Sons of Champlin was formed by singer and songwriter Bill Champlin in San Francisco while he was still in high school. The band managed to crack the Top 100 twice in the 70s with "Hold On" (#47) and "Here Is Where Your Love Begins" (#80). Champlin left for a brief career as a solo artist, managing to score two more Top 100 hits: "Tonight Tonight" (#55) and "Sara" (#61) from 1982. He then joined Chicago and delivered some monster hits like "Hard Habit To Break," "Look Away," "You're Not Alone," and more. Champlin's son, Will, also tasted Top 100 success. In 2013, his cover of "At Last" from the TV show The Voice, peaked at #83. Listening to the grooves by Sons of Champlin draws clear parallels to what Chicago was doing at the time. Check out "What'cha Gonna Do" from their 1977 album, "Loving Is Why."
The Henry Paul Band scored one minor hit in the early 80s with "Keeping Our Love Alive." With a sound reminiscent of the Eagles brand of country rock, the song deserved better than stalling at #50. The song also features Richard Paige (Mr. Mister) and Bill Champlin (Chicago) on backing vocals. The Henry Paul Band also had some pretty incredible guitar playing for a group that was considered soft rock. Some of their solos and riffs would have a home in shredding metal songs - seriously! Henry Paul was in a Southern rock band called The Outlaws before and after this venture, and formed the country band BlackHawk in 1991. By 1998, he was back on the charts with "There You Have It," which reached #41. "Longshot" preceded the arrival of "Keeping Our Love Alive" but it bubbled under in 1980. It was another single that should have brought this talented band some wider recognition. Fun fact: both of these songs (and many others in the band's catalogue) were co-written with Jim Peterik, a co-founder of Survivor.
Led by Brendon Urie, Panic! At The Disco formed in Las Vegas and helped shape the rock sound of the naughts. Their one and only top 10 hit arrived in 2006 when "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" peaked at #7. The band has managed to hit the top 40 only once more to date, when "Hallelujah," which samples the Chicago hit "Questions 67 And 68," reached #40 in 2015. The band has undergone dramatic lineup changes over the years, which may in part explain the evolution and diversity of their sound over the past decade. The one constant has been Urie, whose vocals often get buried in the bombast. However, he really gets to show off his vocal chops on "Impossible Year," an atypical lounge song that closes the band's 2016 record, "Death Of A Bachelor." His attention-grabbing vocal will raise the hairs on your arms.
Chicago has become one of the most successful groups of all-time. Despite numerous line up changes that included the departure of the distinctive voice of Peter Cetera in 1985, the band has carried on, adapting its sound to fit the times. They had their first charting single with "Questions 67 And 68" in 1969, which first hit #71, then put them on the map at #24 when reissued in 1971. They sustained a strong top 10 presence through the 70s and 80s, hitting the #1 spot several times with "If You Leave Me Now" (1976), "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" (1982), and "Look Away" (1988). The latter came from the band's "19" album, their last to yield big hits. Despite a bevy of hits, "19" only went to #37. The album was mined for multiple singles - in addition to "Look Away", "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" went to #3, "You're Not Alone" went to #10, and "We Can Last Forever" went to #55. "What Kind Of Man Would I Be?", which went to #5 in 1989, was also on "19" but technically released from their hugely successful "Greatest Hits 1982-1989" compilation. "19" begins with another potential ready-friendly single, but "Heart In Pieces" was not released. To me, it helps build the case that "19" was one of the most perfect albums to capture the grandiose AOR 80s sound.
