Thursday, January 8, 2015

"How Can I Live Without Her" by Christopher Atkins

Song#:  1130
Date:  08/07/1982
Debut:  89
Peak:  71
Weeks:  7
Genre:  Pop, Soundtrack



Pop Bits:  Atkins became a hunky pin-up idol thanks to his revealing role in the 1980 film "The Blue Lagoon," which co-starred Brooke Shields. Two years later he was cast as the swashbuckling lead in the film musical "The Pirate Movie" opposite Kristy McNichol. The movie was a bomb and the soundtrack didn't fare much better (#166). This song written for the film was a solo piece for Atkins. It was chosen to be issued as a single and did a little time near the bottom quarter of the chart. For actor Atkins, the film would be his only venture into music. He would continue to act, mainly in TV movies or shows.

ReduxReview:  If you listen to this on its own and separate it from the film, I'd say the song is not too bad. It ain't great and Atkins is not a singer. But it has a nice 70s AC-ish feel to it and might have been a hit late in that decade. However, if you pair it with the film...no. Just no. It's really awful. The scene from the film is above (sorry for the subtitles - it had better sound). However, this apparently isn't the worst song in the film. Two other songs were nominated for Razzies for Worst Original Song. So I guess you could consider this the best of the bunch (?).

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) "The Pirate Movie" was based on the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera "The Pirates of Penzance." In 1981, a revival of "Pirates" was a hit on Broadway. It starred Linda Ronstadt, Rex Smith, and Kevin Kline. There were plans to turn the hit into a film. "The Pirate Movie" was already in the planning stages and it got rushed into production in order to beat the other film to the punch. The difference though is that "The Pirate Movie" was a comedic parody of "Penzance" that included new music. It did get released first, but failed at the box office. It was nominated for nine Razzie Awards and won three including Worst Director. The Broadway film version of "Pirates" got released in 1983 and fared about as well at the box office. However, reviews were generally positive.  2) The song's co-writer, Terry Britten, has written songs for many pop stars including Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, and Tina Turner. Britten won a Grammy for co-writing Turner's comeback hit "What's Love Got to Do with It."

_________________________________________________________________________________

2 comments:

  1. Since I have never seen the movie (nor will I ever), I will take your word for it that paired with the film it was awful. I have absolutely no idea where I would have heard it (I suspect airplay was minimal), but I did hear it somewhere and loved it. I still have the 45. Another thing you're right about is that the rest of the music sucked. The other side of the single was a debacle called "I Am A Pirate King" by Ted Hamilton and the Pirates. I suspect it was supposed to be humorous, but it fell way, way, way short! The song that actually "won" the Razzie for worst song was also from this movie - A ridiculous mess called "Pumpin' And Blowin'". Oh my god, what a piece of garbage. Christopher Atkins was Pavarotti compared to Kristy McNichol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yeah, poor Kristy. She and her brother Jimmy did an album in 1978. They actually had a chart entry with a remake of "He's So Fine" that went to #70. So many TV stars back then got cajoled into making a record even when they should not be near a mike. But, it certainly makes for some funny/interesting/kitchy (and painful) results.

      Delete