Thursday, March 11, 2021

"Savin' Myself" by Eria Fachin

Song#:  3429
Date:  02/27/1988
Debut:  87
Peak:  50
Weeks:  10
Genre:  Dance-Pop, Synthpop


Pop Bits:  This singer from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, started performing in her teens. Her experience ran the gamut from being in bands to performing in musicals to jingle singing. She later took time to hone in on a solo career and in 1986 she signed on with Power Records in Canada and released the dance track "Savin' Myself." The song saw some club action in the area that spread across the border into the US. It got the attention of the Maine-based indie label Critique, who signed Fachin for US distribution. Released early in '88, the song got some traction in clubs and on pop radio. It would eventually get to #33 Dance while hitting the halfway mark at Pop. That action helped push the song in Canada and it would reach #22 there. An album was then quickly recorded titled My Name Is Eria Fachin. Unfortunately, by the time her follow-up single, "Your Love Just Came Too Late," came out, some momentum was lost and the song failed to chart. The same with a third single, a remake of the Supremes' 1965 #1 hit "I Hear a Symphony." With those results, the album came and went to little notice. Later on it seems that Fachin had a minor single entry on the Canadian AC chart in 1991 with "Hug You Hold You," but a second album had yet to be released. A few years later, she finally began work on a new album, but was then diagnosed with cancer. Sadly, she succumbed to cancer in 1996 at the young age of 36.

ReduxReview:  I remember Fachin's name because it was unusual, but I never got to hear any of her tracks. I went ahead and listened to her whole album and I have to say that this single really didn't do her justice. From what I've read, she had previously been a vocalist with a jazz band and that experience came through on a couple of the album's tracks on which she sounded quite good. However, this single is just a lite trifle of a pop ditty and is below her skill level. To me, it sounded like she was holding back. Probably for two reasons. One, because the material itself is weak, and two, the production is slight and nearly fragile. It had that percolating early 80s, indie synthpop sound that by this point in time sounded a bit amateurish. Fachin tried to inject some of herself near the end, but it didn't do much to save the track. Fachin had plenty of ability. I just think that she didn't get hooked up with the right label/producer that could show off her capabilities. Unfortunately, she never got the chance to advance her career.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) Although she did not write this song (it was composed by David Lodge), Fachin and her husband Lou Bartolomucci did co-write four songs for her debut LP. Fachin would also co-write the second single "Your Love Just Came Too Late." It has been reported that sometime before her death Fachin recorded a title song for the Kiefer Sutherland 1999 drama Woman Wanted, however that seems a bit unlikely. The film was made in Canada in 1998, two years after Fachin's death, and a song by Fachin does not seem to be in the film and is not credited at the end. The film, directed by Sutherland and co-starring Holly Hunter, was a box office bomb. It was also one that Sutherland decided to distance himself from. After its initial release, Sutherland opted to remove his name as director. In these cases, the fallback name used by the Directors Guild of America defaults to Alan Smithee. The Guild apparently decided to stop using the default name in 2000, which made Woman Wanted the last film to officially receive an Alan Smithee credit from the Guild.  2) A couple of years after her debut album, Fachin and Bartolomucci would welcome their only child, Emma. When Fachin lost her battle with cancer, Emma was only six years old. Emma would go on to be a dancer in the Toronto area and form her own dance company that was titled in honor of her mother, Dance Fachin.

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