4 Massive 80s Hits Worth Enjoying Today, Courtesy of Soap Opera Stars

You could take many pathways to becoming a recording star in the 80s. Perhaps the most underrated of those was to first gain notoriety on afternoon soap operas. The soaps were hot in the 80s, and they provided instant exposure for would-be musicians.

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The following list consists of two No. 1 hits and two No. 2 singles. All emanated from the 80s, and all came courtesy of artists who were starring on soap operas at the time they recorded them.

“Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield

This was the obvious one, and also the one from an artist who was able to extend his success well beyond his biggest hit. As a matter of fact, Springfield’s recording career went well back into the 70s. (Does anybody remember his 1972 No. 14 US hit “Speak To The Sky”?) Springfield had recorded the Working Class Dog album, but it was still sitting in the can in 1981 when he took a role on General Hospital. Not long after he made his first appearance on the show, “Jessie’s Girl” was released. Showing off Springfield’s skills as a writer and arranger of smart, taut pop, the song kicked off a successful run of hits that made the TV role something of an afterthought.

“All I Need” by Jack Wagner

Well, if one General Hospital star could do it, why couldn’t a second? But the particulars of the situation were a bit different when it came to Jack Wagner. Although Wagner had musical talent as a singer and a guitarist, he had never done anything professionally in that vein when he was hired on GH in 1983. Wagner’s character then became a musician on the show once producers found out his abilities. The always-savvy Quincy Jones signed Wagner up to his QWest label and connected him to some ace songwriter/producers. They provided Wagner with “All I Need”. The romantic ballad, sung quite ably by the soap star, soared to No. 2 in 1984.

“Friends And Lovers” by Gloria Loring And Carl Anderson

Gloria Loring acted on Days Of Our Lives throughout the first half of the 80s. Her musical talents came to the fore when her character did a stint as a nightclub singer. She first performed “Friends And Lovers”, written by Jay Gruska and Paul Gordon, in solo fashion. Since the song became associated with one of the show’s power couples, producers brought Carl Anderson, a stage star, on board to duet with Loring. That version was released as a single, and in 1986, it made it all the way to No. 2 on the charts. Fun fact about Loring: She was married to actor Alan Thicke, and her son is Robin Thicke of “Blurred Lines” fame.

“Rock On” by Michael Damian

Well, we’ve already had ABC and NBC soaps represented on this list. CBS enters the picture with “Rock On”, recorded by Michael Damian. Damian was in the middle of a long stint on The Young And The Restless when he recorded the song in 1989. Unlike some of the other songs on this list, it had nothing to do with the soap. Instead, Damian, who had fostered a recording career throughout the 80s, did it for a movie called Dream A Little Dream. “Rock On” also stands out on this list as being the only cover. British singer David Essex enjoyed a No. 5 US hit with it in 1973. 16 years later, Damian took it all the way to No. 1.

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