Airplay

Now a major producer with famous groups to his credit, David Foster joined Jay Graydon in this studio unit while still on the rise. Both had built careers as session musicians, Graydon having played the guitar solo on Steely Dan's ‘Peg.’ Finding common ground, they wrote together beyond ‘After the Love Is Gone,’ their success with Earth, Wind & Fire, and a demo tape earned them an RCA contract. For the debut they added Tommy Funderburk, a new singer from the high-tone school. Graydon led the production towards ‘perfect commercial pop music,’ creating this unique masterpiece.

Above all, its songs and arrangements are highly accomplished. The skills of the musicians and singers who gave those ideas shape—members of Toto, Bill Champlin and others—deserve praise too. Graydon's close-knit harmonized guitar, known as ‘Airplay guitar,’ became his trademark and captivated musicians and listeners alike. Foster's driving sixteenth-note piano is passionate as well. Though the record received no promotion in America and sank without a trace, discerning Japanese fans and industry people acclaimed it. Arrangers and musicians of the time soon began copying its sound.

The songs are quite hard and lean towards melodic rock. Yet, carrying an influence as great as Toto's, they were taken as a model of 1980s AOR and consequently helped shift AOR's central line towards rock. That influence has both good and bad sides. The responsibility, however, belongs less to the musicians themselves than to listeners who insist on forcing music into categories. Thoughtful fans should pay closer attention to the high musicality with which ‘Nothin' You Can Do About It,’ also sung by the Manhattan Transfer, and ‘Bix’ combine delicate rock sound with magical, syncopated grooves.