The Flame by Mark49

Mark49 - The Flame

Mark49

May 31, 2025 06:26am

<img src="https://singsnap-cdn.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/message-board/threads/OFDB/b67d57bae6_N6B6_media.gif">"The Flame" is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_ballad" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">power ballad</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[3]</a> released in 1988 by the American rock band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheap_Trick" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Cheap Trick</a> as the first single from their tenth album, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lap_of_Luxury" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Lap of Luxury</a>. It was written by songwriters Bob Mitchell and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Graham_(musician)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Nick Graham</a>, and was produced by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Zito" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Richie Zito</a>. "The Flame" reached number one on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Billboard Hot 100</a> in July 1988; it also reached number one in Australia and Canada."The Flame" was written by British songwriters Bob Mitchell and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Graham_(musician)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Nick Graham</a> in November 1987.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[4]</a> It was one of two tracks that the pair wrote for English singer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkie_Brooks" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Elkie Brooks</a> and her 1988 studio album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookbinder%27s_Kid" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Bookbinder's Kid</a>, but Brooks disliked "The Flame" and chose only to record the other song, "Only Love Will Set You Free".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[5]</a> By the time Brooks refused to record "The Flame", the recording of the backing track was already underway. It was subsequently completed with Graham on lead vocals and was then sent to various record companies, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Epic Records</a>, where it was warmly received by the vice president, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Grierson_(music_executive)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Don Grierson</a>."The Flame" was written by British songwriters Bob Mitchell and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Graham_(musician)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Nick Graham</a> in November 1987.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[4]</a> It was one of two tracks that the pair wrote for English singer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkie_Brooks" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Elkie Brooks</a> and her 1988 studio album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookbinder%27s_Kid" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Bookbinder's Kid</a>, but Brooks disliked "The Flame" and chose only to record the other song, "Only Love Will Set You Free".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[5]</a> By the time Brooks refused to record "The Flame", the recording of the backing track was already underway. It was subsequently completed with Graham on lead vocals and was then sent to various record companies, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Epic Records</a>, where it was warmly received by the vice president, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Grierson_(music_executive)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Don Grierson</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-Stereogum-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[6]</a>For their tenth studio album, Lap of Luxury, Cheap Trick were asked to work with outside songwriters by Epic Records. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Nielsen" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Rick Nielsen</a>, the band's main songwriter, was apprehensive about the prospect, but agreed.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-uproxx-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[7]</a> The band were offered the choice of recording "The Flame" or the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Warren" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Diane Warren</a> song "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_Away" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Look Away</a>". Cheap Trick drummer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bun_E._Carlos" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Bun E. Carlos</a> explained to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songfacts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Songfacts</a> in 2023, "[Grierson] goes, 'I'll give you first pick. The other one I'm going to give to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_(band)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Chicago</a>.' He played us 'Look Away' first, and we were like, eh. Then he plays us 'The Flame,' and we're like, 'Well, that ain't as bad as the first one.'"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-Songfacts-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[8]</a>The band disliked the song at first;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-allmusic1-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[9]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Nielsen" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Rick Nielsen</a> in particular disliked it so much on first hearing that he yanked it from the tape player and ground the cassette beneath his boot heel.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[10]</a> Producer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Zito" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Richie Zito</a> recalled that he and the band had "some pretty good arguments" over the song.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-Stereogum-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[6]</a> The band initially attempted to record a take of the song together, but Nielsen repeated his contempt for the song and left, followed by Petersson.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-Songfacts-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[8]</a> Zito subsequently decided to focus on one band member at a time and convince each one, in turn, to record their parts.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-Stereogum-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[6]</a> He started with singer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Zander" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Robin Zander</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-Stereogum-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[6]</a> recording his vocals over a simple backing track featuring keyboards by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Bullard" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Kim Bullard</a> and a drum machine, and Carlos's drums. Nielsen and Petersson then agreed to add their parts.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-Songfacts-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[8]</a> Zito recalled: "I figured if I was going to expose the band to this song, it had better be as right for [Zander] as I thought. It became screamingly obvious that the song was tailor-made for him."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flame_(Cheap_Trick_song)#cite_note-Stereogum-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[6]</a>In 2021, Nielsen said that he did not dislike "The Flame" and thought it was a "terrific song". He said his frustration came from it being forced upon the band after they had already recorded various tracks given to them: "The record company and producer said, 'You've got to record this.' We [had already] recorded about 10 different things. It's like, 'Why didn't we do this one first?