488 Hello Bryan Adams - Run To You

Chart  entered : 12  January  1985

Chart  peak :  11

Number  of  hits : 35

We  move  into  1985  now, something  of  a  pivotal  year  in   British  pop. It  was  of  course  the  year  of  Live  Aid  though  I  think  its  influence  has  been  over-stated ; Queen's  previous  album  had   reached  number  one  and  yielded  four  Top  20  hits  while  the  major  refuseniks  - Prince, Michael  Jackson  and  Tears  For  Fears  - suffered  no  commercial  backlash  from  their  non-appearance. More  significant  I  think  was  the  rise  of  the  compact  disc  and  the  realisation  of  record  companies  that  selling  people  records  they  already  owned  in  the  new  format  was  more  lucrative  and  less  risky  than  trying  to  break  new  bands. The  high  profile  failures  of  major  signings  like  Spelt  Like  This, Drum  Theatre  and  The  Roaring  Boys  ( whose  second  single  "Heart  of  Stone"  was  actually  very  good  but  they  were  already  chip  paper )  reinforced  the  point. With  no  new  youth  cult  on  the  horizon  , or  at  least  none  that  they  could  easily  understand , the  major  labels  largely  gave  up  on  seeking  new  talent  for  the  rest  of  the  decade . This  left  the  door  open  for  an  easier  passage  from  the  independent   and  dance  charts   or  the  Hi-NRG  scene  which  brought  forward  the  dread  names  of  Stock  Aitken  and  Waterman. The  major label  acts  that  did  break  through  now  were  mainly  awful  like  King, a  bunch  of  also-rans  from  the  Two  Tone  era  or  Climie  Fisher, a  pair  of  studio-based  dullards.  There  was  also  more  space in  the  charts  for  acts  from  across  the  pond  which  is  where  this  guy  comes  in.

Bryan's very  name  is  enough  to  put  the  fear  of  God  into  the  heart  of  any  chart  watcher  but  that  was  some  years  into  the  future  at  this  point.  He  was  born  in  Ontario  in  1959  and  started  working  as  a  session  musician  and  vocalist  in  Vancouver  when  he  was  17. In  1978  he  hooked  up  with  Jim  Vallance  formerly  drummer  with  Prism  a  rock  band  who  were  big  in  Canada  and  moderately  successful  in  the  US. He  disliked  touring  and  wanted  to  be  a  studio-bound  songwriter. They  formed  an  enduring  musical  partnership  and  got  a  deal  with  A &  M.

Their  first  release  in  1978  was  a  disco  track  "Let  Me  Take  You  Dancing"  positioning  the  18-year  old  Bryan  in  the  same  mould  as  US  teen  star  and  careless  driver  Leif  Garrett.  It's  competent  in  its  way  but  nothing  to  write  home  about. It  was  a  minor  hit  in  his  homeland. Before  its  release   in  the  US  it  was  handed  over  to  John  Luongo  for   re-mixing. He  thought  it  needed  to  be  at  a  faster  tempo  which  left  Bryan  sounding  like  a  chipmunk. Unsurprisingly  Bryan  has  pretty  much  disowned  the  record.

While  Bryan  worked  with  Vallance  on  his  debut  album  other  Canadian  artists  such  as  Lisa  Hartman  and  Bachman  Turner  Overdrive  were  accepting  some  of  their  songs. His  eponymous    LP  came  out  in  February  1980.  It's  an  OK  debut  with  Bryan  trying  out  a  number  of  styles  in  the  duo's  workmanlike  songs. There's  more  disco  with  "Try  To  See  It  My  Way"  and  "Don't  Ya  Say  It", New  Wave  power  pop  on  first  single  "Hidin'  From  Love"  and  Air  Supply  /Toto  soft  rock  on  follow  up  "Give  Me  Your  Love"  and  "State  Of  Mind". The  album  and  its  singles  were  moderate  successes  in  Canada  but  ignored  elsewhere.

Bryan's  second  album  "You Want  It  You  Got  It"  came  out  in  July  1981. He  wanted  to  call  it  "Bryan  Adams  Hasn't  Heard  Of  You  Either" which  would  have  been  one  of  the  great  album  titles  of  all  time  but  the  record  company  vetoed  it. There  are  still  some  New  Wave  trappings  here  and  there  but  mainly  it's  devoted  to  the  Everyman  hard  rock  that  would  become  his  stock  in  trade, like  Springsteen's  better  looking,  apolitical,  kid  brother. The  first  single  "Lonely  Nights "  while  not  making  the  chart  in  Canada,  was  a  minor  hit  in  the  U.S.  and  got  him  support  slots  on  tours  by  The  Kinks  and  Foreigner.

At  the  end  of  1982  he  released  the  single  "Straight  From  The  Heart", the  first  of  his  AOR  ballads  which  sounds  not  unlike  his  biggest  hit.  Bryan  wrote  the  song  in  the  late  seventies  and  it  had  been  recorded  already   by  Ian  Lloyd  and  Rosetta  Stone.  Fortunately  Bryan's  version  was  the  one  that  made  the  charts  in  the  U.S.  reaching  number  10. This  allowed  his  third  album  "Cuts  Like  A  Knife"  released  a  month  or  two  later  to  break  through  in  a  big  way. The  song  was  quickly  covered  by  Bonnie  Tyler  on  her  number  one  album  Faster  Than  The  Speed  Of  Light   and  was  a  minor  UK  hit  on  re-release  in  1986.

"Cuts  Like  A  Knife "  was  an  album  of  straight  down  the  line  AOR  given  a  much  bigger  production  by  Bob  Clearmountain  which  made  number  8  in  the  US. The  follow  up  single  "Cuts  Like  A  Knife"  , a  muscular  rocker  with  a  "Na Na  Na" refrain  copped  from  "Hey  Jude"  ,  consolidated  his  success  by  peaking  at  number  15   and  the  poppier  "This  Time"  reached  number  24. The  latter  was  also  a  UK  hit  on  re-release  in  1986.   Both  of  the  latter two   albums  - though  not  his  debut -  made  the  UK  album  charts  in  the  wake  of  his  subsequent  success.

Bryan  seems  like  such  a  top  bloke  that  I  wish I  could  be  a  bit  more  enthusiastic  about  his  music  but  "Run  To  You", the  lead  single  for  his  next  LP "Reckless"  is  as  good  as  it  gets. Written  from  the  point  of  view  of  an  adulterer  who  wants  it  both  ways,  it  has  a  dark  tone  not  usually  found  in  his  songs , some  excellent  synth  work  particularly  on  the  chorus  and  a  strong  tune. However  it's  so  reminiscent  of  Tom  Petty's  best  moment  , Refugee  ( not  a  hit  here  though  it  got  a  fair  bit  of  airplay )  that  I  can't  regard "Run  To  You "  as  a  great  song  in  its  own  right.