Saturday, January 30, 2010

Top Songs of 1989: #1: "Look Away" by Chicago

Well, I finally reached #1. The top song in the country in 1989, according to Billboard, was "Look Away" by Chicago.

I didn't know this song very well--I knew the chorus but had to learn the verses. And pre-chorus. I like how the song builds....The pre-chorus really just has this kind of ascending feel to it, so by the time you get to the chorus, it feels like a release.

I love that Diane Warren wrote this song. She is such a star! I don't even really like her songs, but I love her story! Here is a woman, who was told she was tone deaf as a child, a woman who grew into an adult and has proclaimed that she has never been inlove! This is the woman who has written the biggest power love ballads of the modern pop era! I just kind of love the dichotomy that swarms within her.

She is the only songwriter in the history of Billboard to have "seven hits, all by different artists, on the singles chart at the same time.". Re-read that sentence again. I'm just in awe of her hit-songwriting talent. (All the info cited comes from Warren's Wikipedia page).

But I guess this entry should about Chicago, since they made "Look Away" famous. It was one of Chicago's biggest hits. "The song was uncharacteristic of earlier Chicago hits in that it did not prominently feature horns. This song was also the band's first number one hit of the eighties that wasn't sung in a tenor voice. Some members of the band have stated when they would play the song live, the audience would just look confused because they were unfamiliar with the sound of Champlin's voice." I love the idea that audience members are like--what is THIS?!

Chicago has been around forever and I'm either embarrassed or proud (depends on how you look at it) that I don't know much about them and don't know much of their music. But they did have the #1 song in 1989 and was from their album "Chicago 19".


3 comments:

  1. Nice job!
    I was a fan of Chicago way back in the prehistoric times of junior high. Thankfully my musical interests have evolved many light years since then. :)

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  2. i will check out your song yoel! thanks for visiting my blog!!

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  3. johnnyL--i think it's interesting that by 1989, chicago was getting diane warren to write songs for them! maybe they were more inspired in their earlier incarnation??

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