Chart Week: November 4, 1978
\nSong: \u201cAlive Again\u201d – Chicago
\nChart Position: #21, 3rd week on the chart. Peaked at #14 for two weeks in December.<\/p>\n
In the Seventies and Eighties the band Chicago was like air: they were always around. In over 21 years of hitting the pop chart, they had 34 Top 40 singles, 20 Top 10s, and three number ones.[1]<\/a> <\/p>\n Hits on top of hits on top of hits.<\/p>\n While their music was generally right down the middlest portion of the middle of the road, especially in the Eighties, they did have a unique sound thanks to their horn section. Chicago\u2019s blend of rock and pop, R&B and soul, and even jazz was unlike any other band, save maybe Earth, Wind, & Fire. I would argue the bands were quite different, but since they were the only two that had great success with horns on pretty much every song, they have to be mentioned together.[2]<\/a> <\/p>\n The second part of Chicago\u2019s career, which covered their Eighties peak, came with a pronounced move away from some of the quirky eccentricity of their Seventies music into mostly soft rock\/Adult Contemporary. That second act almost didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n In January 1978, founding member and guitar player Terry Kath was partying with a band roadie. While joking around with a gun, Kath put it to his head and pulled the trigger, not realizing there was a round in the chamber. He died instantly. <\/p>\n The band was devastated. Kath was a huge part of Chicago\u2019s sound and one of the most respected guitar players of the era. For several months the surviving members debated whether they should continue making music together or not.<\/p>\n Eventually they regrouped and hit the studio to record their tenth studio album, Hot Streets<\/em>. \u201cAlive Again\u201d was the first single released after Kath\u2019s death. While ostensibly about a romantic partner bringing happiness back to the narrator\u2019s life, it is clearly also about picking up the pieces and moving on after a personal tragedy. <\/p>\n Yesterday I would not have believed Later, songwriter James Pankow said it was indeed about the band coming together and renewing their partnership as Kath looked down on them and smiled. Chicago was alive again.<\/p>\n I think I knew this story pretty soon after \u201cAlive Again\u201d came out. A couple of my uncles were into Chicago, and I must have overheard them talking about the band\u2019s comeback. Or maybe I just heard Casey Kasem tell the story as my mom played AT40 in the kitchen.<\/p>\n Even back then I was struck by how joyous this track sounded. Peter Cetera\u2019s vocals are filled an almost defiant cheer. The horns have the classic sharp, powerful Chicago sound. For a band that was on the verge of breaking up following a tragedy, they were remarkably locked in and energized. <\/p>\n In fact, given what they had been through, the brightness of this song could be a little off-putting if you think about it enough. But Chicago got famous making buoyant pop songs about the simple pleasures in life, not by making profound statements of life and death. So perhaps it would have been more out-of-character to have made a song that more directly addressed their grief.<\/p>\n\n
\nThat tomorrow the sun would shine<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n