Monday, January 23, 2012

CHRISTOPHER CROSS

Christopher Cross was introduced to us on to the radio for the first time in 1980 and scored eight Billboard Top 40 hits over the next four years. He performed ALL of them last weekend (January 15th) at an intimate gig in Manhattan in a new venue called the City Winery.  

Believe it or not, it has been 13 years since Christopher released an album of all new material, but that changed recently with the CD “Doctor Faith.”  Christopher artfully sprinkled in tunes from his latest offering in between the songs that earned him 5 Grammy Awards.  His voice has not changed over the years.  Even though he looks like a tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, when he opens his mouth that sweet pristine voice from Texas is still intact.  

He opened his show in a way I had never seen before.  He is so proud of the five musicians who surround him on stage, the first thing he did was introduce all of them.  And although every singer will tell you from the stage they have one of the greatest bands in the world, Christopher has done his home work. He has sought out top notch colleagues.  The musicians that bring his music to life on the road are dazzling.  A first class quintet, including Sax man, David Mann; keyboardist / vocalist Kiki Ebsen and bass / vocalist Chazz Frichtel. 

His set included:

-- Sailing (his first # 1 song)

-- Think Of Laura (he said the song is based on a real woman, Laura Carter, who was the best friend of the girl he was dating at the time.  She killed by a stray bullet while she was driving her car one night)

-- Arthur’s Theme (Christopher told his fans it was of the biggest thrills of his career writing this song with Burt Bacharach.  And although he acknowledged Hollywood recently put out a remake of the movie “Arthur,” it just wasn’t the same. As far as he is concerned there will never be another Dudley Moore.

 -- Ride Like the Wind (Michael McDonald who contributed vocals on this 1980 chart topper, also sings on Christopher’s new CD)

-- Leave It To Me (a catchy song from the new album with a brass arrangement that pays tribute to the band Chicago

-- Dreamers (another new composition that was well received by the capacity crowd.  He dedicated the song to the late Steve Jobs)
Born 60 years ago under his legal name, Christopher Geppert, Cross is the father of two children. Throughout his set it was evident that he has a very dry sense of humor and was excited to share the new songs he had been working on for the past decade.

-- Tom Cuddy
    New York, NY

Tom also sent us a copy of Christopher Cross' set list ... 


And here's a shot of Chris on stage, courtesy of photographer Brad Joblin:


And, even cooler yet ... how about an EXCLUSIVE "live" video of Christopher Cross performing two of his biggest hits ... only available for viewing through this Forgotten Hits link.  (Again, VERY special thanks to Tom Cuddy and Brad Joblin for this!)


Kent: 
Here's an exclusive for Forgotten Hits readers!  It's an HD video of Christopher Cross performing two of his hits in NYC last weekend.  This is private video stored at You Tube.  You can only get access through this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHChEGQqIHs
Video shot by Brad Joblin.  Post Production work done by Blake Joblin.
Tom