When the smash song hurts the singer

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 24

When the smash song hurts the singer

A Top 10 hit at odds with an artist’s; image can ruin a career

PAUL GREIN

It is not hard to guess what

thousands of musicians round the world have at the top of their wish lists for 1988: a Top 10 record. After all, a hit record is supposed to bring fame, fortune and happiness. But it doesn’t always work that way. Rod Stewart, Pat Benatar and the Carpenters are just a few’ of. the dozens of artists who probably wish they had never recorded certain hits. Even though a hit may sell a million copies or more, it can end up hurting in the long run if it accentuates an unflattering part of the artist’s image. Worse, a hit might project the wrong image. Some cases in point: CASE STUDY NO. 1: BERLIN The Los Angeles-based band had a world-wide smash in 1986 with “Take My Breath Away." the love ballad from the movie “Top Gun.” But Perry WattsRussell, the group’s manager, has mixed feelings about the song. “When that song went to No. 1, it seemed like a very beneficial thing,” he said. “And it was useful in the, short term. But it hasn't been particularly, useful in terms of the career of the band. It alienated rock stations, which considered it too pop.” The pop charts reflect this problem. Where Berlin’s two pre-"Take My Breath Away” albums both reached the Top 30 in the United States.” “Count Three and Pray,” their only album since the No. 1 hit, barely grazed the Top 100.

“We don’t have anything against the song,” said WattsRussell. “It is just that the nature of the song was not representative of the identity of the band. The lesson here is that if you are going to have a big hit, it better be with a song that is truly representative of who you are and how you want to be perceived.” Rob Kahane, who jointly manages George Michael, among others, said that the key was consistency. “iEverything has to be telling the same story — the image, the record, the video,” he said. "Once you deteriorate that image and destroy your base, it is very hard to get that back ... Once

you sell out and do something that is obviously not you, people start to expect that. You gain a new following. But that following probably isn’t nearly as loyal as the original fans were.”

Kahane, formerly a bodking agent at Triad Artists, added; that video had accelerated i this phenomenon. “Videos can be just as damaging as' the music; especially if the song doesn’t really reflect the essence of the band. The video takes it to the next step in people’s minds.

When artists do records ; that they normally wouldn’t do or shouldn’t do, it limits their long-

term potential. It becomes the flavour of the month — and next month there, will be a new flavour.” i

CASE STUDY NO. 2 THE CARPENTERS

The duo made' some of the classiest pop hits of the early 19705. Their long string of million-sellers included such mature, sophisticated records as “Rainy Days and Mondays" and "Superstar.”

But their image — while never “hip” — suffered greatly with the 1973 release, of “Sing,” a sing-along record of a song from “Sesame Street” complete with

children’s chorus. It was a smash, climbing; to No. 3 on the pop Icharts, butt it gave Karen and ) Richard an undeserved bubble-gum image. That image - was j reinforced; the following year; when they released the rather juvenile “Please Mr Postman' — complete with a video shot at Disneyland.

“Postman” reached No. 1, but the Carpenters never again topped the chart. In fact, they logged only one more Top 10 hit. One of the words that comes up a lot in talking about records that) hurt artists) in the long run is “wimpy.” J

CASE STUDY NO. 3: i ROD STEWART

ROD STEWART

Stewart was one of the top rock stars of the 19705. His records were consistently played on both pop and rock-oriented radio stations. Then, in late 1978, he released “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy," which quickly became the best-selling single of his career. Instead offending him through the ' 'roof, however, the single suddenly put Stewart on the defensive. The problem was multifaceted. “Sexy" was a disco record at a time when rockorienteg stations and fans considered dikco a'shallow, commercial sell-out. Also,) the record projected a jet-setting, playboy image that) alienated Stewart’s core rock ‘n’ roll audience.

Though Stewart had six Top 10 albums in the 19705, he hasn’t placed an album in the Top 10 since. His ) 1986 album, “Rod Stewart,” barely cracked the Top

30. ' And, the phenomenon isn’t all that (rare.

Pat Benatar learned that the hard way jin 1980, when she cracked the Top 10 with “Hit Me With Your'Best Shot." The record gave : her a onedimensional, tough-as-nails image, reducing her persona to a "tough chick” pose.i In recent records like “We Belong,” Benatar i has tried — with mixed success -4 ito broaden that image. j The problem is that once an image is set,! it is very hard to change. j ) ;.

CASE STUDIES NOS. 4-6: STYX, ROBERT PLANT AND ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA

In I rock, where image and credibility are all-important, wimpy is an especially dirty worrj.

E.L.0., one of the top pop-rock groups of the mid-’7os, never recovered from their association withithe 1980 Olivia Newton-John movie vehicle “Xanadu.” The British band landed three Top 20 singles from the hit soundtrack album, but would probably trade them in for the opportunity to go back and pass on the project. Though the band's four pre “Xanadu” albums all went platinum, it hasn’t since returned to that status, even after three LPs.

It is often risky for rock acts to play the pop singles game. Blondie's rock credibility was hurt by their series of pop singles, including the disco-oriented “Call Me” and the rap-influenced "Rapture.” Likewise, Wang Chung’s rock base has been undermined by its recent popdance hits, “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” and "Let’s Go.”

It is especially risky for rock bands to cut ballads.

That is a sure way to get on a wide range of radio formats — witness the success of records like Journey’s “Open Arms” and the i Cars’ ‘lDrive.”

But too many ballad hits can undermine' an act’s rock credibility.) That is what happened with Styx, one of the most commercially successful bands of the late '7os. A string of ballads, including'‘Babe,’) "The Best of Times.” aand "Don’t Let It End,” led fans to think the band had gone soft.

The band’s 1983 album, "Kilroy Was (Here,” sold about a third as well as their peak ’7os collections. Styx subsequently disbanded, and the group members, Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw, have released solo albums to indifferent response. It is not just by chance that Foreigner chose a rocker (“Say You Will”) to introduce its latest album, “Inside Information.” The enormous success of the ballads "Waiting for a Girl Like You” and “I Want To Know What Love Is,” the biggest hits from the band’s last two albums, greatly

softened its image. A third ballad smash might have done them in. Look what happened to Robert Piant.

Plant was the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, the undisputed champions of powerhouse hard rock in the ’7os. After Zeppelin broke up in the early ’Bos, Plant went solo — and cracked the Top 10 with his first two albums.

In 1984, Plant cut a minialbum with a few all-star friends under the name the Honeydrippers. The project yielded' a smash single — a soft, melodic remake of the ’sos hit “Sea of Love.” The song reached No. 3 on the pop chart, and made No. 1 on the “adult contemporary” chart — something that would have been unheard of for Zeppelin. But the record may have confused Plant’s longtime fans. His next rock *n’ roll album, "Shaken ‘N’ Stirred,” barely grazed the Top 20.

There are several other types of hits that can hurt more than they help.

• Hits that are too similar to an artist’s previous records. The Bee Gees made this mistake in 1979 when they released their follow-up to “Saturday Night Fever.” Rather than change direction, they came: right back with more throbbin, falsettolaced dance material. The album’s biggest hit, j “Tragedy.” went platinum,, but Helped wear

out the trio’s welcome at pop radio.

. • Hits that are too similar to other artists’ hits. John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band’s 1984 hit “On the Dark Side” was so close to the sound of Bruce Springsteen’s records that it undermined whatever chance Cafferty might have had to establish his own identity. Likewise, Jennifer Wames’ 1977 hit “Right Time of the Night” was such a note-for note duplication of Linda Ronstadt’s hits that it hurt her credibility oh pop radio. • Hits that project a novelty image. Melanie’s 1971 smash “Brand New Key” — a ’3ossounding tune laced with mild sexual innuendo — did little to enchance her image as a serious singer-songwriter. Likewise, the gimmicky nature of Rupert Holmes’ 1979 smash “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” hurt his chances of being taken seriously as a singer-songwriter. • Hits too closely identified with a particular era or style. The Bee Gees’ songs from the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack and Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls”, album perfectly encapsulate the disco era of the late '7os. The problem is that there was a severe backlash to that sound — and fans (or at least radio programmers) have been unable to separate the artists from their disco-era hits.

There is good news: Artists can bounce back from "wrong” records.

Donna Summer’s first hit, the erotic disco entry “Love to Love You Baby,” was basically a novelty record, but she developed into one of the top stars of the ’7os.

Likewise, George Michael’s early hits in Wham! — including “Wake Me Up Before You GoGo” and “I’m Your Man” — were bubble-gum, but he too is developing into a respected record maker. I

But his manager, Kahane, acknowledged that the transformation has hot been easy. "Once you have that image of being a teenybopper, it is very hard to be respected,” he said. “An artist’s career can end before it even begins.”

Copyright Paul Grein. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate. .

( Once you have that image of being a i teeny bopper, it is verij hard to be respected"