Even the most successful and talented bands can find it difficult to stay relevant in the ever-changing world of music. Chicago found that out as the 80s dawned and their horn-heavy, instrumentally free-flowing style started to fall out of fashion.
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That’s when the band hooked up with hot producer David Foster, who immediately put his definitive stamp on their sound. Success returned, and then some. But it brought with it some unexpected complications for several of the group’s longtime members.
A Slow Fade
Chicago’s best days seemed far behind them at the start of the 80s. The band that once knocked out five straight chart-topping albums in the 70s watched as Chicago XIV only reached No. 71 in the US. Their longtime label, Columbia, so desperately wished to get out of their record deal with the band that they essentially paid them off to gain a separation.
The band had tried to adjust their sound somewhat at the end of the 70s. They had incorporated some urban elements here and there while even hinting at New Wave. Even the usually reliable strategy of leaning on Peter Cetera’s soft ballads had failed them.
Bill Champlin came on as a new member of the group in 1981, and he suggested that they work with David Foster. Foster jumped at the chance, as he had been a huge fan of the band from their earliest days. But he also came in with strong ideas and a tendency to dominate the proceedings on any recordings in which he was involved.
The Foster Touch
Foster not only acted as producer on the album Chicago 16 in 1982, but he also handled most of the keyboards and synth bass. In addition, he wrote or co-wrote seven of the ten songs on the album. He and Peter Cetera found a groove as collaborators, especially on “Hard To Say I’m Sorry”, the band’s second ever No. 1 hit.
Some of Chicago’s band members bristled at the fact that they were largely left out of the creative process. In addition, Foster brought in several members from Toto, another band he knew well, to play on some of the tracks. But the album returned the band to the pop elite, and it was only the beginning.
IN 1984, Chicago 17 upped the ante. The album spun off four Top 20 singles. David Foster once again placed a heavy emphasis on power ballads sung by Cetera. Chicago little resembled the band known for their instrumental explorations a decade before. But the hits kept coming, so why fix what wasn’t broke?
End of the Foster Era
As Chicago soared higher on the charts, frustrations among the band members rose in kind. Much of the animus was directed towards Peter Cetera. Whereas the band had once been known for being somewhat anonymous, Cetera suddenly emerged as a clear frontman. When he started to feel the heat from his bandmates, he booked for a solo career.
Foster proved that his formula could withstand the departure, as new bassist/singer Jason Scheff took the lead on two more Top 20 hits from Chicago 18 in 1986. By that time, however, some of the stalwarts in the band wanted to assume more control over the artistic direction. On the 1988 album Chicago 19, Foster was nowhere to be found.
Even on that album, however, Chicago relied on the power ballad formula that David Foster had developed. The big hit was “Look Away”, written by Dianne Warren and featuring an impassioned lead vocal by Bill Champlin. Maybe Foster rubbed some folks in the band the wrong way. But there’s no denying the results that he drew from the band in his stint.
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