Raised on Radio- Gino Vanelli

I try to write about the forgotten radio heroes of my youth and I think Gino Vanelli fits that bill. A huge star in Canada, I feel he’s lesser known in the US But he had a run of hits in the pre-MTV 70s. If I think of the songs of the youth, one on the list is 1978’s “I Just Wanna Stop” a soft rock song that went to #4. 1981s “Living Inside Myself” is slightly further down the list. It was still a hit of the time and went to #5 But where I really got my ears to listen was his 80s Songs. There’s 1984s Black Cars. It didn’t make it any higher than 42 on the US charts but was the kind of perfect song to sneak in on the CHR/Hot Hots stations that were popular in the era The Gino Vanelli here doesn’t sound like the Gino Vanelli I knew. Like everyone, he was making a move to change with the times and his 70s and 80s hits are as far away stylistically as “Running on Empty” is to “Lawyers in Love” or “Captain Jack” is to “Uptown Girl”. Black Cars feel like if a Chat GPS wrote an eighties song with its great keyboard hook and of course cars and night in the lyrics. I remember 1987s Wild Horses being a bigger hit though Wikipedia says it stalled even lower (55) on the US charts. You may be a fan or not, but for me, I find these artists who sort of filled in the cracks of the charts with the Michael Jacksons, Princes, and Madonnas. I love looking at their careers and sharing what I learned. I remember the excitement of listening to these songs in my youth. #raisedonradio