| Radio Romance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1982 | |||
| Recorded | 1982 | |||
| Studio | Sound Stage Studios, The Music Mill, The Garage Studio, The Sound Lab and Emerald Sound Studios (Nashville, Tennessee). | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Label | Elektra (original label) Liberty | |||
| Producer | David Malloy | |||
| Eddie Rabbitt chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Radio Romance | ||||
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Radio Romance is the eighth studio album by Americancountry music artistEddie Rabbitt, released in 1982.
The album spawned three singles in total. "You and I" was the lead single, a duet withCrystal Gayle, written by Frank J. Myers.[1] It was a major country pop crossover hit for both artists, topping the US and Canadian Country Songs chart, and peaking at #7 on the AmericanBillboard Hot 100 chart, as well as #2 on theBillboard Adult Contemporary chart.[2] The second single "You Can't Run from Love" also topped the US and Canadian Country Songs chart, while peaking at #55 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart, as well as #2 on theBillboard Adult Contemporary chart.[2] The final single was "Our Love Will Survive", released in 1983, including the B-Side "You Put the Beat in my Heart" from Rabbitt'sGreatest Hits Volume II compilation. It was not a commercial success.[3] TheRadio Romance album reached #5 on the American Top Country Albums chart, as well as #31 on theBillboard 200.[4]
The song "Years After You" was written byThom Schuyler, and would later be recorded by American country music artistJohn Conlee in 1984, who reached #2 on both the American and Canadian Country Songs charts.[5] "Good Night for Falling in Love" would later be covered in 1984 by Hillary Kanter, who released it as a single which peaked at #51 on the Country Singles chart in America.[6]
In 1982, Rabbitt began a new tour in Chicago, and soon after he returned to Nashville and the recording studio for a few days. While performing for a week at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, he would work on mixing theRadio Romance album during the daytime while doing two shows a night. The album was not as ready as Rabbitt demanded. It was first scheduled for release in August but was pushed back until September.[7] The album's mixing was handled at Nashville's Emerald Sound Studio. It was opened by Stevens and Malloy who worked alongside Rabbitt on many albums includingRadio Romance. The album was the first project within the newly opened studio. Initially the studio was not finished at the time the mixing of the album was due to start in October 1982. Malloy decided to have all the equipment temporarily moved into the studio in order to finish the project.[8]
The album was originally released on vinyl LP, cassette and eight-track tape in America and Canada via Elektra.[9] The artwork featured a photograph of Rabbitt displayed next to a radio, which had a woman's hand covering it.[10] Later Capitol Records released the album on CD for the first time in 1990, however this is now out-of-print. This release featured new artwork, featuring a close-up photograph of Rabbitt.[11] In 2008 the album was issued as an MP3 download. In 1983, Elektra issued a music-sheet book covering all tracks on the album.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [12] |
| The Philadelphia Inquirer | [13] |
From contemporary reviews, Mark S. Wisnjewski of theReading Eagle observed that "as a songwriter/performer, Rabbitt has nicely mastered the 'hook.'" He added that "at least eight of the 10 tunes on his new LP sound like 45 releases—they are that commercially 'catchy.'" Singling out "You Can't Run from Love" and "You Got Me Now" as potential single hits, Wisniewski further stated that "perhaps the most amazing 'slight-of-ear' onRadio Romance is Rabbitt's ability to take his major weakness and disguise it as a strength. Strip away the multiple-tracking, the echo and the harmonizing female voices, and one discovers Rabbitt has a surprisingly nondescript limited vocal range."[14]Ken Tucker ofThe Philadelphia Inquirer gave the album a two star out of five rating. He opined:
Rabbitt's smiling-stud persona gets more offensive with every album. What can you do with a guy whose melodies melt country into early rock 'n' roll with smooth skill, yet chooses to cover songs in which he sounds obnoxiously self-righteous?[13]
Peter Reilly ofStereo Review commented that "[Rabbitt is] good with something like 'Bedroom Eyes', but even there he seems at times to be counting flowers on the wall rather than concentrating on the supposed object of his desire."[15]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You Can't Run from Love" | Eddie Rabbitt,David Malloy,Even Stevens | 3:42 |
| 2. | "Years After You" | Thom Schuyler | 3:27 |
| 3. | "Good Night for Falling in Love" | Rabbitt, Malloy, Stevens | 3:09 |
| 4. | "You and I" (duet withCrystal Gayle) | Frank J. Myers | 4:00 |
| 5. | "You Got Me Now" | Stevens, Rabbitt, Malloy | 3:53 |
| 6. | "Our Love Will Survive" | Stevens, Malloy, Rabbitt, Randy McCormick | 3:28 |
| 7. | "Stranger in Your Eyes" | Rabbitt, Stevens, Malloy | 3:55 |
| 8. | "Bedroom Eyes" | Rabbitt, Stevens, Malloy,Stephen Allen Davis | 3:37 |
| 9. | "Laughing on the Outside" | Rabbitt, Malloy, Stevens | 3:27 |
| 10. | "All My Life, All My Love" | Billy Joe Walker Jr., Malloy, Rabbitt, Stevens | 2:42 |
| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S.Billboard Top Country Albums | 5 |
| U.S.Billboard 200 | 31 |
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | US AC | CAN Country | CAN | CAN AC | ||
| 1982 | "You and I"(with Crystal Gayle) | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 1 |
| 1983 | "You Can't Run from Love" | 1 | 55 | 2 | 1 | — | 4 |
