from LIVE
written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager & Peter Allen
In 1984, veteran superstar Johnny Mathis released a new record simply titled Live. Recorded in London the previous year, Live presented a nice selection of Mathis’ evergreens like “The Twelfth Of Never,” “Misty,” “Chances Are” and “A Certain Smile.” A smart twist to the tracks was given with the inclusion of well-dosed covers of modern pop songs like Kenny Loggins’ “I Believe In Love,” Albert Hammond’s “99 Miles From L.A.” and the late Peter Allen’s (February 10, 1944 to June 18, 1992) “Fly Away.” The classy production by Denny Diante enriched the sound with deluxe arrangements courtesy of the gifted pens of the late Eugene “Gene” Page (September 13, 1939 to August 24, 1998) and Michel Colombier (May 23, 1939 to November 14, 2004) plus Mathis’ band members Larry Steelman and Gil Reigers. Allen’s “Fly Away” was co-written by Allen with David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager and was one of the highlights of Live.