| | He was born in Canada on 5 Nov, 1959 |
Bryan Adams’ continuing popularity is testament to the fact that good rock n’ roll is timeless. In the past 30 years, Adams has rivaled (and often beaten) disco, grunge and hip-hop to stay in the running.
Before his 50th birthday, the Canadian-born rocker has been awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia, has won three Grammys, been nominated thrice for an Oscar and five times for a Golden Globe. And he’s also on a stamp. Earlier in the year, the Canadian postal department introduced more than a million stamps of the man. Adams’s street-credentials are, however, always in question.
Rolling Stone, for example, said his multi-platinum Cuts Like A Knife was “bland precisely because it grooms Adams for mass-market acceptance so shamelessly”. In 2005, they called the songs of Room Service “solidly constructed and catchy”, but thrashed it as “a very ordinary Bryan Adams album”. We don’t agree. Here’s why.
The Hard Roads
Adams has been a musician since he was in his early teens. “In high school,” he says, “I was too far into my music to even pay attention to girls.” After this, he quit school altogether to play in night clubs and had his first album out at the age of 15, as the lead singer of the band Sweeney Todd. In subsequent years, he forged a partnership with Jim Vallance, with whom he wrote songs for Carly Simon, Rod Stewart and Neil Diamond. The hard work finally paid off in 1979, when he was offered a record contract with A&M records.
Thirty years on, they still rock
If you ask us, the first rule of street-cred is ‘Write your own songs’. And Adams has abided by this rule for almost 30 years. Still, Adams is bunched up with other mass-market artists like Three Doors Down. But while Stephen Jenkins’ hits didn’t last longer than they did on the charts, Adams’ tunes have endured through the decades.
‘Everything I Do’ spent enough time on the charts to fade away forever. But has it? Over 30 artists have covered it, most recently by Anoop Desai on American Idol last year. And 30 years on, they’re still good. Two must-haves from Room Service are ‘East Side Story’ and ‘Open Road’.
Lasting popularity of ‘Summer of ’69’
Turn on the radio tonight and you will hear this catchy classic. Released in 1984 on the album Reckless, it is Adams’ most famous song, as it should be. Musically, it’s got everything he’s known for: A catchy guitar riff, good chorus and a shout-out-loud line. Twenty-five years on, the catchy riff walks tall alongside (dare I say) ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ and ‘Roadhouse Blues’. Hate it all you want, it’s true. And rock fans, if you’re still with us, he wrote ‘Rock And Roll Hell’ for KISS.
Film work and collaborations
If Adams is only a mass-market product, would he be given the chance to work on film soundtracks? Heck, which other mainstream musician has won a Grammy for an instrumental piece? Adams has been asked to write for numerous films, including blockbusters such as Bobby and Robin Hood. And he’s been nominated thrice for an Oscar and five times for a Golden Globe. Moreover, he’s collaborated with lots of high-profile artists. With Sting and Rod Stewart for ‘All for One’, Tina Turner for ‘It’s Only Love’ and Chicane for ‘Don’t Give It Up’. |
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