Customer Reviews

Reel Life

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this CD for their one commercial hit wonder "Waiting For A Star To Fall"...little did I know it would become a permanent gem, a definite standout constantly in heavy rotation! This is simply the ultimate 80's love album. I was hooked from the first few bars of the opener "Bring Down The Moon", which features one of the most powerful laments on love I have ever heard: "If love's not forever I need to discover the spirit of romance and magic in living from day to day...". This in a nutshell sums up the way I have always felt about love! The instrumentation is fabulous too....pure 80's keyboards, danceable beats as well as a ballad here and there. The magic continues throughout the whole album, as George and Shannon succesfully trade off vocal duties and their own takes on relationships and love in general. The vocoder solo alone on "If You Run" makes this album worth your money, and "No Apologies" is in my opinion the best breakup song ever recorded. Although there are no real surprises here, this is a well-arranged, nicely written, and superbly produced package for the late 80's lovesong fanatic. I am really surprised that none of the other songs hit as big as "Waiting For A Star To Fall" because they are all very listenable. The last song on the album ends somewhat unexpectedly, leaving the listener longing for more, kind of like love itself!

In revisiting this album, a flood of adolescent memories came rushing back. I, probably like many others, was drawn into purchasing this album on the sole majesticness of its hit "Waiting For A Star To Fall". The year was 1988, and it was around late fall, and I was about to turn 16. I bought this album along with Robbie Nevil's "A Place Like This". Both albums were excellent examples of pop perfection. Funny that Nevil has been tossed to the wayside like Boy Meets Girl. Record companies consistently fail to recognize what they have.

Anyway, "Reel Life" helped me come to terms with the end of my first love--granted an adolescent, immature one! So, here I sit 17 years later listening to this album. "Waiting For A Star To Fall" holds up incredibly well after all these years. The thing about this album that can't be helped is its late 1980's production and instrumentation, but it's still a remarkably enjoyable adult contemporary listen. Of course my favorite song has always been "Is Anybody Out There In Love" with George Merrill singing a fantastic melody. My other favorites are still "Waiting For A Star To Fall", "If You Run", "One Sweet Dream" and "Restless Dreamer". There really should have been more hits from this album. Then what happened? Boy Meets Girl disappeared. I only found later, reading the duo's website that the record company shelved their follow up album, "New Dream". This forever pinned them as a one hit wonder, which they're not.

If adult contemporary or 80's pop brings you pleasure, then check this one out. Now all we need is for their first album to be re-released on cd!

This is a nicely remastered reissue of Boy Meets Girl's 1998 CD, "Reel Life." It contains all ten of the songs on that original CD, including the top five hit "Waiting For A Star To Fall" and the hit "Bring Down The Moon." Other songs included (since the listing does not have a track list) are "Stormy Love," "Is Anybody Out There In Love," "Stay Forever," "If You Run," "One Sweet Dream," "No Apologies," "Restless Dreamer," and "Someone's Got To Send Out Love." The songs form a sort of concept album about relationships and keeping "the spirit of romance and magic/In living from day to day," as one song says. The original cd was a great masterpiece of late 1980's pop, a fascinating time when almost any type of music, from rap to rock to ballads to singer-songwriters, could make the charts. Most of the songs are straight-ahead pop, and at first listen sound like sweet confections. Listen a little deeper, though, and they are bittersweet and honest, and intensely personal. The instrumentation is fascinating. Synthesizers are used extensively, but there are also plenty of guitars, piano, and even mandolins and other more exotic (to pop, anyway) instruments. Vocals are layered and tightly (and often joyously) arranged. The new remastering brings out the best in the music, and also reduces the harsh, clinical feel of the remastering of the first run back in 1988. The only negative thing I can say about this cd is the budget quality packaging. Gone is the original 8 page book with lyrics, musician and singer information, and acknowledgements. In fact, the new edition doesn't even say who wrote or produced the songs. I'd take off a half star if I could, but the sound is so terrific that I guess my recommendation is, buy this one for the disc itself, and then track down the older, out of print edition for the booklet and liner notes. All in all, a great cd that is well worth the price.

As reviewed on my blog ([..])

Tuesday, May 29, 2007
"Waiting for a star to fall"

Last week, a song came on the radio that brought back a lot of old memories from my high school days. You know, the Stone Age!

Anyway, it was by a one-hit-wonder husband/wife duo called "Boy Meets Girl."

You socks are no doubt familiar with the one hit: "Waiting for a Star to Fall."

But, there are some other pretty good songs on the self-titled album, too.

I used to play it over and over again in the cassette deck of my old 1979 Honda Civic as I scooted around the dirt and cotton fields of West Texas. So many times in fact, that the tape wore out and the lyrics became warped and I eventually had to trash it.

Fortunately, nowadays, folks like me who are still lost in the 80s can now get the soundtracks to their youth on CD!

Mine arrived today, and I've really been enjoying the good non-warped quality of the sound. And, something I almost forgot: I no longer have to sit thru a song I don't like. I can just hit the "skip" button on my CD-player. Back in the day, you either had to endure it or try to time your "fast forward" button just right, and that was next to impossible.

Anyway, if there's anything that's better than modern technology, it's an old song on the radio . . .

that stayed with me for weeks when it was a hit. One I still enjoy hearing today. "Waiting For A Star To Fall" was one of those songs that made me turn up the radio. Unfortunately, the trend in radio at the time was away from identifying artists. So many people went too long before finding out it was "Boy Meets Girl". I put their biggest Top 40 hit in the same class as Jude Cole's "Baby It's Tonight." Both acts could, probably should, have had bigger success.

I still love this album after all of these years. Me & a friend listened to the album more times then I can remember on a long drive years ago. "Waiting For a Star to Fall" still haunts me and I can *never* listen to it enough to get sick of it. Call me a fool, but I can listen to this whole album over & over again without getting bored. It is still as fresh as the first day I heard it. Man, what happened to Boy Meets Girl?

From George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, the couple who wrote "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" for Whitney Houston (and other hits for artists like Bette Midler), comes an album of well-above-average songs released in 1988 that have actually held up well over time.

The highlight of this album (minus the hit "Waiting For A Star To Fall") is a song called "Is Anybody Out There In Love". I've always been puzzled how this track was never released as a single by RCA Records. It was at the time of this album's release (and still is) a perfect pop song thanks to excellent production by Arif Mardin. I'm confident this song could have been massive given the opportunity at radio and MTV.

Other highlights of 'Reel Life' are "Bring Down The Moon", "Stormy Love", "If You Run", "No Apologies" and "Restless Dreamer".

If you liked Boy meets Girl from the 80s, this is their best work, wonder what happened to them, the other cd they have out called Wonder World is really bad.

Not only was it a pleasant surprise to see this long-forgotten album reissued, but the fact that it's remastered is even better. The sound on this CD reissue is excellent; the '80s production sounds crisp and vibrant.

I remember loving the cassette version of this album back in the late '80s. The album still holds up well. Of course, "Waiting for a Star to Fall" is the standout track, but "Bring Down the Moon", "Stormy Love" and "Stay Forever" are equally catchy.

This is a budget reissue, so there are no liner notes and no lyrics. But the sound is so good, that doesn't matter.

I had Reel Life a long time ago on tape, when it first came out. "Waiting for a Star to Fall" was a video hit in the late 80s. Surprisingly, the songs around that particular track on the tape were really good as well. The husband and wife team trade off lead vocals on other songs, as Shannon is not featured as heavily in 'Waiting', but shines in other tracks such as "Stormy Love" and "Stay Forever". A wonderfully sweet 'keeper' album that flew under the radar.