"You're Not Alone" by Amy Grant

       It's the holiday season friends, and the Radio Dial's gift to you is an upbeat album track that should've been a hit off of one of the top selling pop albums of 1991. Let us present miss Amy Grant and her compassionate ode to a heartbroken friend, “You're Not Alone”.

“I saw you walking by yourself, your eyes were crying out for help...

I know you feel your pain is more, than anyone's been hurt before...”

The seventh track off of Amy's 1991 quintuple-platinum “Heart in Motion” LP, “You're...” was one of the few tracks from that album not issued as a single, and thus not played on pop, A/C, dance, or Contemporary Christian (CCM) radio outlets. Heart in Motion's string of hits included “Baby Baby”, “Every Heartbeart”, and “I Will Remember You”, which successfully broke Grant into the world of mainstream top 40 radio, after brief flirtations with the format in 1985 (the US #29 pop crossover hit “Find A Way”), and her 1986 chart topping Peter Cetera duet “The Next Time I Fall”.

Personally, “You're...” was the big hit off the album for me, and it's the only song on the entire LP that I still revisit on a regular basis – even over two decades after it's release. I've always wondered how the song would have done had it been released as a single. I'd think top 20 at least.

Curiously, “You're...” is the only Heart in Motion track not co-written by Grant herself, instead being authored by the UK based songwriting team of Dennis Morgan/Simon Climie/Rob Fisher, who, either together, or individually, penned such great hits as Naked Eyes' “Promises Promises”, Pat Benatar's “Invincible”, George Michael & Aretha Franklin's “I Knew You Were Waiting For Me”, and Rod Stewart's “My Heart Can't Tell You No”. The trio also charted under their own band name of Climie Fisher with the 1988 US #23 hit "Love Changes (Everything)".

Even though it was released by a well-known CCM artist, I never heard “You're...” as religious in any way, mainly because Heart in Motion was such a push into pure pop, and the majority of the songs are not overtly religious at all. Amy sings of hope and love and longing and happiness and sacrifice, but every adult contemporary artist deals in that stock and trade.

I always interpreted it as telling the tale of a guy suffering from a devastating romantic loss, (and whom may even be contemplating suicide), and his female friend (Amy) that is consoling him. Amy’s character comforts the fellow by assuring him that no matter how bad he feels, SHE will always be there for him, hence, HE is not alone in this world. The entirety of verse 2, listed below, solidified this interpretation in my mind.

“The moment that I looked at you, I recognized the killing truth...
You really think there's no way out, but if you let me, I can help you now.
Through all these shattered emotions, there's a lesson to learn...
So come on let me hold you closer, love can soothe what love has burned.”

Alternatively, it also crossed my mind that Amy may have been telling the guy that he's not alone in that everybody has gone through a terrible break up in their lives. His situation, while heartbreaking, is not unique, so Amy and MANY others, can empathize with his plight.

However, while researching the song for my review, I've since learned that the real intent of the song is to say that “you’re not alone because a higher power is always watching over you”. Now, it seems so obvious to me, but I sure didn't arrive at that interpretation on my own.

So whether you hear "You're Not Alone" as a song of friendly compassion and empathy, or reassurance that there is a higher power, I sincerely hope you enjoy this overlooked album cut from the queen of Contemporary Christian music, and for a time in the early 90s, a master of classic upbeat adult contemporary pop.

And, slated on the Radio Dial docket for the new year, a tribute to an iconic alternative rocker who recently left us too soon at the age of 48; and a forgotten top 10 hit for an ‘80s new wave group which draws inspiration from the final visit of the ice cream truck each summer.

And from the entire Radio Dial family, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and any other positive holiday related greeting you may wish to hear! (oh yeah, and have an awesome Festivus for the rest of us!) Kyle's Radio Dial... The more you listen, the more you REMEMBER!

“You've got to remember... you're not alone in this world...

Always remember... You're not alone in this world”

"Man On Your Mind" by the Little River Band

        Welcome, friends! Thanks for tuning your "interwebs" and your attention, to my modest little corner of the information super highway... Kyle's Radio Dial! Tonight, we take a look back at one of the more rockin' songs from the Australian kings of soft rock, the Little River Band. Let us present their tale of infidelity awareness entitled “Man On Your Mind”!

“I can feel it floating away... inch by inch... day by day.

Love boat... set itself free... cast away, slipping out to sea.”

When compared to the bulk of the Little River Band's (LRB) melodic ballad hit singles (“Lady”, “Cool Change”, “Reminiscing”, etc.), “Man...” is a harder selection from these Australian boys, and it fits quite nicely within the radio landscape of early 80s pop/rock.

Despite the upbeat vibe, the lyrics tell a troubled story about the memory of another man coming in between the singer and his lady. The male protagonist sees all the red flags, including the woman's stress as she tries to conceal the truth. A comment is even made that...

“you can't change your life, by changing your name”

This makes me think that the woman tried to escape her past by marrying the man singing the song, but that very past (the titular "man on her mind") is holding her back emotionally.

However, by the final bridge, there appears to be hope for the relationship, as the singer says...

“He's already fallen... So it's no use to fight... And if he starts callin'...
Let him know you're with me, for the rest of the night.”

This seems to indicate that the woman has finally realized that holding on to the past is damaging her present romance, and it is necessary to move forward with her current guy. Or maybe it's simply that the male character giving her a mild ultimatum... a “you're MY GIRL” kind of assertation, at which point, his macho mannerisms may push the woman further away. So I guess the interpretation can go either way on this. I prefer the more positive outcome.

“Man...” was the third and final single from LRB's 1981 LP Time Exposure, which also yielded the top 10 hits “The Night Owls” (US #6) and “Take It Easy on Me“ (US #10). “Man...”'s peak position in early '82 fell behind these other two hits, but not by much at US #14.

An interesting fact about “Man...” and the entire Time Exposure LP, is that it was produced by none other than “the Fifth Beatle” himself, Sir George Martin! Following the 1970 conclusion of the Beatles, Martin continued to work with McCartney on his Wings and solo material, and also produced works for acts like Jeff Beck, America, Ultravox, Cheap Trick, Kenny Rogers, and Elton John, among many others, including LRB.

“I used to dream it could last forever... But pipe dreams never come true...
I'd be foolin' myself if I never thought something like this... couldn't happen to you”

“Man...” is also one of the few top 40 songs whose lyrics added to my personal lexicon, as it introduced me to the terms “Chinese junk” (an ancient Chinese sailing ship) and “pipe dream” (an impossible goal). Only a few other songs did the same, such as “false bravado”, mentioned in Player's 1978 hit “Baby Come Back”, and “loving by proxy”, from Cutting Crew's 1988 smash “(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight”. See, pop music does grow your vocabulary!

In contrast to the relative seriousness of the song's lyrics, the music video for “Man...” is quite campy, as the LRB guys prance around a stage in a goofy and deliberately awkward dance routine. They do appear to be having a good time fooling around for the camera, though.

So sit back and check out LRB's top 20 entry, one of the countless former radio hits that never pop up on radio anymore. And be sure to check back in with the Dial later in the month for the next overlooked track worthy of a second glance.

“I said, Baby... You've got a man on your mind... You've got a weight on your shoulders...
How you ever gonna find the words to say, Goodbye ?”