Kelly Keagy: Oh, the time has come…

It was 1984, I was just getting into music and had “Solid Gold” playing on a Saturday night. Host Marilyn McCoo was introducing the next act performing. It was this band who took the stage and performed this ballad that really struck me, partly because it started with vocals sung by the drummer, went into the body of the song with the entire band, and ended with that same drummer singing vocals with no accompaniment.

It was the first time I ever heard “Sister Christian”. The band was Night Ranger, and that drummer and singer was Kelly Keagy.

At the time I did not know the names of Night Ranger, but then I was watching the 1985 American Music Awards and Lionel Richie was introducing the performers who were presenting the award for Album of the Year. Two of those guys were Kelly Keagy and Jack Blades.

It is Kelly Keagy’s birthday today, reminding me of a band that had a number of songs that really struck me.

Starting out
The band started in 1979 in San Francisco and through various evolutions, became Night Ranger in 1982. That year they also released their debut album “Dawn Patrol”. It would go all the way to number 38 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

The album also yielded the singles “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me”, which went to number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, but number four on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart; “Sing Me Away”, which peaked at number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 39 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart; and “Young Girl in Love”, which did not chart.

Breaking out
Everything changed for Night Ranger when they released “Midnight Madness”, their second album, in 1983.

The first single performed pretty much the same way its predecessors did. “(You Can Still) Rock in America”, peaked at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 15 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

The second single would not only be Night Ranger’s most successful song, but also became one of the best power ballads of the decade.

“Sister Christian”, sung by Kelly Keagy, was a stirring, ballad that really can evoke emotion, especially when Keagy goes unplugged at the beginning and end of the song. Wikipedia reveals Keagy wrote the song for his sister Christy after visiting his hometown and being surprised at how fast she was growing up. Initially, it was “Sister Christy”, but Blades thought it was “Sister Christian”, so the name stayed.

“Sister Christian” went all the way to number five on the Billboard Hot 100, number two on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, and number one in Canada.

It is an absolutely amazing song that blew me away that very first time I heard it on “Solid Gold”.

There would be one more single from “Midnight Madness”, called “When You Close Your Eyes”, which peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 14 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart.

“Midnight Madness” would go gold in Canada, Platinum in the United States, and all the way to number 15 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Night Ranger was now a bonified success. Now it was time to follow up the success and interest created by “Sister Christian”.

Following up with best wishes
By the time “7 Wishes”, Night Ranger’s next album, was released in May of 1985, I was getting really interested in music.

I was in Grade 10 and listening to LA-107 FM, an album-oriented rock station, and watching music videos on “Video Hits” and “Good Rockin’ Tonite”, which both aired on CBC Channel 9 on the peasant vision dial.

It was there where I heard about “7 Wishes”, and “Sentimental Street”, the first single released from it.

“Sentimental Street”
Now, I had heard some other Night Ranger songs, and they were more of a hard rock band, but it was becoming apparent their success would come from ballads.

“Sentimental Street” was a ballad, but different from “Sister Christian”. It didn’t have that thing that touched the heart, but still told a story. The video was interesting too, with the band playing a Second World War bomber crew, lost at sea.

At Christmas of 1985, I was visiting some relatives over the break. One of my cousins had taped some videos and, as I entered the living room, “Sentimental Street” was playing. The wife of another cousin said she had seen a list of the worst videos of the year and “Sentimental Street” was at the top. I always liked the song, and thought the video was something different. Incidentally, “Centrefield” by John Fogerty was ranked the best.

“Sentimental Street” would take Night Ranger back into the top 10, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, and number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

Follow-up single
Night Ranger followed up “Sentimental Street” with a single that was more up tempo, and indicative of their sound.

It was called “Four in the Morning (I Can’t Take Any More)”. The song also hit the top 20, peaking at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 13 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

My cousin Fred is a musician and music guru. He was really into hard rock and heavy metal, and pointed out “Four in the Morning” as a song he liked. I am pretty sure he actually owned “7 Wishes” too. It also got significant air play, on LA-107 FM.

“Goodbye”
The final single Night Ranger released from “7 Wishes” is not only one of my favourite Night Ranger songs, but one of my all-time favourite ballads.

I saw “Goodbye” just once on a video show when it came out, and had the thought that Night Ranger put out another good ballad.

It would go all the way to number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 16 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

However, it would be the Fall of 1987 and into 1988 that I really got into “Goodbye”. I was living in student residence at the University of Alberta. That was a cool environment, because I could borrow or trade tapes with other students. It was almost unlimited access to music.

One of my floormates had “7 Wishes”. She said it was the selection of the month on Columbia House, but it was not what she thought it was. I asked if she thought it was soft rock when it was really hard rock. That is exactly what she thought.

I borrowed it, because I wanted to have a closer listen to “Goodbye”.

At that same time, something odd happened. One of my closest friends on our floor had to leave. I helped her move to another floor, and it was like a scene from a movie. She came to my room to say goodbye, and “Goodbye” was actually playing on my ghetto blaster.

After she left, I played it over a bunch of times, like a homage to her leaving.

It was kind of surreal.

The album
“7 Wishes” would peak at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 200, the highest charting album Night Ranger would have.

I had another crack at it in my second year of university in 1988-1989. I was putting together a bit of a mixed tape, because my wingmate Lorne Zaparniuk had a bunch of tapes with songs I liked, and the end of the year was coming soon. I recorded “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel, “Deep Cuts the Knife” by Helix, and – “Sentimental Street” by Night Ranger.

That was the last time I ever listened to “7 Wishes”.

What’s that say?
The next time I came into contact with Night Ranger was in 1987. I was reading a music magazine, either “Hit Parader” or “Circus”, both steered in my direction by Fred. There was an article on Night Ranger’s new album called “Big Life”. The band explained where the title came from. Back then, one of the fads in Canada and the States was shirts with Japanese writing on them. I always wondered what the characters printed on the shirts actually meant. They could have been messing with us, or it could have just been gibberish. Without someone who actually spoke Japanese, we had no way of knowing.

There was a similar fad in Japan, except the shirts had English words printed on them. Night Ranger toured Japan, and saw some of these shirts. Most, in fact, did not make sense. One that Keagy and Blades saw said “Big Life”, which sounded kind of cool. It also could have an interesting meaning.

Thus, an album was born.

“Big Life” would peak at number 28 on the Billboard 200 album chart, but had no top 20 singles.

However, there was one notable single from “Big Life”.

Movie music
In the Spring of 1987, I was in Grade 12, and started going out on dates. I was, and still am, a huge Michael J. Fox fan, so I took one girl to his latest movie “The Secret of My Success”. The date was a disaster, the movie was good, and I heard a familiar sound on screen.

As it turns out, Michael J. Fox requested Night Ranger write and record the song “Secret of My Success”, which also doubled as the debut single from “Big Life”.

The song was not a huge commercial success, peaking at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 12 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

However, “The Secret of My Success” was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1988 for Best Original Song, losing out to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes.

The years after
Night Ranger’s first five albums sold 10 million copies worldwide according to Wikipedia, and they have sold 17 million total. They would break up in 1989, but reunite in 1991 and continue to tour and record.

Parting thoughts
I have a lot of memories of Night Ranger, but they are all from their ballads. Kelly Keagy just has that voice that resonates with me, whether it is “Sister Christian” or “Goodbye”.

I am not the only one who thinks so, because “Sister Christian” was ranked number 32 as VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980s.

It was one of the iconic songs of the decade, and Kelly Keagy sang it.