Songoftheday 12/21/14 - What would you say if I told you I've always wanted to hold you...

Gloria Loring & Carl Anderson - "Friends & Lovers"
from the albums Gloria Loring (1986) and Carl Anderson (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14

Today's Song of the Day is a song made popular by the soap opera one of the singers starred in during the 80s. Gloria Loring started on Days Of Our Lives as lounge singer Liz Chandler, and it allowed her to showcase music on the show. One of the songs she performed, "Friends And Lovers", was a duet with Broadway star Carl Anderson, who had rose to fame appearing as Judas Iscariot on the stage and in the movie version of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1973. Although the song was recorded in 1985, legal wranglings delayed the release of the single, allowing a country version by Eddie Rabbitt and Juice Newton to come out first, though by that time pop radio was completely ignoring country music. So when "Friends And Lovers" finally got a release, fans (especially from the soap) bought it in droves, sending it to #1 on the sales chart....

"Friends And Lovers" went to the runner-up spot on the Hot 100 in September of 1986, while topping the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") chart for two weeks. It would be the only pop charting hit for either singer; Gloria would leave Days Of Our Lives to concentrate on her music career shortly after, but now is probably better known as Robin Thicke's mom (she was married to Growing Pains' Alan Thicke in the early 80s). Carl would go on to have a few R&B hits, including the top-30 "How Deep Does It Go" in 1990. He also made bank by reprising his Jesus Christ Superstar role until his death from leukemia in 2004. 

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As I said earlier, because of the label delay in releasing "Friends And Lovers", a country cover from Eddie Rabbit and Juice Newton was actually released first, and went to #1 on the country chart in October of 1986, retitled as "Born To Each Other (Friends And Lovers)"..

..and here's Gloria and Carl appearing on Days Of Our Lives performing the song for the "soap power couple" of Roman and Marlena (I love those "reaction" shots of the other actors)...

Up tomorrow: a prog-rock guitarist and his side project are duped.