Old Enough to Forget

Boy in the Box was huge. To say otherwise is silly. Corey Hart to me was a bit of an enigma. He was a poster boy which meant he had no credibility, and was right up there with Platinum Blonde (another band I begrudgingly liked when no one was looking). Fields of Fire was Corey Hart's third album and people were expecting big things ... and others were waiting for him to fall flat on his face. I can't imagine the pressure he must have been under. He was still in his early '20s and was already a seasoned artist by 1986. For a pretty poster boy Corey Hart was the real deal, writing his own material and co-producing his own albums. The songs on Fields of Fire seem to pick up where he left off with Boy in the Box. There was a consistency to the songs that made them feel familiar, but it never felt like he was just flogging a dead horse and recycling himself. The band was again comprised of Russell Boswell on bass, Gary Breit on keys, Andy Hamilton on saxophone, the incredibl...

There was a period of time when Corey Hart was unassailable. It was fun to take pot shots and call him names because he popular with the teenage girls. Heck, when he covered Elvis' "Can't Help Falling in Love" on Fields of Fire it was open season. But, honestly it was pretty awesome. To say Corey Hart and the '80s are synonymous isn't a stretch. With Boy in the Box it was do or die. After all the success of "Sunglasses at Night" there's was no way he'd be able to top his debut. Right? The then 23 year old Mister Hart dropped a remarkably mature effort that managed to capture everything that was cool about the early '80s. He had the look and swagger, and he could deliver the songs to back it up. I guess because I was growing up at the same time, and am a year younger I totally forgot that Corey Hart was basically my age. To say the album was a phenomenon here in Canada is a bit of an understatement. Sort of like saying Canadians like beer...