Who Did It Better? Love On A Rooftop

Who Did It Better? 

Love On A Rooftop

Our recent loss of the late, great Ronnie Spector brought this one to mind.

Sometimes, a songwriter knows what truly serves a song best, and only they have the inside track on what will make it click with the public - especially when that songwriter has previous experience hitting the Top 40. Such is the case with today's Who Did It Better? entry.

Love On A Rooftop is a song by Desmond Child. He wrote the song with Diane Warren, another songwriting juggernaut at the time. In fact, the two were profiled together in an article in Rolling Stone Magazine with Warren being interviewed with a parrot sitting on her shoulder.

Child's career began in 1975, when he formed the R&B-influenced pop rock band, Desmond Child & Rouge with singers Myriam Valle, Maria Vidal, and Diana Grasselli. Backed by session musicians, the band rose to prominence when their song Last Of An Ancient Breed was included on the soundtrack for the 1979 film, The Warriors. This was quickly followed by Our Love Is Insane (written by Child), a single which managed to climb to #51 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The group would record two critically well-received albums, but lackluster sales would lead to the group dissolving in 1980, with Maria Vidal (Body Rock) going on to a short-lived solo career. 

Child would go on to enjoy a stellar career spinning Top 40 gold as a songwriter and producer, working with and creating hits for the likes of Kiss, Cher, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Bonnie Tyler Ricky Martin, Selena Gomez, Kelly Clarkson. Alice Cooper, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, and Michael Bolton.

Thanks to Eddie Money's Top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hit Take Me Home Tonight, 1986 saw the return of Ronnie Spector. Columbia Records wasted no time, offering Spector a contract to record a solo album, 1987's Unfinished Business. Spector, in her 1990 memoir Be My Baby, said the offer was "like the dream of a lifetime come true." The album featured a number of guest stars, including Susanna Hoff, Eddie Money, Paul Schafer, Anton Fig, Kasim Sultan, and, on track two, a reunited Desmond Child & Rouge. 

Two singles were released from the album. Who Can Sleep, featuring Eddie Money, was released in April 1987 and Love on a Rooftop (written, produced and arranged by Child specifically for Spector) was released in August that same year. Neither charted and, despite relatively positive reviews, the album was not a commercial success. According to Spector, "I could tell within two weeks that it was a flop. I know the excitement that happens when you've got a hit - the telephone rings off the hook, and everybody wants a piece of you. But none of that was happening."

In 1988, Cher was busy assembling her second album for Geffen Records. Her first for the label had been a surprise hit, so the powers that be decided, why mess with success? As Child was a huge part of that story, his Love On A Rooftop served as one of several contributions made by the songwriter/producer. Released on June 19, 1989, the album spun off five singles, but Love On A Rooftop was not one of them. Instead, Cher's version of the song would end up as the B-side to The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss), featured in the 1990 film Mermaids.

But Child was not done with the song. Working with members of Bon Jovi, his old pal Maria Vidal, a reunited Rouge, Joan Jett and Burt Bacharach, he put out a solo album on Elektra Records, 1991's Discipline. The lead single? Why it was none other than, you guessed it, Love On A Rooftop. 

Third time proved to be the charm. 

Released on June 18, 1991, Child took the song to #40 on Billboard's Hot 100, qualifying the song as a bona fide hit. It would also prove to be his only solo hit.

And that's the whole story.

Now? On to the competition.

The Song: Love On A Rooftop

The Competitors: Spector vs. Cher vs. Child

Love On A Rooftop - Ronnie Spector

Love On A Rooftop - Cher

Love On A Rooftop - Desmond Child

Ronnie Spector

That keyboard is all ice on the intro, though there is a big bottom brewing, too. The strident  cadence is no doubt meant to invoke Spector's classic work with The Ronettes, as is the imagery populating the lyrics (...walking in the sand.) It works. 

Sadly, Spector's vocal entrance lacks punch. Her shredded voice, cloaked with vulnerability may be the culprit, but I fault the unsympathetic production work. Child has set her up to fail with a song pitched and arranged to compete with Spector's vocals. It's a challenge the veteran singer can't win. The listener loses out, too, as we have to fight in order to separate Spector's performance from the mechanics that surround it. 

The multi-tracking of her voice helps, but also calls attention to its weakness. 

The chorus kicks in and had Child placed Spector in a more organic environment with less artificial instrumentation, this might have worked. As is, the percussion is all soft edges and rendered ineffectual. The punch that should be there to fortify both the song and the vocalist arriving D.O.A. 

Still, the charm of hearing Spector in this type of environment works it's magic. With a bank of backing vocals, it brings to mind her work with Springsteen's E Street Band, which is something I have a feeling Child wished to replicate. 

And then back to the very messy arrangement on the verse, with both Spector and the song losing ground and momentum. 

In the second half of the chorus Child ramps up the backing vocals, muddying those waters as well. And then a sax on top of all that?  This is very disappointing. Had he presented this song honestly, with organic instruments stripped of all the studio dazzle and Spector's voice standing naked, this could have been a stunning homage to an era gone by. Instead? What a mess.

When she returns to reintroduce the chorus, Child strips away all the garbage and Spector is able to right the ship for a brief reprieve. It's like a glimpse of sky or a breath of fresh air. However, all the nonsense soon returns and the song plays out to its overburdened end. 

A bit soul crushing.

Cher

This time Peter Asher (Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor) is behind the board, providing clarity, a big, punchy beat and a much more straightforward approach. Cher enters the mix with a knowing strength and confiding tone.

Big, icy keyboards sparkle behind Cher as we ramp up to the chorus. Stellar backing vocals (is that Bonnie Tyler?) act as a springboard to the chorus. This is set up to pop with a cinematic largess on scale with Cher's, then, out of this world career trajectory. I could quibble with the backing vocals, as, sonically, they feel in the way... I mean, Cher is more than capable of carrying this all alone with only that giant dropped backbeat. Love that vibrato-filled sustained note Cher provides moving into verse number two. 

Huh. That back beat grows old on the second verse. Asher would have been smart to kick in a full band, with the rhythm section fully engaged and allow the rhythm guitar to provide a bit of a driving, new wave edge. As is? Second verse, same as the first. I'm bored.

Those icy synths from the intro are reintroduced on the ramp up to the second chorus. Meh. I really want more muscle on display, not artifice. 

A big fat (overblown) sax appears right on cue... it's fine, just, so expected.

Very strange. This is a strong performance; Cher is in great form, but it also feels anemic. The damn thing never soars. It's sort of set up to soar, I mean, all the right elements are there, but it never truly takes to the skies, horrible tethered to the earth by some very unimaginative production choices. 

Maybe it's the era?  

Desmond Child

The intro is very similar to Spector's version, but the tempo is slightly up. A lot of the atmospherics, toned down as we begin the first verse. Child's voice is on top of the mix. This tempo is making a huge difference. This is a much cleaner sound. The backing arrangement on the verse brings to mind The Motels. 

Child's voice is very strident. Not a bad thing, but it lacks ulterior color. 

This is a much more straightforward approach and the song benefits from it. More guitar-driven, I think the members of Bon Jovi have a lot to do with this cleaner sound. Gone are all the complicated backing vocals, making way for a bright pop sound with an homage to a by gone era. 

Love the piano. In combination with the rhythm section, it brings to mind Springsteen's Jersey skyline. 

Yeah, I am not loving Child's voice. It pierces, which is great, but it lacks character. Oh, dear, an angelic choir softly oohing. 

Ugh. Sax. On cue. That's some very Clarence Clemmons-like playing by Chris Mostert. It's good. . 

This plays out like an E Street jam.

But by the 4:00 mark I am done with it. It's pleasant; a nice bright read. Too bad he didn't have Ronnie Spector providing the backing vocals. That would have been heaven. He could have had an Eddie Money moment.

The Verdict

Spector's is a miss. And a damn shame. 

I blame Child. His ego was in the way here, showing off all his shiny toys and know-how. He forgot who he was dealing with and forgot to put her in a sympathetic environment. Had he provided the same clean production work he employed on his own version for Spector? We'd be telling a different story. 

Note: Ronnie had a rough time of it. Being Phil Spector's hostage, er, I mean, wife, definitely was not a good time. Her story is a cautionary one, for sure. I don't know how one gets over that kind of trauma. 

Cher's version is fine. Her performance is assured, and the production work, fairly clean, if a bit anemic. In the end, it fails to soar and we never even get to glimpse the skyline. 

Child's version is the best of the bunch. The leaner, guitar-driven, E Street sound (for what was Bon Jovi, if not Springsteen lite?) provides a great backdrop, devoid of all the production pitfalls that plagued Spector's version. 

The song is a fun one, but also one that wears out its welcome long before Child hits the 4:00 mark. 

Still, to the victor go the spoils; this is a win for Child.

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And that's all for now. 

Leave your choice and thoughts in the comments section. I always love to hear from you.

Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening!

Who Can Sleep - Ronnie Spector feat. Eddie Money

 

Our Love Is Insane - Desmond Child and Rouge