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.
Saturday, March 23, 2019
Eric Clapton "Tears in Heaven"
You've probably heard Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven", but you may not know the song is Clapton's audio obituary to his four year-old son, Conor. Young Conor died in 1991 after he accidentally fell out of a window in a New York City high-rise apartment building. Losing his son happened at a time when Eric also lost his manager, two of his roadies and fellow Bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan in a helicopter accident -- not to mention he was battling a heroin addiction at the time. As a healing agent, Clapton turned to music. Eric claimed "Tears in Heaven" helped him accept and deal with the grief in his life and, in the process, became one of his biggest songs. Today, it still gets plenty of plays on the syndicated Deliah Show thanks to listeners who frequently request the tearjerker.