Alive Again (Chicago song) explained

"Alive Again" is a song written by James Pankow for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Hot Streets (1978), with Peter Cetera singing lead vocals. The first single released from that album, it reached No. 14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.^[1] In Canada, "Alive Again" spent two weeks at No. 11.^[2]

"Alive Again" was Chicago's first new single after their split with producer James William Guercio. It was also their first single after the accidental death of Terry Kath; Donnie Dacus played guitar on the recording.^[3]

Recording and Production

According to Mike Stahl, Chicago's live audio engineer at the time, members of Chicago's rhythm section–Robert Lamm, Donnie Dacus, Peter Cetera, and Danny Seraphine–came into the studio, started jamming, and played what they thought was a run-through of "Alive Again" but which producer Phil Ramone had recorded. Despite recording the rhythm track ten more times, the run-through had the "feel" he was looking for, so it made the album.^[4]

After the recording of "Alive Again" had been completed, Chicago's brass section recorded with the Bee Gees on their song, "Tragedy". Inspired by his work with Barry Gibb, James Pankow rewrote the brass charts for "Alive Again" and the song was rerecorded. Mike Stahl said the new arrangements gave the song a whole new "feeling" and "sparkle".^[5]

Cash Box said it has " aggressive horns, high riding vocals, tight and melodic structure and a bright optimism."^[6] Record World said that the song "rocks stronger than previous [Chicago] releases with the guitar work and Cetera's lead vocals of prime interest."^[7]

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1978–79)	Peak position
Canada RPM Top Singles	11
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	14
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[8]	39
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [9]	13

Year-end charts

Popular culture

• The opening guitar and horns riff of this song was used in the opening highlights montage by the NBA on CBS from 1979 to 1981.^[11]
• An instrumental version was used as the opening theme to the syndicated radio show The Don & Mike Show in 2003.

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Hot 100: Week of December 9, 1978. Billboard Charts Archive. 2019-04-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20180219163442/https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1978-12-09. February 19, 2018. live. mdy-all.
2. RPM 100 Singles. December 16, 1978. RPM. 30. 12. Library and Archives Canada. https://web.archive.org/web/20161013222832/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.0056a&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=hguar3g9j3pb17821bhleckc50. October 13, 2016. dead. 2016-10-13. mdy-all.
3. Web site: Chicago Group Portrait Essay. Ruhlmann. William James. 1991. aln3.albumlinernotes. Columbia Records. 8. https://web.archive.org/web/20190328134228/http://aln3.albumlinernotes.com/Chicago_Box_Set_-_Page_8.html. 2019-03-28. live. 2019-04-30.
4. Web site: Mike Stahl Recalls: Mixing Chicago Live In The 1970s - Page 5 of 6. 2017-05-19. ProSoundWeb. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20190430155907/https://www.prosoundweb.com/channels/live-sound/mike_stahl_mixing_chicago/5/. 2019-04-30. live. 2019-04-30.
5. Web site: Mike Stahl Recalls: Mixing Chicago Live In The 1970s - Page 6 of 6. 2017-05-19. ProSoundWeb. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20190430160214/https://www.prosoundweb.com/channels/live-sound/mike_stahl_mixing_chicago/6/. 2019-04-30. live. 2019-04-30.
6. News: CashBox Singles Reviews. October 21, 1978. 28. Cash Box. 2022-01-01.
7. Record World. October 21, 1978. 2023-02-13. Hits of the Week. 3.
8. Web site: Chicago Chart History: Adult Contemporary. 4. Billboard Charts Archive. 2019-04-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20190329132355/https://www.billboard.com/music/chicago/chart-history/adult-contemporary/4/. 2019-03-29. live.
9. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles: Week ending December 9, 1978 . 2019-04-30 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20121213105009/https://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19781209.html/ . December 13, 2012 . mdy-all .
10. Web site: Top 200 Singles of '78 – Volume 30, No. 14, December 30 1978 . . 17 July 2013 . . 2018-03-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180514070113/http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.0070b&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.0070b.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.0070b . 2018-05-14 . live .
11. Culture Desk: N.B.A. Music. 2014-04-17. The New Yorker. 2019-04-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20170528104732/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/n-b-a-music. 2017-05-28. live. en. 0028-792X.