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Thursday, August 27, 2015

"Carrie's Gone" by Le Roux

Song#:  1383
Date:  03/19/1983
Debut:  81
Peak:  81
Weeks:  4
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  Le Roux got their first (and only) major hit when "Nobody Said It Was Easy" reached #18 the previous year. Unfortunately, after experiencing their best success, two members left the group including lead singer/songwriter Jeff Pollard. Forging ahead, the band moved even further away from their Cajun roots and cranked up the arena rock on their next LP "So Fired Up." This first single was nothing like "Nobody Said" and it seemed that listeners were not that impressed with the band's new direction. The song peaked where it debuted on the chart and quickly disappeared. The results got them dropped from the RCA roster and they decided to call it quits in 1984.

ReduxReview:  The new direction of the band was probably not the best choice. Many songs on the album were gutsy rockers that were akin to Styx, Journey and Survivor. I'm sure they were trying to stay current and wanting to skew younger (check out the hair in the video), but it just wasn't working. I think the biggest problem with Le Roux was that they never fully settled on a defining sound. It's great to reach for new ideas, but before you can even do that you've got to have your feet planted somewhere and it seemed this band never did. This run-of-the-mill pop/rock tune certainly didn't help. It pretty much brought their career to an end.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  The Carrie in the song is in reference to Carrie Hamilton, the daughter of Carol Burnett. Hamilton had dated Le Roux band member Fergie Frederiksen, who would serve as Pollard's replacement. After his relationship with Hamilton ended, Frederiksen wrote this song. Sadly, Hamilton died of lung and brain cancer in 2002 (age 38). Frederiksen also succumbed to cancer in January 2014.

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