"I've Been in Love Before" by Cutting Crew

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  3253
Date:  09/05/1987
Debut:  75
Peak:  9
Weeks:  21
Genre:  Soft Rock



Pop Bits:  The English band's debut album spawned a #1 hit with "(I Just) Died in Your Arms," the lead single from their debut album Broadcast. A second single, "One for the Mockingbird," didn't do as well only being able to crack the Top 40 (#38). Still, the label decided to try one more time and pushed out this ballad. It was a good decision as the song got the band back in the Pop Top 10 while also peaking at #2 on the AC chart. The hit may have played a part in getting the band a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Unfortunately, the song would prove to be the band's final one to make the Pop Top 40.

ReduxReview:  The band certainly got lucky with this one. It really should have been the second single. If it had been, the track might have peaked even higher. Still, it was strong enough to overcome the disappointing results of "One for the Mockingbird" to become their second (and last) US Pop Top 10. It was a lovely little tune that was nicely produced and performed. I can't say that it really grabbed my attention, but if it came on the radio I would listen.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  In their UK homeland, this song was the second single released from the album. It didn't do so well only reaching #31. Due to that result, the label then chose "One for the Mockingbird" as the second single in the US. It didn't work out all that well with the song scratching the Top 40. So the label then took a chance on "I've Been in Love Before" in the US to see what might happen. It ended up doing very well and its hit status then prompted the label to reissue the song back in the UK. On its second go 'round, the track did a little better, but still could only manage a #24 showing. Besides the US and Canada, where the song peaked at #8, the single did only moderate business in other countries.

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"I Won't Forget You" by Poison

Song#:  3252
Date:  09/05/1987
Debut:  87
Peak:  13
Weeks:  21
Genre:  Hard Rock



Pop Bits:  The band's debut album, Look What the Cat Dragged In, peaked at #3 in May of '87 thanks to their #9 hit "Talk Dirty to Me." A follow-up single, "I Want Action," didn't do quite as well peaking at #50, but this next single would get them back near the Pop Top 10. Just as this single was debuting on the chart, the album would reach double-platinum status. The song would  help sell more albums and eventually it would go triple-platinum. Strangely, despite their style of music and big exposure at MTV, none of the three singles would get on the Rock chart.

ReduxReview:  "I Want Action" wasn't a bad follow-up, but it just didn't catch on like their previous hit. So for their next release the band went the safer route and issued out this more mainstream-leaning power ballad. It worked out well for them with the track nearly butting up against the Top 10. It probably should have gotten inside the Top 10 for at least a quick week, but the #13 result was still very good. The mid-tempo track wasn't like the slow, erupting power ballads that other hard rock bands were doing and I think that served the song well. The track would kind of get overshadowed by their bigger hits, but it ranks among their best efforts.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  As the band's career was taking off, they got an opportunity to contribute a song to a movie soundtrack. The band did a cover of "Rock and Roll All Nite," a song originally recorded by Kiss. Their version appeared on the band's 1975 third album Dressed to Kill. It was released as the lead singles and it became their second song to crack the Pop chart peaking at #68. However, later in '75 Kiss released their concert album titled Alive!, which contained a live version of the song. It was issued out as a single and this time around it became a much bigger hit getting to #12. It quickly became a classic anthem for the band. Kiss had been gaining in popularity with their first three albums, however, the hit broke the band wide and Alive! became their first album to make the Top 10. 

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"That's What Love Is All About" by Michael Bolton

Song#:  3251
Date:  09/05/1987
Debut:  91
Peak:  19
Weeks:  25
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  While Bolton was having some success as a songwriter (Laura Branigan's #12 "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," for one), his attempts to get a career of his own were not going well. He tried the band approach and solo discs, but those efforts only resulted a couple of minor chart entries. Still, Columbia Records seemed to believe in Bolton and sponsored a third album (his fifth solo effort overall) and he came up with The Hunger. This first single got things started and it turned into a slow burner that took its time getting established in various markets across the US. It would take three months for the song to finally peak on the AC chart where it topped out at #3. It would then get inside the Pop Top 20. While the single wasn't a major smash, it did well enough to finally establish Bolton as a viable solo artist.

ReduxReview:  The problem I've always had with Bolton is that I think he over-sings things. He should have stayed in the hard/arena rock genre, but instead he moved into MOR AC/Pop and just mowed over anything in his path. He can write a good tune, but I prefer when someone else sings them. This is a good example. The song is a nice, well-written AC ballad. However, Bolton sings it like he's being tortured. When he sings "baby that's what love is all about," it seems to me someone has him by the balls and right when he sings "looooove," they squeeze. In other words, it is forced and it is too much. His more upbeat, rock-leaning tunes sounded better, but he practically killed and buried ballads like this one. A big swath of people seemed to love his approach and bought his records, but I was never one of them.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  Thanks to the connections Bolton had made over the years, The Hunger boasted some big name help. Members of Journey, Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain along with Randy Jackson made appearances with Cain co-writing three songs and producing four. Diane Warren co-wrote a tune with Bolton. Singer/songwriter Martin Briley co-wrote two tracks. Keith Diamond (of Billy Ocean fame) produced four tracks including this first single. Bruce Kulick, who was previously in the band Blackjack with Bolton and was a then-current member of Kiss, played guitar on a couple of tracks. James Ingram sang backup on a pair of songs. It doesn't always work out when an up-n-coming artist ends up doing a sort of "all-star" album, but Bolton was able to kickstart his career with The Hunger.

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"Betcha Say That" by Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine

Song#:  3250
Date:  09/05/1987
Debut:  92
Peak:  36
Weeks:  11
Genre:  Pop



Pop Bits:  Estefan and her band got their fourth Pop Top 10 hit with "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" (#5), the lead single from their album Let It Loose. They were on a roll and decided to try and keep things going with this follow-up single. Unfortunately, it wasn't what listeners wanted and the song stalled after getting inside the Pop Top 40. It did only slightly better at AC (#19) and Dance (#22). It was a bump in the road for Estefan and the band. They needed something to perform much better than this if the album was going to approach the multi-platinum level of their previous LP Primitive Love.

ReduxReview:  This was a pleasant little tune. yet I wouldn't have selected it as the LP's second single. It might have worked okay as a wrap-up single, but as a follow-up to a fairly big hit it just wasn't the right choice. There wasn't much to the bouncy ditty. The chorus was slight and there were a lot of production touches that were added to make up for that. Frankly, it was like a sequel to the band's "Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)," which didn't perform all that well either. Estefan and the band were very lucky that they still had material on the album that was strong enough to overcome this lackluster single.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  The production credit for the album (minus one song) was listed as by Emilio & the Jerks, which consisted of Emilio Estefan, Lawrence Dermer, Joe Galdo, and Rafael Vigil. The latter three wrote (or co-wrote) the majority of the band's Primitive Love album and half of Let It Loose. Although not credited, it seems they also did production work on Primitive Love. The production credit on that album went to Emilio Estefan. While the band's popularity was soaring, not all was totally rosy behind the scenes (naturally). There were accusations that the songwriting/production trio did all the work while Estefan contributed very little, if anything, and the trio were not compensated very well. According to a Rolling Stone article, It all came to a head before the 1988 Grammys where Emilio & the Jerks were nominated in the Producer of the Year category for their work on Let It Loose (they would lose to Narada Michael Walden). Estefan wanted to sign the trio in a 5-year deal, but it seems the offer didn't work in their favor and they turned it down. After the Grammys, the two factions ended their relationship.

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"You Are the Girl" by The Cars

Song#:  3249
Date:  08/29/1987
Debut:  65
Peak:  17
Weeks:  14
Genre:  Pop, Rock



Pop Bits:  The Boston band had their greatest period of success in the 80s over the course of two studio albums and a hits package, which combined sold over 12 million copies and generated four Pop Top 10s. After a break that saw some members doing their own side solo projects, the band reconvened in the studio to record their sixth album Door to Door. This first single got things started and it did well at Rock reaching #2 on that chart. It also didn't do too bad at AC getting to #12. However, the song wasn't as well-received at Pop where it could only make the Top 20. It was a bit of a disappointment coming on the heels of their most successful period. The song would end up being the band's last to reach the Pop Top 40. 

ReduxReview:  To me, this was the sound of The Cars giving up. The song was not much different from a lot of their other material but the difference was that it just sounded tired. The tune had zero spark. The crunchy new wave production that they had perfected over the years was missing and even Ocasek's vocal sounded like he was bored. Kinda like, "okay, let's trod out something one more time." Which is basically what they did since they broke up after the album. You'd think that after getting a chance to do their own thing on solo projects, the band would return rejuvenated with new ideas and create something different. Instead, it seems they just decided to phone it in and do the regular Cars thing, only not as good. A couple of songs on the album were even ones they wrote years previous, which was kind of a sign that things were not going all that well with the band and their creativity together waning. Despite the disappointing results, The Cars could always take solace that they created some revered classic singles and albums in their career.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  The video for this song was directed by cult filmmaker John Waters. The shoot happened around the time that Waters was filming what would be his first big mainstream movie Hairspray. Cars leader Ric Ocasek ended up with a small part in the film at a beatnik painter. It's unknown which came first, the video or Ocasek's cameo in the film, but it wasn't The Cars' first time working with a more avant-garde director. For the video to their 1984 #20 hit "Hello Again," the band worked with artist Andy Warhol. While Waters' Hairspray wouldn't be a huge box office success, it did become a big cult film that eventually became a Tony-winning musical, which itself was turned into a movie.

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