Christopher Cross
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| Christopher Cross | |
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 Christopher Cross backstage after a tribute concert to Michael McDonald in Los Angeles (February 4, 2000).
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christopher Geppert |
| Also known as | Christopher Cross |
| Born | May 3, 1951 |
| Origin | San Antonio, Texas |
| Genre(s) | Pop Soft rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician, producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Label(s) | Warner Bros., BMG, Reprise, Priority, CMC International |
| Associated acts | Michael McDonald, Burt Bacharach, Madison Cross, Alan Parsons Project |
| Website | http://www.christophercross.com/ |
Christopher Cross (born Christopher Geppert on May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. His debut album earned him all of the "Big Four" Grammy Awards in one year, a feat that is yet to be equalled. He also received an Oscar and a Golden Globe relating to his work with music in hit films.
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[edit] Career
He is best known for his Top Ten hit songs, "Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind", and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," the latter of which he performed for the film Arthur starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli. "Sailing" earned three awards at the 1981 Grammy Awards Ceremony, while "Arthur's Theme" won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1981 (with co-composers Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen.)
Cross first played with a San Antonio-based cover band named Flash before signing a solo contract with Warner Bros. Cross released his self-titled debut album, Christopher Cross, in 1979, which garnered him five Grammy Awards. He is the only solo artist to receive all of the "Big Four" Grammy Awards (Best Record, Song, Album, and New Artist) in the same year. Hits from this album included "Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind" (featuring backing vocals by Michael McDonald) and "Never Be the Same".
His second album, Another Page, which came out in 1983, included the hit songs "Think of Laura", "No Time For Talk", and "All Right." "All Right" was used by CBS Sports for its highlights montage following the 1983 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, won in an upset by North Carolina State, which defeated the University of Houston (the Phi Slamma Jamma team with Clyde Drexler) in the championship game, 54-52. Although Another Page sold respectably, it did not nearly live up to the high expectations set by his debut album.
Cross released his third album Every Turn of the World in 1985. However, the album failed to produce any top 40 hits, and did not sell well. He went on to make three more albums in the 90's and although some of his releases have gained critical response, he has failed to catch the mass audience he once enjoyed. After his decline in fame in the mid 1980s, Cross has toured and opened for various acts since the '90s and released his second Greatest Hits package in 2002.
Cross completed a new Christmas album, A Christopher Cross Christmas, released in 2007. Christopher has just finished recording a new acoustic album of his hits titled The Cafe Carlyle Sessions. He is also working on a new studio album that is expected to be released in the spring of 2009. Today, he does about 100 live performances a year.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Christopher Cross (1979)
- Another Page (1983)
- Every Turn of the World (1985)
- Back of My Mind (1988)
- Rendezvous (1992)
- The Best of Christopher Cross (1993)
- Window (1995)
- Walking in Avalon (1998)
- Greatest Hits Live (1999)
- Red Room (2000)
- The Very Best of Christopher Cross (2002)
- A Christopher Cross Christmas (2007)
- The Café Carlyle Sessions (2008)
[edit] Soundtracks
- Motion picture soundtrack "Arthur" ("Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)") (1981)
- TV series soundtrack "The A-Team" ("Think of Laura") (1983)
- Official Music of the XXIIIrd Olympiad (swimming theme "A Chance For Heaven") (1984)
- Motion picture soundtrack "Nothing In Common" ("Loving Strangers (David's Theme)") (1986)
[edit] Singles
| Title | US HOT 100 |
US AC |
Serial number | Year | From album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Ride Like the Wind" | #2 | Warner 49184 | March 1980 | Christopher Cross | |
| "Sailing" | #1 | Warner 49507 | July 1980 | Christopher Cross | |
| "Never Be the Same" | #15 | #1 | Warner 49580 | October 1980 | Christopher Cross |
| "Say You'll Be Mine" | #20 | Warner 49705 | April 1981 | Christopher Cross | |
| "Mary Ann" | - | Warner (only issued in Japan) | 1980 | - | |
| "Spinning" | - | Warner | 1980-1981 | Christopher Cross | |
| "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" | #1 | #1 | Warner 49787 | August 1981 | Arthur (Soundtrack) |
| "All Right" | #12 | #3 | Warner 29843 | January 1983 | Another Page |
| "No Time for Talk" | #33 | #10 | Warner 29662 | May 1983 | Another Page |
| "Think of Laura" | #9 | #1 | Warner 29658 | December 1983 | Another Page |
| "A Chance for Heaven" (Swimming Theme from 1984 Summer Olympics) | #76 | #16 | Columbia 04492 | 1984 | Official Music of the XXIIIrd Olympiad (1984) |
| "Charm the Snake" | #68 | Warner 28864 | 1985 | Every Turn Of The World | |
| "Every Turn of the World" | - | - | 1985 | Every Turn Of The World | |
| "Loving Strangers" | - | #27 | - | 1986 |
[edit] Awards
- Academy Award for Best Song, 1981, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"
- Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, 1981, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"
- Grammy, 1981 - Song of the Year - "Sailing"
- Grammy, 1981 - Album of the Year - Christopher Cross
- Grammy, 1981 - Best New Artist - Christopher Cross
- Grammy, 1981 - Best Arrangement - "Sailing"
[edit] Madison Cross
Christopher Cross's daughter Madison is also interested in singing, beginning from when she sang a duet with her father at school as a little girl. From there, she began traveling with him, and sometimes performing at his shows. At the age of nine, Madison began an acting career in musical theater. In 2005, Cross recorded her first single, He Was Just Like Me, dedicated to Mattie Stepanek, a young poet who died in 2004 due to muscular dystrophy. The single was put into rotation on Radio Disney.
[edit] Performances
- Cross contributed backing vocals (along with The Beach Boys' Carl Wilson) to David Lee Roth's 1985 hit "California Girls."
- Cross performed the song "Sailing" alongside the pop band 'Nsync at the Fourth Annual Blockbuster Awards in 1999.
- Cross also performed lead vocals on "So Far Away", a song from Alan Parsons' album On Air. When Parsons was touring in support of that album, Cross would sometimes join the band onstage to sing the song if he was available.
- Cross spent much of his youth living in a home on Newbury Terrace in Terrell Hills, just outside San Antonio, Texas. That home had earlier belonged to the Cummins family and another notable San Antonian, the historian and author Light Townsend Cummins, grew up in that same house a decade earlier. It has since been demolished.
- A small snippet of Cross's early hit "Sailing" was played in the DreamWorks film "Flushed Away".
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The Official Website
- Music Guide entry
- CBS Sports highlights of the 1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, featuring Cross' song "All Right"
- Elixir Strings Interview
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