Just another day in the 21st Century, still no flying cars, yet the mind thinks back to a simpler time when an artist by the name of Tony Carey was dreaming of such days, it seemed, while rocketing up the album charts with not one, but two songs simultaneously.
The year was 1983 and a mysterious "band" by the name of Planet P Project suddenly appeared on the radio and MTV with the evocative "Why Me?". The song itself was an odd-mix of '70s cliches and '80s sci-fi fantasy so, naturally, I was hooked.
All in all, it was not what the world was expecting from the one-time keyboardist from Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow.
That association had lasted long enough to see the release of Rainbow's Rising, for which Carey would tour the world before quitting to move to Germany to pursue a solo career in 1977. Little to nothing would be heard from Carey again until 1983, when he suddenly appeared on the scene in two two guises, having somehow managed the enviable accomplishment of securing two major record deals for essentially the same artist.
As if on cue, Planet P Project's "Why Me" soon found itself competing against Tony Carey's "I Won't Be Home Tonight" (release on the equally mysterious Rocshire records, with funding and distro through MCA) on the Album Rock charts and airwaves.
While neither song would become a commercial hit, the attention they received no doubt paved the way for Carey's next single, "A Fine, Fine Day" (from his next solo album, Some Tough City) to reach the Top 40 in 1985.