Chicago 16 (1982)Peter Cetera - Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Bill Champlin – Keyboards, Guitars, Vocals
Robert Lamm - Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals
Lee Loughnane - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Cornet, Percussion, Vocals
James Pankow - Trombone, Percussion, Background Vocals
Walter Parazaider - Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet
Danny Seraphine - Drums, Percussion
Additional Personnel
David Foster – Keyboards
Chris Pinnick – Guitar
Steve Lukather – Guitar
Michael Landau – Guitar
David Paich – Synthesizer
Steve Porcaro – Synthesizer Programming
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What You're Missing (Gruska, Williams) – 4:10
Waiting for You to Decide (Foster, Lukather, Paich) – 4:06
Bad Advice (Cetera, Foster, Pankow) – 2:58
Chains (Cetera, Thomas) – 3:22
Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away (Cetera, Foster, Lamm) – 5:08
Follow Me (Foster, Pankow) – 4:53
Sonny Think Twice (Champlin, Seraphine) – 4:01
What Can I Say (Foster, Pankow) – 3:49
Rescue You (Cetera, Foster) – 3:57
Love Me Tomorrow (Cetera, Foster) – 5:06
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Chicago took the money Columbia Records paid them to buy out their contract and used it to finance their next album while they shopped for a new label. They also continued their search for a new regular guitarist.
They pretty much hit the jackpot with Bill Champlin. A guitarist, keyboardist, singer and songwriter, Champlin was actually contacted by Chicago shortly after Terry Kath's death, suggesting that he audition for the band. He declined. Champlin already had a long and successful career as a songwriter (two Grammies) and studio musician and vocalist (numerous other awards), and a solo career. But in 1981, he found himself collaborating with Peter Cetera on a project not related to Chicago, and the drummer for that project was Danny Seraphine. Seraphine and Champlin wrote some songs together, and Seraphine invited Champlin to appear on the next Chicago album. Seraphine meanwhile lobbied to get Champlin into the group as a permanent member. Not only did they need a guitarist, but 80's Chicago was becoming more synth-heavy, and Champlin played keyboards as well. And finally, he was a baritone; this meant that he could sing Terry's parts and the classic Chicago three-part harmony would be back.
Champlin himself was still hesitant. He knew he would have to sing "Colour My World" every night, and he really didn't like that song. Kenny Loggins, a personal friend of his, even called him to try to talk him out of it. ("What are you doing? Those guys are over!") But as they say in the music biz, a gig's a gig, and Bill Champlin eventually took the job, becoming the newest member of Chicago. Champlin had recently worked with producer David Foster on his latest solo project, and thought that Foster would be a good choice for Chicago. He could not have been more correct.
David Foster is credited with pretty much singlehandedly inventing the "Adult Contemporary" genre, and his work with Chicago is held up as the model. He was actually considered to produce
Chicago XIV, and he finally gets his chance here. The "slick" 80's production of Phil Ramone and Tom Dowd was toned down a bit, the horns were pushed somewhat to the side (but not to the back, as some complain) in favor of synthesizers and strings, and outside writers and musicians (including himself in both roles) were brought in. The result was a sound that was somehow fresh, bright, warm, stripped down and full all at the same time.
The opening track, "What You're Missing" was written by Jay Gruska and Joseph Williams, two guys I've never heard of. Whatever, it's a good opening song. A short synth flourish to let you know what's in store, then the rhythm section comes in (heavy drum beat, not-too-clean guitar), then the horns. Yes, the horns are still here. Actually, throughout this album, it's impressive how well the horns sit side-by-side with the synths, guitars, and sometimes even strings. There's actually more going on, musically, than on most previous Chicago albums, yet the sound is clear and feels remarkably unclutterred, even open.
"Waiting for You to Decide" is our first
deja vu moment. It starts off in the same key and with the same beat as "Wake Up Sunshine" from
Chicago. You hear that beat and when the unison horns come in the first two notes are even the same, but no, it's a different song. Not a bad song, either. And for the first time in several albums, it's two upbeat tunes in a row!
Make that three. "Bad Advice" starts with the horns blasting, the drums thumping, and Peter doing some funky pickin'. Yeah, you forgot he even played bass, didn't you? It's a kind of swaggering, shuffling tune. And it's another Cetera tune, upbeat and with horns, that I actually like. The times, they are a-changin'. Maybe it's because Peter doesn't sing this one; that's new guy Bill Champlin on lead vocals.
Would you believe four in a row? Okay fine, I'll drop the act. Everybody knows "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" and "Love Me Tomorrow" because they were the big hits. They're mellow and sappy and the girls love them but guess what? They are easily the mellowest songs on the album. All of the other songs are at least upbeat, if not outright rocking. "Chains" starts off with a backbeat and synth (eighth note chords, Oberheim or Roland, kinda cheesy but cool at the time) and you think it's gonna suck, and it kinda does, but at least it rocks, and is pretty short. It's another Cetera song, co-written with someone named Ian Thomas.
"Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away" was the biggie, the one that brought Chicago back from the depths. Hitting #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, and even #4 in the U.K. (the first Chicago song since the mid 70's to chart in the U.K.), it was a monster by all accounts. Obviously two songs spliced together, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" is the mellow one that gets the girls all hot and bothered, then "Get Away" is the short tag where the band can't help itself and cuts loose for a minute. One of my favorite horn breaks, just because of its intensity, it's over too soon, but it's still great.
"Follow Me" is another one that somehow combines guitars, horns, and synths without sounding cluttered, it even has an old school Chicago horn break with a change or three. Primary writing credit goes to David Foster, but James Pankow is there too, and he doesn't let us down.
"Sonny Think Twice" was the Champlin/Seraphine song that served as his introduction to the band. The synth bass is kinda weird, but hey, it was the 80's. Nice horn chart, a catchy chorus, and nice vocal harmonies.
"What Can I Say" starts off and you think I lied to you, because this is obviously a mellow song, but then the rhythm section comes in and it's an uptempo tune after all. So then you think, "What, another song with a question title but no question mark?" Sorry, I can't help you there. But this song gives us our next
deja vu moment. The horn accents on 2 and 3½ behind the lead vocals sound familiar, but there are only so many tricks James can use before he starts repeating himself. Then the trombone solo comes in and the first four notes are the intro to "Just You 'n' Me" from
Chicago VI and you go "What?" but then it continues and he's just restating the melody, a perfectly normal motif for such a solo, and you realize that musically he's winking at you because we all see what he did there. Those earlier horn accents were also the same as on "Just You 'n' Me". There's no way that that was a coincidence.
"Rescue You" is yet another rocker, and you have to remember that by "rocker" I mean by 80's standards. It's not Iron Maiden or even later Triumph. I mean guitars, drums, backbeat. Nice guitar work, great vocals, but points off for synth brass when the real thing is available. This is one of the only tracks on the album with no horns.
I totally forgot how "Love Me Tomorrow" starts, with the guitar and drum strikes. It fools you; you think it's gonna be an actual rocker, then it all starts and the keyboards come in and okay, yeah, it's this song after all. It made #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 but went all the way to #8 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It ends with an extended break by the strings, which is kinda weird, but also kinda cool, so I'll allow it. Honestly, it sounds really good; I would guess real strings, but there are no strings credited, meanwhile synths and synth programming, so maybe they're synth after all.
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I have to admit, I kinda like this album. I want to hate it, because of what they did to "my" band, but I can't. It's really good.
Robert Lamm, you might notice, is mostly absent here. According to Wiki, he was unavailable for most of this album, dealing with "personal issues". I've tried to find more information, but there's not a lot. I do know that he's been married four times, and one of his three divorces was in 1981, so maybe he was dealing with that during this time. In any event, he only has a single co-writing credit, no lead vocals, and it's hard to tell because of the production, but I don't hear him on any background vocals, either.
Also, longtime percussionist Loudir Soures de Oliveira is gone. Clearly the whole Latin percussion thing, which I kinda liked and thought worked well with the horns and "big sound", had no place in 80's music. Actually, I didn't even realize it until researching this album, so maybe it was just time.
Meanwhile, half of Toto plays on this album and has writing credits on one of the songs. Also, Chris Pinnick, guitarist from
Chicago XIV, is back. Producer David Foster has keyboard credits and co-writing credits on seven of the 10 songs. Why? They have a guitarist now, they have... okay, with Robert taking personal leave, we do see that Peter and James both stepped up a bit in the writing department, so maybe the Foster co-writing is more of the "I helped arrange it in the studio so I get co-writing credit" situation. I don't know.
But with all the reason whys I "should" hate, or at least dislike
Chicago 16, in the end, it's the music that matters. And the music is good. The writing is mostly good and often very strong, and the production is phenomenal. I get to hear my beloved Chicago horns (a lot more than I thought I would, given the singles from this period), the songs don't suck, so all is well again.
Chicago ended up signing with Full Moon Records, a division of Warner Bros., beginning the next phase of their history.
Chicago 16 went to #9, their highest charting album since
Chicago XI, and eventually went multi-platinum. They were back.