He would then go on to do more scores for ads along with music for TV shows like Cartoon Network's 2013 series Level Up. Meanwhile, he continued to record his own projects including solo efforts and ones under his alias Think Tank.
Pop Bits: Between 1970 and 1978, Donny Osmond scored nine gold singles, thirteen gold albums and eleven Pop Top 10s including two #1s. While some of those were with his brothers or his sister Marie, a chunk of those were as a solo act. Along with that, Donny and Marie had their own hit TV variety show that lasted four seasons ('76-'79). And then the 80s hit. The Osmonds went from being one of the top acts in the world to being labeled old-fashioned "squares" and struggling to make their way in the new decade. The Osmonds, minus Donny, moved over to country for a pair of modest selling albums that spawned one Country hit, 1982's #17 "I Think About Your Lovin'." Marie Osmond actually did well continuing her solo career as a country artist and earned three #1 Country hits. But Donny struggled. He wanted to continue in music with a more modern, mature sound, but labels weren't interested. He tried to break into theater taking a starring role in the 1982 Broadway show Little Johnny Jones, but it closed after one official performance. He then moved his family to California and began to befriend some industry folks. After appearing in the music video for Jeff Beck's 1985 track "Ambitious," an exec at Beck's label, Epic, took an interest in Osmond and eventually got him signed. Work began on an album in England with producer George Acogney (at the suggestion of Peter Gabriel who Osmond met at a benefit concert). But as things were ramping up, changes at Epic didn't play in Osmond's favor and he was dumped by the label. Luckily, the work Osmond had already done found its way to Virgin Record (UK) who like what they heard and gave Osmond a shot. They set him up with producers/songwriters Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers and an album titled Donny Osmond was completed with Osmond co-writing five of the tracks. The LP's first single, "Soldier of Love," was issued out in the UK. It got to #29. A second single only got to #70. With those results, Virgin dropped him. That might have been the end of the story, but then through fan intervention, "Soldier of Love" got discovered in the US (see below). Suddenly, Osmond found himself signed by Capital Records. They issued out the tune and it gained traction. The song would wind its way up the Pop chart finally peaking at #2 (#20 AC). It was Osmond's first solo Top 10 hit since 1973. Capitol would release the album and it would reach a respectable #54. It was quite the comeback for the former teen idol.
ReduxReview: I was somewhat of an Osmond fan back when I was a kid. I had a couple of their singles along with two from Donny. I even had Marie's debut album Paper Roses. I also used to watch the Donny and Marie variety show. So flash forward to the end of the 80s and the prospect of a Donny comeback. As soon as I heard this song, I knew it was a hit. It was just a strongly written and produced record that could have been a hit for most any singer, yet it ended up with Donny and it was the perfect vehicle to get him back on the chart. It was also a bit boost for the Sturken/Rogers team who would later go on to discover Rihanna and write/producer her 2005 debut album Music of the Sun and its #2 hit "Pon de Replay." Osmond's return to the Pop Top 10 was one of the most surprising comebacks of the 80s and the song still holds up well.
ReduxRating: 8/10
Trivia: The story on how "Soldier of Love" became a hit is a bit fuzzy, but goes something like this. Since Osmond was signed with Virgin in the UK, he had no US deal, therefore, the song and album would not be released in the US. It seems an Osmond fan in the UK sent a cassette of the song to another fan in the US for them to hear. That fan then forwarded it on, apparently without any note on the tape saying who the artist was, to a top New York radio station WPLJ. The tape hit the desk of programmer Jessica Ettinger. Liking what she heard, she contact the person who sent it and discovered that the singer was Donny Osmond. Thinking the song was a hit, Ettinger put the tune in rotation, but then came up with a promo idea where the DJs would not announce the artist and asked listeners to call in with their guesses on the identity of the singer (according to one story, three people guessed correctly). The song was a hit at the station and a week later it was not only revealed who the mystery singer was, but they brought Osmond in to appear on the air during the reveal. Labels quickly caught wind of the potential hit and made offers to Osmond. He opted to go with Capital. While his comeback on the Pop chart would only span a couple of years, it gave his career a major boost and helped to change his image.
Pop Bits: By this point in time, Brown's second solo album Don't Be Cruel had spent six weeks at #1, gone triple-platinum, and spawned three Pop and R&B Top 10 hits including the #1 (on both charts) "My Prerogative." With the LP still riding near the top of the Pop chart, a fourth single was in order and this next track was selected. It would become another major hit for Brown reaching #3 Pop and #1 R&B (#17 Dance). It would also become his third single to go gold. The hit would help sell more albums and by the time May rolled around it would sell another million. By August it would reach the five million mark.
ReduxReview: This was another winner for Brown and it was a terrific song. It is nearly my favorite Brown song, but "My Prerogative" and its nasty new jack just edges it out. I love the structure of this song, the chord changes, and the hooky chorus. Brown was not a great singer, but he sounded solid here. Reid and Babyface wrote an excellent tune and it was a well-deserved hit.
ReduxRating: 8/10
Trivia: L.A. Reid and Babyface wrote this song, but they didn't compose it for Brown. After finishing the tune, Reid offered it to the R&B band Midnight Star. They chose to pass on the tune. It came about as Reid was working on Brown's album and so he brought the song to Brown who jumped on it. In doing so, Brown not only ended up with a gold selling hit, but it would earn him a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. It would be Brown's only Grammy win. He would get one more nomination later on in '92 in the same category for his #3 Pop/#2 R&B hit "Humpin' Around."
Pop Bits: This trio consisting of members from Norway and Sweden got together in 1987. Keyboardist Dag Kolsrug would write or co-write and co-produce the band's songs while Camilla Griehsel would handle the vocals. Guitarist Jan Gisel Ytterdal would round out the trio. They got the attention of A&M Records and after signing with the label, the band got to work on a debut album titled Mirror. This first single was released in the fall of '88 around Europe and it would hit #1 in Norway while charting in a few other countries. A&M decided to give the single a shot in the US and pushed it out in March of '89. It got a little attention getting to #18 AC and #30 Dance while cracking the Pop Top 40 for a few weeks. Although no official follow up single was released, the album track "Writing on the Wall" became a minor blip on the AC chart at #49. With those results, the album failed to chart. However, it didn't really matter because not long after "Downtown" made the US charts, the band split and so there was no reason for A&M to promote the trio any further.
ReduxReview: As a follower of the Pop chart, I saw that this single cracked the Top 40. I hadn't heard the song yet and probably wasn't going to get to anytime soon on the local radio station, so I did like I had a few times previously and just bought the single to see what it sounded like. The dramatic piano opening kind of reminded me of something Bruce Hornsby would do, but then it transitioned into a chugging Europop tune. I liked the song, but remember thinking that it didn't quite have enough steam to break in a bigger way, especially with rival Swedish duo Roxette storming the chart at the same time. Indeed I was right as it stalled just inside the Top 40. The album had a few other solid tunes and I think the trio had good potential, but they gave up before giving it another go. What they left behind was this pleasant little Europop gem that has sadly been forgotten.
ReduxRating: 7/10
Trivia: While One 2 Many were on the A&M label, so was English singer/songwriter Black (aka Colin Vearncombe. After releasing a few singles trying to get a solo career off the ground, Black wrote and independently released the song "Wonderful Life." A&M discovered the tune and signed Black. A debut album titled Wonderful Life would be issued out and its first single, "Everything's Coming Up Roses," would get to a minor #76 in the UK. However, the next single "Sweetest Smile" would crack the UK Top 10 at #8. To follow it up, "Wonderful Life" was then issued out. It would become a big hit reaching #6 in the UK and making the Top 10 in several European countries. The album would then be a #3 platinum hit in the UK. Black's follow up albums would fare less well, but he made an indelible impression with "Wonderful Life" in the UK with several artists like Kylie Minogue covering the tune. Black would meet One 2 Many's lead singer Camilla Griehsel along the way and in 1990 they would marry. Each would continue on with their music career with Griehsel switching her focus to opera. The pair would have three sons. Sadly, Black died following injuries sustained in a car crash in 2016.
Pop Bits: After scoring a major hit in 1978 with "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," a #12 Pop hit from his gold selling debut album Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?, Rea's career quickly dried up in the US. He'd maintain a loyal following in his native UK, but his singles were mostly all mid-charters. His career perked up in '85 with a pair of solid selling albums at home and then in '87 he'd get back in the Top 10 with the album Dancing with Strangers (#2 UK). Its first single, "Let's Dance," would be his biggest hit in years getting to #12. In the US, the song became his first to reach the Pop chart in five years getting to #81. With his career reignited in the UK, it seemed like a good time to get new fans acquainted with Rea's older material, so a compilation album was put together. However, instead of using the original versions of his previous songs, Rea selected a bunch to re-record and came up with the LP New Light Through Old Windows. In addition to the old material, Rea recorded one new song for the collection, "Working on It." Issued out as a single, it would do very well on the US Rock chart reaching #1. The action there allowed it to cross over to the Pop chart, but it would only stick around for a few weeks. The album would make it to #92.
ReduxReview: This style of rock wasn't really in at Pop radio at the time, but at least Rea got a #1 Rock hit out of it. I'm sure it played well at that format. The mysterious opening will grab your attention and then once the jam kicks in you'll want to stay around. Although it rocks a bit harder than what Don Henley was doing at the time, I could easily hear him doing this song. It was another underrated track from Rea that should have done better at Pop.
ReduxRating: 7/10
Trivia: Rea's next studio album, '89's The Road to Hell would reach #107 in the US. The title track would get to #11 Rock. It would be Rea's last single to reach any chart in the US. His 1991 album Auberge would peak at a minor #176. It would be his last album to chart in the US. Meanwhile, over in the UK Rea was at a new career peak. Both The Road to Hell and Auberge would be #1 multi-platinum successes. His next three studio albums plus a second compilation would all reach the Top 10. Over the years, Rea would continue to record and tour despite several health issues including pancreatic cancer.
Pop Bits: The last time this German artist was on the US Pop chart was back in 1983 when he hit #14 with the indelible "Major Tom (Coming Home)" (#2 Dance, #8 Rock). It was a single from Shilling's English language debut album Error in the System, which was able to reach #61. In '85, he would record a follow up titled Things to Come, but its first single "Chill of the Night" failed to reach any US chart and the LP quickly disappeared. As '88 rolled in, it seems Schilling was experiencing a little burnout and needed a break, but before that he recorded this track for single release. Issued out in Europe in the fall of '88, it did fairly well even reaching #10 in Sweden. That seemed to prompt a US release of the single. It would do fairly well at Dance reaching #16. It would cross over to the Pop chart, but couldn't quite reach the top half of the chart. An album of the same title was also released, but beside the new song, the balance of the tracks were ones culled from his previous two albums - so basically a compilation album. It failed to chart. Schilling wouldn't record another English language album. He would keep his career going in Germany and Europe recording albums and touring.
ReduxReview: I remember seeing this song on the chart and having loved "Major Tom" I went out and bought the single without hearing it. While the tune didn't come close to the spectacular dramatic synthpop of "Major Tom," it was still a pretty good song. The production was quite good and I liked the addition of the female voice (performed by Susanne Muller-Pi). It had a very European pop feel, which I liked, but I didn't think US audiences would really bite. It seemed to do fine in the clubs, but it couldn't get far on the Pop chart. With the tune stalling and disappearing, it left Schilling a one-hit wonder in the States.
ReduxRating: 7/10
Trivia: This song was produced by Romanian-born Michael Cretu. A talented pianist, Cretu moved to Germany to attend music school and by the end of the 70s he was getting work as a studio musician and arranger while kicking off his own music career with a 1978 debut album. He soon began producing for other artists and in 1985 he started working with German singer Sandra. Co-writing and producing songs for her, the pair began to score hits immediately. Sandra would earn eight Top 10 hits in Germany including one #1. Cretu would work with other artists along the way including this single with Schilling. Cretu was doing well, but it would be a new project/concept he would come up with late in the decade that would take his career to a new level. Cretu and Sandra had moved to Ibiza and he build his own recording studio. He began working on a new age/worldbeat project and got other musicians involved, including his wife. After recording for eight months, Cretu was ready to release his creation. Naming the project Enigma, Cretu got the debut album MCMXC a.D. released. It would become a worldwide hit thanks to sensual dance track that included Gregorian chant, "Sadeness (Part 1)." That song would get to #5 in the US. The album would make it to #6 and eventually sell over 4 million copies. A second Enigma album, 1993's The Cross of Changes, would also do well reaching #9 and going double platinum thanks to the #6 hit "Return to Innocence." Enigma would continue to release albums over the years, but they were not as successful as the first two.