by Richard Skelly » Sat Feb 17, 2018 2:06 pm
Over the decades, so many artists have opted to cover songs written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance...that I’m surprised no compilation CD has apparently been assembled. Raspy-voiced Bonnie Tyler was a natural to do a cover since Bryan relied on a sandpapery tone to soar to stardom. [Unless absolute zealots, most Adams fans have no idea his initial forays into show biz saw him falsettoing glam-rock with Sweeney Todd (after Nick Gilder left) or as a latecomer to disco.]
Adams and Vallance grew apart, but then reunited as collaborators. Vallance persevered by writing for and producing acts like Glass Tiger. As I recently noted, Vallance advised the group Toronto which foolishly rejected What About Love, a song he’d written with two of that band’s members. The Toronto twosome angrily quit the band but, with Jim, got the satisfaction of seeing Heart turn What About Love into a global smash.
News just broke of a Broadway musical, opening this summer, chock full of songs by Bryan and Jim. It appears they’ve written new material for the show. Musicals are often perilous ventures for pop music collaborators. Burt Bacharach and Hal David reportedly didn’t speak for years after their musical bombed under Broadway lights. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice also wound up with rather frosty relations.
One hopes for the best with the Adams/Vallance venture. Regardless of how it fares in The Big Apple, the show would likely draw well in a cross-Canada tour.