In the Studio in 1984, Bryan Adams Recorded His First UK Top 40 Hit, Which Earned Him a Whopping Five VMA Nominations

Bryan Adams had a great time in the 1980s. The pop-rock icon has enjoyed plenty of hits on the charts and over 100 million records sold. On such hit is “Run To You”, a 1984 pop-rock cheating classic that was a smashing success on the charts. Not only did “Run To You” top the Top Rock Tracks chart in the US, but it also made it to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would be a “kick-off” song of sorts, as it was Adams’ first-ever No. 1 hit on the US rock charts and first single-digit entry on the Hot 100. And on this very day, March 27, 1984, Adams started the process of recording “Run To You”.

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The Enduring Magic of “Run To You” by Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams started recording songs for his album Reckless after a tour in Asia in 1984. Starting on this day, March 27, 1984, he began recording “Run To You” at a British Columbian studio called Little Mountain Sound. The recording process more or less took several months, but “Run To You” was more or less recorded fairly quickly.

Interestingly enough, Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance didn’t originally plan to put “Run To You” on Reckless. In fact, the rest of the album was written before they got to “Run To You”. The story goes that they originally wrote it for the band Blue Öyster Cult. They declined it, and Adams offered the song to Florida rock band .38 Special. They also turned it down. So, Adams went ahead and recorded it himself. And, allegedly, it only took one take with his band to nail the song perfectly in the studio.

It’s a very good thing he decided to keep the song for himself. “Run To You” was an impressive hit and the perfect lead single for Reckless. It’s a catchy, somewhat taboo song about a man who continues to “run” back to his lover over his faithful partner.

Fun fact: Following the success of Bryan Adams’ version of “Run To You”, the dance act Rage covered the song in 1992. This ended up being a bit of a spectacle. When the group first dropped their cover, it didn’t chart at all. Soon after, they experienced some controversy over their name, which they shared with a German heavy metal band. After the group changed their name to En-Rage, many radio stations in Europe re-released their cover of “Run To You” under the new name to avoid legal action from the German outfit. And, as a result of the re-release, their cover hit No. 3 on the UK Singles chart and the Top 10 across Europe.

Photo by Mike Lewis Photography/Redferns