Day: January 25, 2023

Chart Week: January 23, 1988
Song: “Don’t Shed A Tear” – Paul Carrack
Chart Position: #21, 11th week on the chart. Peaked at #9 for three weeks in February.

It feels like I’ve lost the momentum for this series lately. After reviewing the numbers, I did add 15 entries in 2022, which was three more than 2021. Perhaps it seems like I’ve slacked off because I have a bunch of drafts where I’ve jotted down ideas, but, for one reason or another, haven’t been able to turn them into completed posts. Hopefully I can get back into a more regular rhythm with these in 2023.

Aside from my biggest music geek friends, I doubt the name Paul Carrack will mean much to most of you. However, I bet every one of you knows his voice.

In 1974 he hit #3 with his band Ace on their debut single “How Long.” Later he sang lead on Mike + The Mechanics’ two biggest hits: “Silent Running (Dangerous Ground),” which hit #3 in 1986, and their 1989 chart-topper “The Living Years.”

Throw in “Don’t Shed a Tear” and Carrack hit the top ten performing with three different acts.

What isn’t included in that list is Carrack’s most enduring single. In 1980 he joined Squeeze to play keyboards. A year later, on the suggestion of producer Elvis Costello, he sang the lead vocals on “Tempted.” Despite becoming a classic in the decades since, that track stalled at #49.[1]

Wanderlust was a theme for Carrack’s career. Reading through his Wikipedia page is a dizzying experience, as he was constantly hopping around, performing with different groups or different sets of musical friends. Roger Waters, members of the Eagles, Roxy Music, Nick Lowe, and The Pretenders to name just a few of the other acts he worked with. His career path reminds me a little of Marshall Crenshaw’s.

I can’t find any evidence that he had an abrasive or difficult personality, so I think it truly was wanderlust, a desire to perform, and a lack of ego that allowed him to work with so many others.

For years I thought that Carrack must hold some kind of record for singing lead on the most Top 40 songs with different acts. However, last summer I randomly came across a note that proved me wrong. Turns out the person who holds the record is even more obscure than Carrack.

In 1970, British session singer Tony Burrows had one of the most remarkable runs in chart history. What took Carrack 15 years to accomplish, Burrows topped in a matter of months.

In March of that year he hit #5 on “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” fronting Edison Lighthouse. In mid-June he reached #13 with White Plains, singing “My Baby Loves Lovin’.” The week of July 4 he again hit #13 sharing co-lead vocals for the band Brotherhood of Man on “United We Stand.” And two weeks later he peaked at #9 with “Gimme Dat Ding” as frontman for The Pipkins.[1]

Four singles with four different acts in five months. That’s pretty good work.

He wasn’t done.

In 1974 he hit the top ten one last time, on First Class’ Beach Boys-esque track “Beach Baby,” which topped out at #4.

Amazingly, not one of those acts ever hit the US Top 40 again. Burrows also released his own music throughout the 1970s. Not one of his solo singles ever cracked the Top 40.

You can make an argument that Tony Burrows is the biggest one-hit wonder in chart history for taking five different acts into the Top 40 exactly one time and then basically disappearing. There aren’t retrospectives of his work, tributes to the “Tony Burrows Years,” or modern artists who seek him out as a collaborator. He had his five little moments and then was gone.

“Don’t Shed a Tear” is a solid if unremarkable song. Phil Collins once said that Paul Carrack could sing the phonebook and make it sound great. You definitely hear his talent here. His vocals are terrific. I probably sang along with them back in the winter of 1988. Not much else about the song is memorable, though. I would not have been able to recall it without hearing this countdown. At least Carrack has one song we all remember, even if it doesn’t bear his name. 6/10