What set Ingram apart among most of his contemporaries is he sang about love as it really is -- not how it's imagined to be in all those Hallmark Channel movies. Love is as dangerous as it is wonderful. As warm as it could be cold. For love to be complete, it must be reciprocated. The love you give has to be received back. Ingram knows he's not in love with a woman who loves him in "I Don't Have the Heart". He painfully recognizes he cannot return this love. With both a heart that can't love her and a heart that doesn't want to hurt her, Ingram sings of his struggle as gently as he can. The song clearly struck a chord as it went to #1 in 1990 (#2 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Chart).
Phil Collins, Elton John, and Gloria Estefan dominated Adult Contemporary radio back in the 1980s and '90s, yet have disappeared from modern radio. Seemingly, the only time you ever hear them is at the grocery store or your local CVS. This blog remembers the music, the stories and the quirky characters from my days working in Adult Contemporary radio.
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
James Ingram "I Don't Have the Heart"
What set Ingram apart among most of his contemporaries is he sang about love as it really is -- not how it's imagined to be in all those Hallmark Channel movies. Love is as dangerous as it is wonderful. As warm as it could be cold. For love to be complete, it must be reciprocated. The love you give has to be received back. Ingram knows he's not in love with a woman who loves him in "I Don't Have the Heart". He painfully recognizes he cannot return this love. With both a heart that can't love her and a heart that doesn't want to hurt her, Ingram sings of his struggle as gently as he can. The song clearly struck a chord as it went to #1 in 1990 (#2 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Chart).