Radio Romance (album)

Radio Romance is the eighth studio album by American country artist Eddie Rabbitt, released in 1982.

Radio Romance
Studio album by
Eddie Rabbitt
ReleasedOctober 1982
Recorded1982
GenreCountry
LabelElektra (original label)
Liberty
ProducerDavid Malloy
Eddie Rabbitt chronology
Step by Step
(1981)		 Radio Romance
(1982)		 The Best Year of My Life
(1984)
Singles from Radio Romance
  1. "You and I"
    Released: October 1982
  2. "You Can't Run from Love"
    Released: March 1983

Background

The album spawned three singles in total. "You and I" was the lead single, a duet with Crystal Gayle, written by Frank J. Myers.[1] It was a major country pop crossover hit for both artists, topping the US and Canadian Country Songs chart, and peaking at #7 on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as #2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[2] The second single "You Can't Run from Love" also topped the US and Canadian Country Songs chart, while peaking at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as #2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[2] The final single was "Our Love Will Survive", released in 1983, including the B-Side "You Put the Beat in my Heart" from Rabbitt's Greatest Hits Volume II compilation. It was not a commercial success.[3] The Radio Romance album reached #5 on the American Top Country Albums chart, as well as #31 on the Billboard 200.[4]

The song "Years After You" was written by Thom Schuyler, and would later be recorded by American country music artist John Conlee in 1984, who reached #2 on both the American and Canadian Country Songs charts.[5] "Good Night for Falling in Love" would later be covered in 1984 by Hillary Kanter, who released it as a single which peaked at #51 on the Country Singles chart in America.[6]

Recording

In 1982, Rabbitt began a new tour in Chicago, and soon after he returned to Nashville and the recording studio for a few days. While performing for a week at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, he would work on mixing the Radio Romance album during the daytime while doing two shows a night. The album was not as ready as Rabbitt demanded. It was first scheduled for release in August but was pushed back until September.[7] The album's mixing was handled at Nashville's Emerald Sound Studio. It was opened by Stevens and Malloy who worked alongside Rabbitt on many albums including Radio Romance. The album was the first project within the newly opened studio. Initially the studio was not finished at the time the mixing of the album was due to start in October 1982. Malloy decided to have all the equipment temporarily moved into the studio in order to finish the project.[8]

Release

The album was originally released on vinyl LP, cassette and eight-track tape in America and Canada via Elektra.[9] The artwork featured a photograph of Rabbitt displayed next to a radio, which had a woman's hand covering it.[10] Later Capitol Records released the album on CD for the first time in 1990, however this is now out-of-print. This release featured new artwork, featuring a close-up photograph of Rabbitt.[11] In 2008 the album was issued as an MP3 download on such sites as Amazon and iTunes.[12] In 1983, Elektra issued a music-sheet book covering all tracks on the album.[13]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[15]

From contemporary reviews, Mark S. Wisnjewski of the Reading Eagle commented: "As a songwriter/performer, Rabbitt has nicely mastered the "hook." At least eight of the 10 tunes on his new LP sound like 45 releases - they are that commercially "catchy." "You Can't Run from Love" and "You Got Me Now" are probably the most likely contenders for Top 40 airplay. Perhaps the most amazing "slight-of-ear" on Radio Romance is Rabbitt's ability to take his major weakness and disguise it as a strength. Strip away the multiple-tracking, the echo and the harmonizing female voices, and one discovers Rabbitt has a surprisingly nondescript limited vocal range."[16] Ken Tucker of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the album a two star out of five rating stating that it was "Rabbitt's smiling-stud persona gets more offensive with every album." and that "What can you do with a guy whose melodies melt country into early rock 'n' roll with smooth skill, yet chooses to cover songs in which he sounds obnoxiously self-righteous?"[15]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Can't Run from Love"Eddie Rabbitt, David Malloy, Even Stevens3:42
2."Years After You"Thom Schuyler3:27
3."Good Night for Falling in Love"Rabbitt, Malloy, Stevens3:09
4."You and I (duet with Crystal Gayle)"Frank J. Myers4:00
5."You Got Me Now"Stevens, Rabbitt, Malloy3:53
6."Our Love Will Survive"Stevens, Malloy, Rabbitt, Randy McCormick3:28
7."Stranger in Your Eyes"Rabbitt, Stevens, Malloy3:55
8."Bedroom Eyes"Rabbitt, Stevens, Malloy, Stephen Allen Davis3:37
9."Laughing on the Outside"Rabbitt, Malloy, Stevens3:27
10."All My Life, All My Love"Billy Joe Walker Jr., Malloy, Rabbitt, Stevens2:42

Personnel

Chart performance

Album
Chart (1982) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 5
U.S. Billboard 200 31

Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US US AC CAN Country CAN CAN AC
1982 "You and I" (with Crystal Gayle) 1 7 2 1 35 1
1983 "You Can't Run from Love" 1 55 2 1 — 4
gollark: Which involved a picture of a potato.
gollark: Well, they did, but they also ran the advertising campaign for potatOS on CNLite.
gollark: 6_4 aka Kan181.
gollark: You would have to speak with our potato consultant.
gollark: Do you just want... a picture of a potato?

References
  1. "Eddie Rabbitt With Crystal Gayle - You And I / All My Life All My Love at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  2. Artist Biography by Tom Roland. "Eddie Rabbitt | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  3. "Eddie Rabbitt - Our Love Will Survive / You Put The Beat In My Heart (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  4. "Radio Romance - Eddie Rabbitt | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  5. Artist Biography by Steve Huey (1946-08-11). "John Conlee | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  6. "Hillary Kanter | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  7. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19820921&id=fzAgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uSkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5549,1038663
  8. Billboard - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. 1983-02-26. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  9. "Eddie Rabbitt - Radio Romance at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  10. "Images for Eddie Rabbitt - Radio Romance". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  11. "Eddie Rabbitt - Radio Romance (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  12. "Radio Romance: Eddie Rabbitt: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  13. Eddie Rabbitt (Author) (1983-01-01). "Radio Romance: Eddie Rabbitt: Amazon.com: Books". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  14. "Radio Romance - Eddie Rabbitt | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  15. Tucker, Ken (November 7, 1982). "Albums". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 12. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  16. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19821205&id=D1UiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QacFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4412,2724023
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.