Originally Posted by
Ky Fried Redleg
116. It's back to story time on RZ music trivia and boy, do I have a dandy for you today. I like this one because it takes me back more than 45 years to my senior year in high school/freshman year in college. This one's got is all--- controversy, intrigue, one-hit wonder, a terrible video, and one of those rare songs that charted two different times for the same artist. Hang with me here. There's a lot to unravel in this one.
The singer was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He was given the name , Reuben, same as his father. His father , who was originally from Santiago, Chile, abandoned the family when little Reuben was just an infant. Remember that, because it will become very important to our story. Reuben grew up in Maryland, joined the U.S. Navy after high school, and served in the Vietnam War. Upon his discharge from the service, he settled in New York to pursue a singing and songwriting career. That career started by writing songs for others, people like Brenda Lee and Chubby Checker.
Eventually Reuben , who demoed the songs he wrote, was convinced to write and record his own songs, which he did, over 100 of them in his career. He called his band the Hurricanes. He released a debut album, without much fanfare or success. As he was preparing for a second album, he and a writing partner left New York to take up residence in Miami to write songs for the album. They lived in an apartment complex, while in Miami. That's where the story gets interesting.
You see, among the singer's neighbors in that Miami apartment building was a family of five--- a dad, mom , and three teenage kids--- a boy and two girls. The dad was a struggling set designer. Well, it so happens that the dad runs off with a woman from "A Chorus Line, " abandoning the family and leaving them destitute. Our singer felt bad for the kids because his dad had abandoned him when he was just a baby. When the three kids showed up at the singer's door in that apartment building, telling him that their father had taken off and left them, he wanted to do anything to help.
Reuben(better known at that time by his stage name) gave the kids money for doing odd jobs. He would give the teenage boy 20 bucks to pick him up cigarettes or groceries. And then there was a 16 year-old girl by the name of Heidi. He would give Heidi $50 a week to walk his Basset Hound. One morning Heidi knocks on his door . The singer and his writing partner had been up all night drinking and trying to write songs, and drinking some more. He opens the opens the door for Heidi. She had come to walk the dog before heading off to school. Heidi was dressed, shall we say, rather provocatively, in a short mini- skirt and high heels. As she left with the dog, the singer's writing partner made a stray and inappropriate remark about the young girl. The singer shut him down by saying, "Pal, she's just 16 years old, leave her alone." He had the opening lyric of a song. He took it and ran with it, weaving the tale of this family, the father's struggles, and the main chorus of helping the family out of poverty.
That incident with Heidi was the inspiration for, what would become his signature song. In fact, it would be his ONLY hit song. He finished penning the song that day and was anxious to record it. He knew he had something special. The singer cut the lead vocal in just three takes. The notorious howling instrumental bridge was originally a guide vocal for a saxophonist, but after hearing the completed third take, the producer said, "We won't be using a saxophone on this record." Still, to this day, I think it's one of the best vocals ever laid down on vinyl.
The song went on to peak at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980. It was on the chart for twenty weeks. Now, as mentioned earlier, this was one of those rare songs that charted twice for the same singer. This song began the decade on the Billboard charts and it ended the decade on the chart, peaking at #20 in 1989, and adding another 17 weeks on the chart. You see, an Arizona radio radio station had begun playing the song after a "Where Are They Now " segment. Other stations followed suit and the singer re-recorded the song and put it on his 1989 album.
Now, for the controversy...
Because of the song's first line, and the negative connotation that many people were reading into the song, radio stations would not play the song initially. The singer's record label sent out letters to radio stations, explaining the song's backstory. Only then did stations start playing the song. They did make a video for the original but it predated MTV by more than a year, so it got little to no broadcast time. It wouldn't have mattered, the video would have only increased the controversy. You see, it was one of the cringiest, most creepy videos ever made. Tipper Gore's head would have exploded.
I've never been able to understand why the singer agreed to do that video, especially with the backstory being so benign. I read awhile back that the singer said the video was Todd Rungren's idea. If so, terrible, terrible idea on Todd's part. For years, video was next to impossible to find in its entirety. Eventually, the full, unedited video did make its way onto You Tube more than a decade ago and it has become quite infamous. Really a shame, because nothing should take away from what I feel was one of the best songs of the decade.
Now, what about Heidi?
One day, singer was doing an interview about the song and the story which inspired it. When asked if Heidi was a real person, he said, yes, that she lived in his apartment building. He was told to see if Heidi would come down to the station and go on the radio . She did. With the song's success and subsequent radio interviews, Heidi was able to gain a measure of exposure that allowed her to meet, fall in love with, and eventually marry the son of a real estate mogul , who owned a bunch of hotels in Puerto Rico. Heidi's husband moved her family to Puerto Rico and gave her brother a job with his company. Heidi sent the singer a Christmas card every year, thanking him for all that he did for her and her family. Heidi is now around my age and probably a lot wealthier than me. The singer , who battled , and beat, addiction in his earlier days, lost his battle to Parkinson's a years ago. A good guy and a GREAT singer... RIP
Can you name this singer and song which hit the Top 20 at both the beginning and the end of the 1980's?
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