Steve Kipner is a very successful pop songwriter and producer. During the course of Kipner’s 40-plus year career, he has written or co-written huge hits including “Physical” for Olivia Newton John, “Hard Habit To Break” for Chicago, “Impulsive” for Wilson Philips, “Breakeven” for The Script and “Genie In A Bottle” for Christina Aguilera. His songs are recorded by a who’s who of acts comprising of America, Cher, Sheena Easton, the late Al Jarreau and Joe Cocker, Diana Ross, Huey Lewis & The News and George Benson.

Around the end of the seventies, Kipner, also an enjoyable singer, was part of the David Foster/Jay Graydon circle. Kipner co-wrote several songs with the pair including a few key tracks on their seminal 1980 Airplay album. In 1979, Graydon produced Kipner’s debut album, Knock The Walls Down, that saw Foster in the musicians’ line-up. Also included were other studio wizards like Larry Carlton, Greg Mathieson, Jerry Hey, David Hungate and the late genius of Jeff Porcaro and Victor Feldman. Knock The Walls Down was one of those “unknown” quality pop masterpieces. For the top level of its songwriting, craft and production, Knock The Walls Down quickly gained cult status among the followers of the “West Coast” music movement.

Written by Kipner, the title-track was one of those breezy soft-pop songs that could fascinate listeners for its melodic power, yet was beefed up by a jazzy arrangement and some clever tempo changes. There was an outstanding instrumental background built up by Carlton on acoustic guitar, Graydon on electric guitar, Foster on keys plus Porcaro and Hungate driving the rhythm section. Though not a powerful singer of Bill Champlin’s or Richard Page’s caliber, Kipner’s pleasant voice and energetic performance fit the bill quite nicely. “Knock The Walls” was eventually covered by soul group Tavares on their 1980 Love Uprising album. Another refined jam from Knock The Walls Down was “School Of Broken Hearts” that can be found in the archives.

Listen

• Lead Vocals: Steve Kipner
• Acoustic Guitar: Larry Carlton
• Electric Guitars: Jay Graydon
• Rhodes & Oberheim: David Foster
• Synth Strings: Michael Omartian
• Percussion: Victor Feldman
• Bass: David Hungate
• Drums: Jeff Porcaro
• Background Vocals: Peter Beckett, J.C. Crowley & Steve Kipner
• Arranged by Jay Graydon & Steve Kipner
• Produced by Jay Graydon

Lyrics

No Lyrics

written by David Foster, Jay Graydon & B.J. Cook

Around the late seventies, David Foster and Jay Graydon were red-hot session players who were making their transition to producers/songwriters. “Should We Carry On” is one of the trademark Foster/Graydon ballads that also gave them a recording contract with RCA.

Here’s how Graydon told the story in an interview years ago:

“David and I were still playing record sessions in the late ’70s and we were on a session for Maureen McGovern. During a break, David started messing around with a ballad idea. I loved his song start, as always, and I wandered over to the piano offering musical ideas. We started refining the song, but had to get back to work. After the recording session, we went to my house/studio and continued to work on writing the song. The next day or so, we recorded a demo. David gave the demo to Tommy Mottola (Daryl Hall and John Oates’ manager at that point and, yes, the eventual head of Sony records). Tommy played the song for the president of RCA at the time and we were offered a record deal.”

The record deal was for the now classic album, “Airplay,” and “Should We Carry On” was released as a single paired with another pop masterpiece, “Nothing You Can Do About It.”

The bittersweet lyrics for “Should We Carry On” were written by Foster’s first wife, B.J. Cook, and were sung by Graydon who did a remarkable job. The instrumental track was based on Foster’s piano and keyboards plus his unmistakable touch enhanced the song’s fantastic melody. Graydon also embellished the track with his typical guitar riffs and the end result is total ear candy.

Given the melodic strength of “Should We Carry On” and the delicious pop/jazzy sounds of the catchy flip-side, “Nothing You Can Do About It,” we are convinced that these songs should have been monster chart hits and
“Airplay” brought to platinum status. Although that never happened, the quality of the music survived through the years and reached many music lovers worldwide. It was these music lovers that gave “Airplay” a well-deserved cult status. Foster and Graydon went on to collect many Grammy’s and sell millions of their subsequent productions, but if you want to discover where it all started, “Airplay” is one of the key moments and should be in your record collection.

Listen

[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/should_we_carry_on.mp3|titles=Should We Carry On|artists=Jay Graydon]

Lead Vocals & Guitars: Jay Graydon
Keyboards & Synthesizers: David Foster
Drums: Mike Baird
Bass: David Hungate
Backing Vocals: Tommy Funderburk, Jay Graydon & David Foster

Produced & Arranged by David Foster & Jay Graydon

Lyrics

Then the time has come to pass
every day is like the one before
how I wanted it to last
there’s nothing in this world I wanted more

Should we carry on,maybe the thrill is gone
I’d like to know for sure
why should we carry on,could both of us be wrong
we’re standing much too close inside each other’s lives to see
…that love has passed us by

Let me ease down from your dream
dreaming now’s the easy thing to do
left me somewhere in between living with and living without you

Should we carry on, maybe the thrill is gone
I’d like to know for sure
Why should we carry on,could both of us be wrong
We’re standing much too close inside each other’s lives to see
That love has passed us by