If you grew up or were alive in the 1980s, you’ll know that—at least for the first half of the decade—Christopher Cross seemed to be almost as omnipresent as his friend and fellow musician Michael McDonald. His self-titled debut album stormed the charts, leading to worldwide hits with “Ride Like The Wind” and “Sailing.” His contribution of the theme song to the movie Arthur further bolstered his presence.
And then… nothing. After a whirlwind few years, radio and the charts dared to almost suggest that Cross had never existed, although he continued to put out new releases to this day. It wasn’t that Cross had done anything wrong, other than existing and becoming a regular staple in popular music.
All Right: The Worldwide Singles 1980-1988, reminds the listener that not only had Cross earned a seat at the table in terms of popularity, his work continued after they cleared that spot. Even some of his fans might find themselves surprised to be hearing some of the 31 tracks contained on this two-CD set for the first time. While some songs might tend to blur into each other, overall this set captures the essence that made Cross a star in the first place.
As the name suggests, the hits are here… “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)”… “All Right”… “Think Of Laura”… “Never Be The Same”… as well as the aforementioned tracks. Yes, it’s a guilty pleasure to hear these and smile, even if a few border on being overplayed at times. But, what this set does well is it intermingles tracks like “Charm The Snake,” “That Girl” and “Deal ’Em Again” into the mix, reminding the listener that Cross was more than simply the songs that AOR stations gravitate toward.
It’s the second disc, though, that seems to act as the better reminder of just who Cross was (and still is). Songs like “Minstrel Gigolo,” “Poor Shirley,” “Baby Says No” and “Spinning” might just make the listener want to take a closer look at Cross’s discography and try to discover why he isn’t a bigger star.
In fact, All Right: The Worldwide Singles 1980-1988 dares to suggest that this disc provides us too much of a good thing. Musically, it’s a solid effort; it just sometimes feels like songs like “Love Is Love (In Any Language)” and “Loving Strangers” tend to merge into one another, and don’t really differentiate between them. However, there is a comfort level to the fact the music is indeed homogenous, and that Cross never tried to be something he wasn’t—a fact that has continued throughout his discography. It’s a weird dichotomy, to be certain—and it’s certainly no fault of Cross’s. To me, it’s just a pitfall of the style of music he’s championed (and, let’s get it out in front of everyone: I’m not using a certain label comparing a style of music to a boat).
I’ve advocated for a long time that Cross is an artist who is deserving of rediscovery, as well as getting another chance to grab at the brass ring of superstardom. All Right: The Worldwide Singles 1980-1988 is yet another example of why I believe he’s deserving of this chance. Yes, it can get to be a bit much, but is well worth the deep dive into this portion of Cross’s career.
