"Alone, I’m going ‘round in circles… moving aimlessly…
Giving so much time for the future, got nothing left for me."
"Weatherman" details one man’s euphoria upon discovering his soul mate and the intense emotional attraction that results. The meteorological reference point of the chorus describes the anticipation of the inevitable physical encounter. Weatherman peaked at US #67, and was the lone single extracted from Jack’s third LP, 1987's Don't Give up Your Day Job.
Most folks initially equate the name Jack Wagner with the police detective Andrew "Frisco" Jones on General Hospital, as Jack, an actor by trade, revisited the role multiple times on the popular daytime soap following the character’s original ‘84-‘91 run.
"Running restless through the city… to find my fantasy…
Looked into your eyes and found it… lookin’ back at me."
However, Jack was all over the radio in late ‘84 and early ‘85 with his US #2, AC #1 smash ballad "All I Need". He tried to replicate this success with a few other tunes later on, the lower charters "Lady of My Heart" (US #76), and "Too Young" (US #52). Weatherman was to be Wagner’s final charting song. As it stands now, he’s considered a one-hit-wonder, as All I Need is his only lasting hit.
Certainly, Weatherman’s chugging bass, bouncy keyboard, soulful female harmonies and Jack’s perfect AOR styled vocals poised the tune to fit in nicely among the top 40 landscape of summer ’87. But with tough competition from soon-to-be classics like U2’s "With or Without You", Whitney’s "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", and the Cutting Crew’s "(I Just) Died in your Arms Tonight" among many others, Jack’s tune unfairly stumbled. Perhaps my humble blog entry will garner some new fans for Weatherman, as it deserved to be a much bigger hit.
"Now that the winter’s over… sweet love is taking over…
All of those dark clouds have faded away…"
Luckily, I managed to record Weatherman off the radio back then onto one of my mix tapes titled "Song Pak 4" (I eventually recorded up through Song Pak 32), where Jack’s tune ended up sandwiched between Huey Lewis and the News' "Jacob's Ladder", and Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al" - and yes, I just dug out my beloved old cassettes to bring you that peace of info – no need to thank me, I know you appreciate it.
So, in looking over the Kyle’s Radio Dial immediate weather forecast, I see a power pop based high pressure system converging with an AOR steeped warm front over the atmosphere surrounding your device, creating a 100% chance of rockin’ sounds from your speakers! Weatherman says that you should check out Jack’s awesome tune below, and be sure to drop me a comment with your thoughts!
"Weatherman says it’s gonna get hot tonight! There’s a fever in the air that I can’t control…
Now I’m gonna be a fool for love, but I think it’s alright…And I never wanna let this feeling go."
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