"Touch Me Tonight" by Shooting Star

Song#:  4095

Date:  11/04/1989

Debut:  88

Peak:  67

Weeks:  9

Genre:  Rock

Pop Bits:  Hopes were high when Shooting Star became the first American band to get signed by UK's Virgin Records. Things seemed promising when their 1980 self-titled debut album arrived, but it ended up only reaching #145 and spawning the minor #76 Pop entry "You've Got What I Needed." Their next effort, '81's Hang on For Your Life fared a bit better getting to #92 thanks to the #70 Pop single "Hollywood." Yet despite some airplay and good exposure via tour slots with major acts like REO Speedwagon, the band just wasn't breaking through. They would end up recording three more albums for Virgin that fared less well with only a couple of tracks making the Rock Top 40. It got to the point where the band was done with all the label issues and lack of bigger success. As '87 rolled in, they decided to go their own ways. As a bit of closure for the band, they somehow were able to obtain the rights to assemble a compilation of their most popular tracks. Titled The Best of Shooting Star, the album contained eleven songs that spanned their five albums along with two previously unreleased tracks including "Touch Me Tonight." Indie US label Enigma got wind of the release and opted to pick it up. They gave it the new title of Touch Me Tonight - The Best of Shooting Star and pushed out the title track as a single. It got enough attention to become the band's highest peaking single on the Pop chart. In turn, the album would get to #151.

ReduxReview:  This poor band had so many label, distribution, and promotion issues. They were a talented bunch with potential, but they never had that one great song that could take the to another level despite any underlying business problems. Oddly, after their breakup this track came along. It was probably their best bid for a hit, but it came out too late. If they had this song earlier in the 80s, it might have clicked and made the Top 40. This style of catchy AOR wasn't really in favor just prior to the 90s, but it still did surprisingly well on the chart. It was enough to have the band rise back out of the ashes. Shooting Star was also one of the rare acts of the 80s that were able to bookend it with nothing in between. They charted in '80 and '82, but then stayed off the chart until this late '89 entry. Shooting Star had a tough go of it for a long time, but they still kept on truckin' and gained a loyal fan base.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  The results were good enough for Enigma to want to sign the band. Three original members of Shooting Star decided to take a chance and began working on a new album. Unfortunately, Enigma went bankrupt and it left the band on their own. They would go ahead and finish the somewhat ironically titled It's Not Over on their own and release it independently. After that, the band would continue to occasionally perform over the years and release a few albums along the way.

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