09/10/2007
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It doesn't happen as often as it used to, but
there's a long-running tradition of unlikely comebacks
in pop music; in fact, some of the most successful
singles of all time have sprung from the recording
booths of artists long since left for commercially
dead. After a bit of brainstorming, we came up with
a brief survey of 15 prime examples of artists with
extreme (and extremely unexpected) comeback mojo.
Like Carly Simon said, they're coming around again!
(Come to think of it, that would have been a good
one for this list…)
"This
Time I Know It's for Real,"
Donna Summer (Another
Place and Time)
The onetime "Queen of Disco" was
well on her way to becoming the "Queen of
the Cut-out Bin" when this single
was released in 1989 – battles with her previous label,
Geffen, had poisoned the promotional well for everything
she'd recorded since "She Works Hard for the Money"
in 1983. Newly signed to Atlantic, and working with
quintessentially ‘80s producers Stock, Aitken, and
Waterman, Summer was able to briefly stave off commercial
irrelevancy with this bouncy Top Ten hit. Fun fact:
For the recording of this song, Summer was backed up
by Rick Astley's band! (Who knew he had a band?)
"Lyin'
to Myself," David Cassidy (David
Cassidy)
Possibly the only thing unlikelier than a new David
Cassidy record in 1990 would have been a hit from
that record – but life is sometimes stranger than fiction,
and the erstwhile Keith Partridge really did make a
Top 40 appearance with "Lyin' to Myself" in the fall.
(Even weirder? The video made it into semi-regular
rotation on MTV. My, how the world has changed.) Unfortunately
for Cassidy, he'd elected to release his comeback album
on Enigma Records, which went out of business not long
after "Lyin' to Myself" peaked on the charts. The end.
"Can't
Get You Out of My Head,"
Kylie Minogue (Fever)
Niggling contrarians will object
to this song's inclusion here, pointing out that
Kylie Minogue's has never been anything but a
huge worldwide success, and outside the United
States, she's never needed a comeback.
But we live in America, goddammit, and on these shores,
she was a washed-up has-been when Fever was
released in 2001. And not one anybody ever expected
to hear from again, either: Her previous Stateside
hit, 1988's "The Loco-Motion," was a disposable
cover of a cover, and nothing about it suggested Kylie
Minogue was destined for longevity. There was no stopping "Can't
Get You Out of My Head," though – odds are you're
hearing it in your head now. You're welcome.
"One,"
The Bee Gees (One)
The Brothers Gibb were around before
disco, and the inevitable disco backlash didn't
kill their career, it only drove them underground.
While taking a hiatus from recording in the early-to-mid
‘80s, the Gibbs wrote hits for other artists
("Heartbreaker" for Dionne
Warwick, "Islands in the Stream" for Kenny
Rogers and Dolly Parton) and waited for anti-‘Gees
sentiment to wane. Their moment came in the summer
of 1989, when One received
its American release, and the breezy Anglo-funk of
the title track went all the way to the Top 10. Their
star dimmed again immediately thereafter, but by the
late ‘90s, the Bee Gees were riding a post-ironic wave
of nostalgia, selling out shows in Vegas, scoring AC
hits, and singing duets with Celine Dion.
"December,
1963 (Oh, What a Night),"
The Four Seasons (Who
Loves You)
Okay, so technically, this isn't the single
that catapulted the Four Seasons back onto the Billboard
Hot 100 after a five-year absence; that honor goes
to its immediate predecessor, "Who Loves You." But
of the two hits the group scored during its mini-resurgence
in the mid-‘70s, "Oh, What a Night" is by far the most
durable, resurfacing on soundtracks and in cover versions
every few years. And it's no surprise, really – the
song is catchy, the production doesn't betray its 1975
vintage, and it's vaguely filthy. Rock and roll!
"Believe,"
Cher (Believe)
In March of this year, the United World Chart ranked
"Believe" the 19th most successful song in music history.
It's also the biggest-selling single in Warner Bros.
history, and the biggest-selling dance single of all
time (a staggering 10 million copies sold).
Now that we've put everything in perspective, "If I
Could Turn Back Time" and "After All" don't seem so
bad, do they?
"Got
My Mind Set on You," George
Harrison (Cloud
Nine)
Something feels wrong about
including a song by a Beatle, any Beatle, on
this list, but the charts don't lie: "Got My
Mind Set on You," Harrison's cover of an old
James Ray tune, was his first noteworthy hit
since 1973 – a drought of nearly 15 years. (That's
depressing, but not the worst part; apparently, "Got
My Mind Set on You" remains the final Hot 100 Number
One by any of the Beatles. Rock and roll is dead.)
Yes, the song is a trifle, parodied brilliantly by
"Weird Al" Yankovic with "(This Song's
Just) Six Words Long," but it's catchy as hell,
and it reminds us of a time before Jeff Lynne's production
started to piss us off.
"I
Tried," Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (Strength & Loyalty)
If successful comebacks are difficult to pull off
in pop and rock, they're damn near impossible if
you're a rapper – just ask Hammer (or any of the dozens
of other formerly chart-topping MCs with platinum records
decorating the walls of their studio apartments). Few
would have expected Eazy-E's fast-rapping protégés
to succeed where so many had failed, but in 2007, the
industry will take a hit anywhere it can find one,
and the group's "I Tried" marks its first appearance
on the Hot 100 in a mind-boggling 10 years. (Yes, you
really are that old.)
"Call
It Love," Poco (Legacy)
After scoring one of their biggest hits in 1979 with
"Crazy Love," Poco spent pretty much all of the ‘80s
wandering the commercial wilderness. It seemed like
kind of an undignified end for the band that helped
pioneer the country-rock sound that made the goddamn
Eagles rich and famous, so when Poco's original lineup
regrouped in 1989 for Legacy, it was a chance
to right past wrongs. For a minute, it seemed as if
the band was headed for new glory – "Call It Love"
went Top 40 – but harmony was short-lived, and by 1991,
the new/old Poco was once again a thing of the past.
The band still tours in various incarnations, but "Call
It Love" was its last brush with widespread commercial
success.
"I'll Be Good to You," Quincy Jones featuring
Ray Charles and Chaka Khan (Back
on the Block)
Three, three, three comebacks in one! It
might be a little unfair to label this a "comeback"
for Quincy – Back on the Block was, after
all, his first album since 1981's smash hit The
Dude – but he isn't here to defend himself, so
we're lumping him in with Ray Charles, who hadn't had
a pop hit since the ‘70s, and Chaka Khan, who was one
and done on the pop Top 40 with her 1984 cover of Prince's
"I Feel for You." The production is oh so ‘80s, but
it's hard to mind too much; this cover of the Brothers
Johnson classic might even be better than the original,
even if it does sound a little like a Pepsi commercial.
"Hard
to Sy I'm Sorry," Chicago (Chicago
16)
Chicago were the Mariah Carey of their day, strong-arming
their label into signing a ridiculously over-inflated
contract just as their commercial viability was plummeting
into the shitter. (What, you thought we were going
to say they starred in a crappy movie? Well, they did
– 1973's "Electra Glide in Blue" – but that isn't the
point here.) Like Mariah, they were jettisoned not
long after the ink on their pricey new contract had
dried, ultimately ending up at a new label where they
enjoyed further success. The song that started their
second act was this stomach-churning ballad, originally
played over the closing credits of a Daryl Hannah movie
nobody remembers.
"The
Flame," Cheap Trick (Lap
of Luxury)
By 1988, Cheap Trick's recording career was hanging
by a thread; they hadn't had a hit in over a decade,
and were reduced to taking on material by outside writers
in order to retain their deal with longtime label Epic
Records. This being a horrific year for pop music,
"The Flame" went all the way to Number One, where it
followed Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" and was knocked
out of the top spot by Richard Marx's "Hold On to the
Nights." Like we said, a horrific year for pop music.
"Room
at the Top," Adam Ant (Manners & Physique)
There were probably deader things
on the planet than Adam Ant's career in 1990,
but you would've had to journey into the heart
of the oldest petrified forest to find them;
Mr. Ant hadn't had an American Top 40 hit of
any shape, size, or color since "Goody Two Shoes"
in 1982, and had been bounced by his label not long
after being asked to cut his set at Live Aid to one
song. Hooking up with Prince protégé André Cymone got
him back on the charts, albeit briefly; by the late
‘90s, Adam was better-known for his deteriorating mental
health than his music.
"You
Got It," Roy Orbison (Mystery
Girl)
Credit David Lynch with sparking Orbison's long-overdue
resurgence by using "In Dreams" during a pivotal moment
of his cult classic film "Blue Velvet" – but that wouldn't
have meant jack if Roy hadn't been ready and willing
to take advantage. The Big O was at the top of his
game creatively, and had been around long enough that
his peers were willing to line up just for the chance
to work with him. As a result, the last two albums
of Orbison's life – Mystery Girl and the
first Traveling Wilburys record – were star-studded
affairs. Sadly, the public's renewed acquaintance with
Orbison roughly coincided with his death in December
of 1988.
"Soldier
of Love," Donny Osmond (Donny
Osmond)
The fact that this song comes from a self-titled album
is rather ironic, given that Capitol promoted it, for
a time, as a white-label single from a "mystery artist."
A cowardly act? Perhaps. But given that Donny Osmond
hadn't had a Top 10 hit since 1974, and given that
his previous high-profile attempt at reinvention –
a role in the Broadway musical "Little Johnny Jones"
– opened and closed on the same night, you can hardly
blame the involved parties for exercising a little
caution. It paid off handsomely, too; the Stock/Aitken/Waterman-produced Donny
Osmond spun off a pair of Top 20 hits, and made
Osmond look like a viable recording artist again. Until
his next album, anyway.