Back in high school, "Chicago at Carnegie Hall" was one of my favorite records. Over four LPs, the band performed songs from its first three albums which, except perhaps for "Chicago V," were its best.
"Carnegie Hall" was the band's fourth release. Chicago continued to churn out platinum and multiplatinum albums for the next several years, keeping mostly to its core of jazzy rock. But on 1974's "Chicago VII" there was a disturbance in the force. Two sappy songs - "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" and "Wishing You Were Here" - were the album's only hits. Ominous foreshadowing.
Two years later, bassist Peter Cetera wrote "If You Leave Me Now," which won Chicago its first Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus. Note that phrase: pop performance. Chicago turned to "prom rock" with power ballads like "You're the Inspiration" and "Hard Habit to Break." Money and Grammys flowed in; integrity flowed out.
It's a familiar theme in music. A band makes an initial splash by performing the music it wants to play; maybe they even have some hits. Then a megahit comes along that isn't exactly the same as what's come before. The band likes the money and attention and records more songs like that. Fans who supported the band through its formative years are thinking, "What happened?"
Not saying that it's a crime to make money or be popular, but if it's an obvious money grab, it robs the music of its authenticity and sincerity.
The Doobie Brothers, for instance, started off as a top-notch rock band and even had a series of hits. But when singer/guitarist Tom Johnson became too ill to continue, keyboardist/vocalist Michael McDonald took over. The Doobies became a soul-pop outfit that won Grammys, sold millions, made everyone rich(er) and ruined the band for many fans.
Other examples: From the brilliant "Maggie May," Rod Stewart became the skeevy perv of "Tonight's the Night" and the doofus of "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" The Bee Gees had some great pop hits but later became disco icons with "Saturday Night Fever." Genesis went from prog to pop after Peter Gabriel left.
Whitesnake was a terrific blues/rock band when it first came out in 1978, but couldn't get noticed outside of England and Japan. Vocalist David Coverdale brought in new musicians, wrote some new songs, took several that he recorded earlier with the band and put a late-'80s hair-band sheen to everything. Voila! Big sales, big money, big sell-out.
Contact Shawn Ryan at mshawnryan@gmail.com.