Aldo Nova is a rocker from Canada who had his biggest hit in 1982 when his single, "Fantasy," reached #23. He followed this up with "Foolin' Yourself," which peaked at a disappointing #65. Then he disappeared from the US charts forever. While he wasn't able to climb back onto the US charts as a solo artist, he managed to do so while working with other artists, most notably fellow Canadian superstar Celine Dion. Nova co-wrote, played, and produced several songs for Dion, and took home the 1996 Grammy as a producer. In 2003, Nova co-wrote the hit "This Is The Night" for American Idol star Clay Aiken. He was also in the shadow of Bon Jovi since their early days, playing on their self-titled debut. In addition, Nova was instrumental in helping Jon Bon Jovi with his first solo effort, "Blaze Of Glory." Jon Bon Jovi would repay these favors by helping write, produce, and release Nova's 1991 comeback record, "Blood On The Bricks." It was a commercial flop largely because it was a day late, dollar short in terms of timing. The big melodic choruses and guitar solos went out with the big hair that year with the Seattle band invasion. "Touch Of Madness" is one of the highlights from "Blood" that wasn't released as a single. Who knows? Maybe it would have been a better choice than the title track. By the way, there's another American Idol connection here: Randy Jackson played bass on the "Blood" record.
New York powerhouse vocalist Laura Branigan is best known for her smash hit "Gloria", which peaked at #2 in 1982. Branigan had an admirable collection of additional top 40 hits after that, but needed a career boost by 1987. Her fifth album, "Touch", should have done just that, but it fizzled out at #87. Branigan's version of the over-the-top ballad, "Power Of Love", was the second single from "Touch". It proved to be the biggest single from the album, reaching #26 in 1987. The song was written by Jennifer Rush, who took it to #57 in 1986. Air Supply had the first go at this song in 1985, but only had the power to take it to #68. The song finally delivered in a big way, staying at #1 for a whole month, when Celine Dion sang the hell out of it in 1993. I think the United Nations mercifully called for a moratorium on covering this song again. The lead off single was designed to remind people that Laura performed some terrific upbeat dance numbers. "Shattered Glass" was a great return to form, but it stalled at #48. The modest performance of "Touch" signaled the beginning of the end for Branigan's charting career. Sadly, she died of a brain aneurysm in 2004 at the age of 52. Being the innovative wizards they are, the writers of the music video included a lot of exploding glass. Although, I always wondered whatever happened to the poor goldfish (go to 2 minute mark).
