"The Flame" | ||||
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Single by Cheap Trick | ||||
from the album Lap of Luxury | ||||
B-side | "Through the Night" | |||
Released | April 5, 1988 | |||
Recorded | 1987 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:44 (7" edit/video version) 5:37 (album version) | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Mitchell Nick Graham | |||
Producer(s) | Richie Zito | |||
Cheap Trick singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"The Flame" on YouTube |
"The Flame" is a power ballad [3] written by British songwriters Bob Mitchell [4] and Nick Graham. The song was released in 1988 by the American rock band Cheap Trick and the first single from their tenth album Lap of Luxury .
"The Flame" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1988, becoming the band's only number one hit. [5] It also reached number one in Australia [6] and Canada. [7]
During the recording of the Lap of Luxury album, Epic Records asked Cheap Trick to work with outside songwriters, a request which guitarist Rick Nielsen, the band's main songwriter, was apprehensive about. [8]
Prior to being offered to Cheap Trick, "The Flame" was first offered to British blues rock singer Elkie Brooks, who turned it down. [9] "The Flame" was written by Nick Graham, a former member of the British rock band Atomic Rooster, and Bob Mitchell.
Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos recalled that "The Flame" was offered to the band by the vice president of Epic Records along with the Diane Warren song "Look Away"; "[He] told us he had these two songs and they're both gonna be #1. He goes, 'We got one for you and one for the group Chicago, but you can have first choice.' He said, 'I think the one 'The Flame' would be good for you guys.' The other one was 'Look Away,' and it sounded like some girl singing on the demo. We really didn't like that song anyway, so 'Sure, we'll do 'The Flame.' We're game.'" [10]
Reportedly, the band disliked the song at first; [11] Rick Nielsen disliked the song so much on first hearing that he yanked it from the tape player and ground the cassette beneath his boot heel. [12] In 2021, Nielsen emphasized that he did not dislike "The Flame" and thought there was "Probably more good than bad on it." [8]
A promotional music video was created for the single, receiving frequent airplay on MTV. In the video, Nielsen can be seen using a guitar designed after the band's previous 1986 album The Doctor . [13] The video was produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich. [14] PopMatters critic Dennis Shin rated the video as one of "20 ’80S music videos that have aged terribly" on the basis of the band "not [seeming] to be enjoying themselves" and that their individuality is suppressed to make them look like a typical hair band shooting a video for a power ballad. [15]
Considered as the band's comeback album following the commercial failure of the 1986 album The Doctor , Lap of Luxury spawned three top 40 hit singles and one minor hit single. After "The Flame" topped the American Billboard Hot 100, a cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" peaked at #4. The third single "Ghost Town" continued the commercial success, peaking at #33 whilst the fourth single "Never Had a Lot to Lose" peaked at #75. The album opener "Let Go" also peaked at #32 on the American Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The success of "The Flame" brought the group out of a years-long commercial slump and back into music industry prominence. It was the band's only number one single in America. [16] It also became the band's first hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, reaching #29 there; "Don't Be Cruel" then hit #32 on the AC chart.
In the UK, the song peaked at #77 during mid-1988 for a total of 9 weeks. [17] A re-issue exclusively for the UK saw the song re-chart at #87 for two weeks in early 1989. [18]
Since the song's release, the band has performed the song on many occasions during their live concerts. [19] Robin Zander had one of his guitars altered to attempt to better mimic the recorded sound on live shows, by adding a 7th string in the G position. [20]
A previously unreleased live version of the song was included on the 2000 compilation Authorized Greatest Hits which featured sixteen tracks handpicked by the band themselves. [21]
A live version was recorded for the 2001 live set Silver . [22]
The B-side "Through the Night" was a non-LP track, exclusive to the single. It would later appear on the 1996 box-set Sex, America, Cheap Trick . [23] It was written by Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander and Tom Petersson. [24]
As a worldwide release, the song was released on 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl and CD single. [25] All 7" vinyl versions featured the A-side and the same B-side "Through the Night". [25] In both Spain and the Netherlands, a promotional 7" vinyl featured the A-side on both sides of the vinyl. [26] [27] For the 7" singles, the song was edited down from 5:39 to 4:30, a minute less compared to the album version. [28]
In the Netherlands, a 12" vinyl was released which featured the album version of "The Flame", the B-side "Through the Night", as well as an extra track, the "Lap of Luxury" album track "All We Need is a Dream", written by American keyboardist Gregg Giuffria, Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander. [28] [29] In the UK, an alternate 12" vinyl was released which featured the album version of "The Flame", the B-side "Through the Night", the 1977 studio version of the band's 1979 hit "I Want You to Want Me" from the album "In Color", [30] written solely by Rick Nielsen and the 1982 minor hit single "If You Want My Love", also written solely by Nielsen from the album "One on One". [31] [32] In America, a promotional 12" vinyl was released, with the A-side being the album version, titled "The Flame (Long Version)" and the B-side being the single version, titled "The Flame (Short Version)". [33]
In the UK and Europe, a maxi-single CD was released which featured the same tracks as the UK 12" vinyl; "The Flame (Album Version)", "Through the Night", "I Want You to Want Me" and "If You Want My Love". [34] In the Netherlands, a mini-CD single was released, featuring the same tracks as on the Dutch 12" vinyl; the album version of "The Flame", "Through the Night" and "All We Need is a Dream". [35] In Japan, a mini-CD single was released, featuring the two 7" vinyl tracks "The Flame" and "Through the Night". [36]
"The Flame", "Through the Night" and "All We Need is a Dream" was produced by Richie Zito who produced the entire Lap of Luxury album and would also produce the band's following 1990 album Busted . [37] "I Want You to Want Me" was produced by American producer Tom Werman and "If You Want My Love" was produced by Roy Thomas Baker.
In a review of the song for AllMusic, Steve Huey described "The Flame" as a "lush power ballad" which Cheap Trick "made their own with Zander's sobbing vocal dramatics and the haunting tones of Nielsen's mandocello chiming behind the guitar and keyboard backing". He considered the lyrics to hint at the Police's "Every Breath You Take" "school of disguising unhealthy obsession as sentimentality". [11] In a review of Lap of Luxury, Ira Robbins of Rolling Stone noted that "emotional singing and an affecting Nielsen solo make "The Flame" memorable, if not quite equal to the band's best ballads". [38]
Cash Box called it a "great melodic rock tune, and a radio smash." [39]
Chart (1988) | Peak position |
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Australia (ARIA) [40] | 1 |
Canada ( RPM ) | 1 |
Canadian Retail Sales Chart [41] | 18 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [42] | 11 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [17] | 77 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [43] | 1 |
US Billboard Adult Contemporary [44] | 29 |
US Billboard Mainstream Rock [16] | 3 |
US Cash Box Top 100 Singles [45] | 1 |
West Germany (Official German Charts) [46] | 32 |
Chart (1988) | Position |
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United States (Billboard) [47] [48] | 14 |
US Cash Box [49] | 9 |
US BB [49] | 14 |
US Radio [49] | 17 |
Australia [49] | 3 |
Brazil [49] | 48 |
Canada [49] | 23 |
Chart (1989) | Peak position |
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UK Singles Chart [18] | 87 |
"The Flame" | ||||
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Single by Erin Hamilton | ||||
from the album One World | ||||
Released | 1999 | |||
Genre | Dance | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Mitchell Nick Graham | |||
Erin Hamilton singles chronology | ||||
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"The Flame" was covered in 1998 by electronic dance music singer Erin Hamilton. Included on her 1999 album One World, the song was a top-twenty hit on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart. Nine years later, the song was remixed and re-released as "The Flame 08" and this version went to number one on the U.S. dance chart, becoming Hamilton's first chart-topper. [50]
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and Petersson. Their commercially successful work bridged elements of '60s guitar pop, heavy metal, and punk rock, and would help set the template for subsequent power pop and arena rock artists.
Robin Wayne Zander is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Cheap Trick, but is also a solo artist. Zander was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a member of Cheap Trick.
Next Position Please is the seventh studio album by American rock band Cheap Trick, produced by Todd Rundgren and released in 1983.
Lap of Luxury is the tenth studio album by American band Cheap Trick. Released on April 12, 1988, it is the band's second-most commercially successful studio album, reaching number 16 on the Billboard 200 and being certified platinum in sales. The album contains the band's only US number-one hit, "The Flame", as well as the additional hit singles "Don't Be Cruel" and "Ghost Town".
Rockford is the fifteenth studio album by Cheap Trick, released on June 6, 2006 by Big3. The album's title refers to Rockford, Illinois, the band's hometown.
The Doctor is the ninth studio album by Cheap Trick, released in 1986. It was produced by Tony Platt and reached No. 115 on the Billboard 200 Chart.
"Mighty Wings" is a song by American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1986 as the third single from the soundtrack of the film Top Gun. It was written by Harold Faltermeyer and Mark Spiro, and produced by Faltermeyer.
The Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by Cheap Trick. It contains many of Cheap Trick's popular songs, as well as a previously unreleased cover version of The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour", which according to the liner notes, was an outtake from the Lap of Luxury album. Though it peaked at only #174 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, it remained a steady seller, and was certified platinum for one million U.S. shipments seven years after its release.
"I Want You" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1982 as the second single from their sixth studio album One on One. The song was written by Rick Nielsen and produced by Roy Thomas Baker. It was released as a single in the Netherlands only, reaching No. 48 there.
"Can't Stop Fallin' into Love" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1990 as the lead single from their eleventh studio album Busted. It was written by guitarist Rick Nielsen, lead singer Robin Zander and bassist Tom Petersson, and produced by Richie Zito.
"If You Want My Love" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1982 as the first single from their sixth studio album One on One. It was written by guitarist Rick Nielsen and produced by Roy Thomas Baker. It reached No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and almost topped the Australian chart, where it peaked at No. 2 for two weeks.
"She's Tight" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1982 as the third single from their studio album One on One. It was written by guitarist Rick Nielsen and produced by Roy Thomas Baker. It reached No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
"Tonight It's You" is a song by American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1985 as the lead single from their eighth studio album Standing on the Edge. It was written by Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Jon Brant and Mark Radice, and produced by Jack Douglas. "Tonight It's You" reached No. 44 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 8 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks Chart.
"Woke Up with a Monster" is a song by American rock band Cheap Trick, released in 1994 as the lead single from their twelfth studio album Woke Up with a Monster. It was written by Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander and Tom Petersson, and produced by Ted Templeman. The song was released by Warner Bros. Records as a promotional-only single in the United States, aimed at generating radio play. It reached No. 16 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks and remained on the chart for six weeks.
"Saturday at Midnight" is a song from the American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1983 as the fourth and final single from their sixth studio album One on One (1982). It was written by lead guitarist Rick Nielsen and vocalist Robin Zander, and produced by Roy Thomas Baker. Aimed at the club scene, the single reached No. 45 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles Chart, and remains the band's only appearance on the chart.
"Way of the World" is a song by American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1980 as a single from their fourth studio album Dream Police (1979). The song was written by Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander and produced by Tom Werman. In February 1980 it was released as a 7" vinyl single in the UK only, backed by "Oh, Candy," from the first Cheap Trick album, and peaked at #73. It attempted to capitalize on the success of the mid-1979 single "I Want You to Want Me" and the live album Cheap Trick at Budokan which both entered the top 30.
"Let Go" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1988 as the fourth single from their tenth studio album Lap of Luxury. It was written by guitarist Rick Nielsen and Todd Cerney, and produced by Richie Zito.
"It's Only Love" is a song by American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1986 as the lead single from their ninth studio album The Doctor. It was written by guitarist Rick Nielsen and lead vocalist Robin Zander, and produced by Tony Platt. The song failed to chart in the US. Despite the commercial failure of the song, the music video is notable for the use of American Sign Language.
"I Can't Take It" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1983 as the second single from their seventh studio album Next Position Please. The song was written by Robin Zander and produced by Todd Rundgren.
"Perfect Stranger" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 2006 as the lead single from their fifteenth studio album Rockford. It was written by Linda Perry, Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson and Bun E. Carlos, and produced by Perry.