Years later, Mellow Christopher Cross is still an enjoyable and easy listen

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Years later, Mellow Christopher Cross is still an enjoyable and easy listen
by Alexis Andrews - December 3, 2008

Christopher Cross

Christopher Cross. Remember him? He used to be a pop/ soft rock/ easy listening singing sensation, responsible for such catchy, mellow melodies which I had seen fit to use as soundtrack for my dating endeavors back in the 1980s. He’s nowhere near as famous now, but I have heard that Christopher Cross still records and tours to promote his music. In fact, he was in town recently, and that’s how I had been provoked to look back and listen once more to his songs.

Christopher Cross was born in San Antonio, Texas, and first appeared in a band called Flash before signing a solo contract with WarnerBros. The debut Christopher Cross album – one of the most influential soft rock albums ever – was released in 1980, with Ride Like The Wind (featuring Michael McDonald at backing vocals) as the first official single. It would be two other Christopher Cross records, though, which would win the singer-songwriter critical acclaim: namely, Sailing, a #1 hit in the Billboard Hot 100 chart; and Arthur’s Theme, which he co-wrote with Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter Allen, and which he performed for the smash comedy film, Arthur, starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli.

Asked about the song “Sailing”, Christopher Cross said that it really is just about sailing in Texas with a friend to get away from teenage trials and tribulations. As he said on the Howard Stern radio show, if the friend had taken him bowling, the song might actually have been entitled “Bowling”.

The 1981 Grammy Awards may just as well have been called the Christopher Cross Night. That year, Sailing won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist; he also won Album of the Year and was recognized as Best New Artist, thus becoming the only artist to win the so called “Grammy Big Four” in one year. Arthur’s Theme, meanwhile, won the 1981 Golden Globe for Best Original Song and the 1981 Academy Award for Best Song.

Riding the waves of this critical and commercial success, two more Christopher Cross records became hits: Never Be The Same and Say You’ll Be Mine. Cross followed his debut album up with Another Page, released in 1983 and then Every Turn of the Word in 1985, but he never really achieved any commercial success with these later efforts. And there never was another Christopher Cross record that reached the Top 40.

But no one will forget the legacy Christopher Cross left on the soft rock and easy listening genre. His sensitivity, mellow falsetto, dedication to songwriting, powerful hooks, radio-friendly production values, and intelligent and atmosphere-inducing pop melodies all support his gift as a musician and songwriter. Makes me wonder why he has fallen out of public favor and is no longer a big star now: 20 years have passed and the debut Christopher Cross album is still enjoyable.

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