Oooh, I am REALLY sorry about the video today. It is just so damn cheesy it's creepy....the Ken Barbie hair, deep V-neck, odd facial grimaces and chinny delivery. I couldn't find another time-appropriate clip for this song. Usually I wouldn't even list a song by Chicago, well....some of their early songs with the horn sections weren't bad, but mostly I associate Chicago with music that older people like. For example, my Mother had every album of theirs, so to me Chicago is the kind of music your parents would listen to. Get what I'm sayin'? Not too cool. Especially 80's era Chicago with all of their sappy ballads sung by Peter Cetera. Uck...just not my thing - except for this one song. I associate "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" with a movie called "Summer Lovers" that came out in 1982. It was quite scandalous for the time. It starred Peter Gallagher and Darryl Hannah and was filmed in the Greek Islands on the island of Santorini. The basic plot of the movie is that an American couple goes to spend the summer on Santorini and get caught up in the freedom of this mythical island. They meet a french archaeologist and end up having a threesome all summer long. They live together and make out and cuddle. They roam around naked, swim naked at the beach, party on yachts. I was like...."What is this place?" Here's the original movie trailer:
A bit cheezy, right? But at the time, I had never seen anything like this before! I guess I had never really seen the Greek Islands before either, and they looked magnificent, and beautiful, and wild and crazy. I think this movie put the idea of going to The Greek Islands in my head, because thereafter it was always a place I was curious about, and wanted to go. I finally got to go to the Greek Islands in 2008. One of the islands I went to was Santorini, where the movie was shot. I went in September, right after the Summer high season (I'm told summer is absolutely crowded and crazy), but there was still nudity on the beaches and a definite fun, let's have a party, hook-up atmosphere - along with some of the most beautiful scenery possible, ancient history and artifacts, and delicious food. Here's a little sampling of some photos from when I finally got there.
This is the red rock beach. All of the little dots at the base are beach umbrellas and beach chairs:
Don't watch this whole long clip, but check out the beginning portions. You can see the above photo in the movie clip (only it is a lot less colorful back in 1982. Guess they decided to paint the roofs and some of the buildings later on). In the background you can also hear the bells ringing, and you catch a glimpse of the bell tower I've pictured (3 photos above this paragraph) in the background when Darryl Hannah is coming down the stairs and walking down the path.
So, I've always liked this song because for me, it was also the discovery of The Greek Islands. But I digress....I'm supposed to talk about this band Chicago that I'm not super-fond of right? OK, here's a quick rundown.
The band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The majority of the band members originally consisted of DePaul University students. The original 6 members [Marvin Cantera (vocals), Andre Jugo (vocals), Walter Parazaider (saxophone), Terry Kath (guitar), Danny Seraphine (trombone),and Lee Loughnane (trumpet)] The originally called themselves The Big Thing. The band was in need of a tenor when they added singer Peter Cetera to the band. They started out as a cover band, but started writing their own songs. Their music featured a horn section, Latin percussion, and jazzy experimental jams. In 1968 they moved to Los Angeles, California and signed with Columbia Records. After signing the contract they changed their name to Chicago Transit Authority.
They released their self-titled first album in 1969 which included the hits "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings" and "Questions 67 and 68". It received heavy airplay on FM radio stations. Shortly after this album was released the actual Chicago Transit Authority threatened to sue the band, so they shortened their band name to simply Chicago.
From there on out, the band released one album every year. Their "Chicago" logo was designed by Nick Fasciano, and appears on each of their albums with some type of variation. During the 70's they also named albums were also signified by consecutive roman numerals, for example Chicago II, Chicago III, Chicago V, etc. The exception was their 4th release which was a box set called Chicago at Carnegie Hall. Their first number one single came in 1976 from the album Chicago X and was called "If You Leave Me Now". This song also garnered Chicago their one and only Grammy award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group 1977.
Tragedy struck the band in 1978 when founding member of the band, guitarist/singer Terry Kath was drinking and accidentally shot himself in the head and died. It is said that his drunken last words to one of Chicago's guitar techs was, "Don't worry guys. It isn't even loaded, see?" Kath was the bands leader and his passing was a great loss. Many fans felt he was the musical soul of the band. After his death, the musical direction of the band changed dramatically.
Over 30 potential replacements for Kath were auditioned, but the band finally decided on guitarist/singer Donnie Dacus. He had just appeared as Woof in the film adaptation of the 1968 Broadway musical, Hair. You can see him in this clip from the movie at 4:41 in, and he is the blonde guy you see below. Dreadful film...but one of my favorite stage musicals and soundtracks.
Chicago was briefly re-energized by the addition of Dacus, and his longer blond hair and rock star image gave them a new edge and made them seem less mellow. The band also decided to eschew using a roman numeral in the name of their next album, and instead called it Hot Streets. It was also the first album to include picture of the band on the cover rather than just the logo and number. The band did return to naming all future albums by number, but this time they used Arabic, rather than roman numerals. The other big change during the Dacus tenor was a move away from their jazz-rock traditions and toward a more pop sound, including many ballads. Dacus was only with the band for one year, through the 1979 album Chicago 13 it was one of Chicago's least commercially successful albums. After the tour was completed Dacus was dropped from the band for undisclosed reasons.
As Chicago entered the 1980's more changes were in store. Columbia Records did not think they were commercially viable and dropped the band 1981. The band signed with Warner Brothers and entered a the second major phase of the band's career. For their next album Chicago 16 producers brought in studio musicians (including the core members of Toto). The single "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" topped the charts and was featured in the soundtrack of the film Summer Lovers as mentioned above. This song was followed by another ballad called "Love Me Tomorrow". The next album, Chicago17 , was the band's biggest selling album in it's history. By this time the band was sticking to the formula of power ballads sung by singer Peter Cetera. They garnered two more hits that each reached #3 on the charts: "You're the Inspiration" and "Hard Habit to Break", and a couple more soft hits "Stay the Night" and "Along Comes a Woman". Just when the band was flying high from the success of Cetera ballads, he became sick of touring and decided he wanted to pursue a solo career and left the band.
The band put out a couple more albums during the 1980's and continued recording and performing into the 1990's. Despite numerous personnel changes, Chicago is still going strong in the 2000's. The band has never broken up or gone on hiatus, and four of the six original founding members remain in the band (Lamm, Pankow, Loughnane, and Parazaider). The band licensed their entire catalog to Rhino Records which released a compilation double-CD that covers the bands entire career, The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning in 2002. Chicago often does joint tours with R&B band Earth Wind and Fire.
Lyrics:
Everybody needs a little time away.”
I heard her say,
“From each other.”
“Even lovers need a holiday.
Far away, from each other”
Hold me now
It's hard for me to say I'm sorry
I just want you to stay
After all that we've been through
I will make it up to you
I promise to
And after all that's been said and done
You're just the part of me I can't let go (Ooo ooo)
Couldn't stand to be kept away
Just for the day
From your body
Wouldn't wanna be swept away
Far away, from the one that I love
Hold me now
It's hard for me to say I'm sorry
I just want you to know
Hold me now
I really want to tell you I'm sorry
I could never let you go
After all that we've been through
I will make it up to you
I promise to
And after all that's been said and done
You're just the part of me I can't let go
After all that we've been through
I will make it up to you
I promise to
You're gonna be the lucky one
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