I had heard that voice somewhere, but just could not place it right away.
Then it hit me. It was in a western more than a decade earlier featuring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
That song was “Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head”, and it was sung by B.J. Thomas.
However, that was not his only hit \before his voice played in living rooms across America every week.
With his birthday today, I was reminded of “Growing Pains”, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, and the great voice that sang their theme songs.
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B.J. Thomas sang the theme song for the sitcom "Growing Pains", starting in 1985. Source: https://theseconddisc.com/2021/05/30 (May be subject to copyright) |
The first B.J. Thomas song I ever heard, was also the one that brought him to fame – “Hooked on a Feeling”. It came out in 1968 and went all the way to number five on the Billboard Hot 100.
A year later, in 1969, Thomas recorded “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” for the movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”.
The song went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Thomas was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1970.
He was back on top in 1975 with “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song”, which went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Wikipedia reveals it is the song with the longest title that went to number one in the history of the Billboard Hot 100.
The following year, 1976, he released the first of a number of gospel albums. Interestingly, Wikipedia also reveals Thomas clashed with fundamentalist Christian fans because he kept on performing his previous – secular – hits.
Despite that, he achieved commercial and critical success as a Christian singer. He won the Grammy for Best Inspirational Performance for “Home Where I Belong”, in 1977; “Happy Man”, in 1978; “You Gave Me Love (When Nobody Gave me a Prayer)”, in 1979; and “Amazing Grace”, in 1981. He also won the Grammy in 1980 for Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary with Reba Rambo, Dony McGuire, The Archers, Cynthia Clawson, Andrae Crouch, Tramaine Hawkins and Walter Hawkins for “The Lord’s Prayer.”
I remember watching one of the awards shows at my aunt and uncle’s. B.J. Thomas won some sort of award and I recall my cousin Gary, who is like 12 years older than me, saying, “B.J. Thomas was a great singer – until he went Christian”.
That was the opinion of a number of his fans, as he never returned to the levels of mainstream success he had in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Yet, as the ‘80s dawned, B.J. Thomas was not done yet.
Growing Pains
In the Fall of 1985, a sitcom debuted on Channel 13 on the peasant vision dial called “Growing Pains”, starring Alan Thicke and Joanna Kerns. He was a psychologist who decided to work from home, she was a journalist, and they had three kids – Mike, played by Kirk Cameron; Carol, played by Tracey Gold, and Ben, played by Jeremy Miller.
In the Fall of 1985, a sitcom debuted on Channel 13 on the peasant vision dial called “Growing Pains”, starring Alan Thicke and Joanna Kerns. He was a psychologist who decided to work from home, she was a journalist, and they had three kids – Mike, played by Kirk Cameron; Carol, played by Tracey Gold, and Ben, played by Jeremy Miller.
The minute I heard the opening credits, I was taken by the voice.
The theme song was called “As Long as We Got Each Other” and it just resonated with me. The end credits revealed it was recorded by B.J. Thomas. Over the seasons, he would be joined on various versions first by Jennifer Warnes then by Dusty Springfield. It was also nominated in 1986 for an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics.
The song also made its way onto the radio. It peaked at number seven on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in 1988.
That would be B.J. Thomas’ last hit single.
The years after
B.J. Thomas kept on writing, recording and performing, while “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.
B.J. Thomas kept on writing, recording and performing, while “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.
Sadly, B.J. Thomas died on May 29, 2021 of lung cancer.
He was 78.
Parting thoughts
B.J. Thomas was a talented singer. I remember being surprised he was the one who sang “As Long as we Got Each Other”, because it had been so long since he released anything mainstream. In fact, I thought he stopped releasing secular music when he started recording Christian songs.
B.J. Thomas was a talented singer. I remember being surprised he was the one who sang “As Long as we Got Each Other”, because it had been so long since he released anything mainstream. In fact, I thought he stopped releasing secular music when he started recording Christian songs.
That was obviously not the case.
I have to admit, I admire a man of conviction. When stardom hit, B.J. Thomas got hooked on drugs and alcohol. Then, he found God in 1976, and remained sober the rest of his life. He turned to Christian music, seemingly, as an expression of his newfound faith.
Yet, it also did not prevent him from performing those earlier songs that brought him fame, nor record a song that was heard in living rooms across North America every week.
I think that is pretty remarkable.
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