Saturday, September 11, 2021

"Long and Lasting Love (Once in a Lifetime)" by Glenn Medeiros

Song#:  3610
Date:  08/13/1988
Debut:  97
Peak:  68
Weeks:  10
Genre:  Adult Contemporary


Pop Bits:  After winning a talent contest in Hawaii, teenage singer Medeiros found himself in the national spotlight thanks to the single "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You," which got to #12 Pop and #4 AC. Two follow-up singles from his 1987 self-titled debut album fared less well, but the one hit gave the young singer the opportunity to record a second LP. He would work with various songwriters and producers to come up with Not Me and this first single got things kicked off. Unfortunately, the tune didn't really catch on and it stalled in the bottom half of the Pop chart. A follow-up single, "Never Get Enough of You," would get to #30 Dance, but fail to make the Pop chart. With those results, the album came and went quickly.

ReduxReview:  The folks behind Medeiros, like his label and management, did him zero favors with his second album. Yes, he broke through with a ballad, but there was no need to try and turn him into an AC crooner at the age of eighteen. Maybe Medeiros wanted to go in that direction, but it just seemed really odd to have this teenager singing mature ballads such as this one. It didn't quite make sense and it seems the public agreed. The album itself was full of a mish-mash of styles as if they were trying to find something that would stick. There was a rock tune courtesy of Michael Bolton, a couple flimsy dance-pop tracks, a freestyle effort, and a few Diane Warren co-writes. In reality, none of it was bad. In fact, a couple of tracks were quite good including "Some Day Love," which would have been an interesting single. He just really needed one producer to guide the project and make it cohesive; and the old school AC ballads like this one needed to be eliminated. Medeiros had the voice and the look. He just needed the right material and producer. He'd finally get that with his next album.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) This is a remake of a song original recorded by cabaret singer Jane Oliver. Written by Gerry Goffin and Michael Masser, the song was included on Oliver's 1980 album The Best Side of Me, which Masser had a hand in producing. It was not issued out as a single. The LP would be Oliver's best showing on the chart reaching #58.  2) After Not Me failed to chart, Medeiros sought to change direction. He hooked up with MCA Records for his third album, which would be his second self-titled effort (apparently as a way to relaunch himself). MCA matched him up with producers/songwriters Ian Prince and Antonina Armato and that pair along with Denny Diante would head up nearly all the tracks on the album, which took Medeiros in a more current new jack direction. Also on board for a couple of tracks was newly minted new jack star Bobby Brown, who was Medeiros' label mate. Brown would write and produce one track for the album, then co-write and appear on another track titled "She Ain't Worth It." That song was released as a single and in 1990 it would reach #1 at Pop. It would also be a gold seller. It seemed that Medeiros had finally found the right formula for success, but then just as quickly as he had a #1, he was gone. The first single from his next album in 1993 failed to chart and that left his album not getting released in the US. A Christmas album would come next, but then Medeiros would shift gears again and move towards Hawaiian music (Hawaii was his home state). After his time on the charts, Medeiros would work in education in Hawaii. He would teach in several schools and eventually become the principal of a Catholic school. Along the way, he would still perform shows at resorts in Waikiki.

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