Reckless at 40

Bryan Adams' breakout album turns the big four-oh

Bryan Adams may claim he’ll be 18 ‘till he dies but the truth is Father Time waits for no man and this year the rocker will turn 64, like it or not. The same age Paul McCartney wondered if people would still need him or feed him at.

It’s always been faintly embarrassing this guy is considered Canada’s answer to Springsteen but it’s worth remembering that long before he began writing terrible love ballads for the soundtracks of equally bad Hollywood movies, he put out one of the catchiest albums of the eighties at just 24.

Reckless came out 40 years ago and turned the acne-scarred former dishwasher into an international star. Recorded in Vancouver at Little Mountain Studios and co-produced by Bob Clearmountain, Reckless not only went straight to the top of the Billboard charts but has bragging rights for having six singles crack the Top 15, a feat previously accomplished only by Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Born in the U.S.A. by the Boss himself.

Music videos were still shiny and new back then, and here’s a bit of a tour down memory lane:

1. Run to You

The first single was originally written by Adams and writing partner Jim Vallance for Blue Öyster Cult but the band turned them down because they already had a hit called “Burnin’ for You” and feared the confusion.

Instead, Adams’ heartfelt, hook-filled ode to infidelity became his then-biggest hit and remains so popular to this day alt-country rocker Ryan Adams, who has spent his entire career putting up with requests for songs by the similarly named singer, finally gave up and started covering it.

Adams’ Canadian roots are also admirably on full display in the video, where he spends much of the time rocking out in a snowstorm. Or at least in a sound stage full of fake snow.

And just who is this lucky gal Bryan Adams wants to run to all night when the feeling is right? Turns out it’s British actress Lysette Anthony, best remembered today for playing Princess Lyssa in the fantasy flick Krull.

2. Somebody

Reckless’ second single is not only an enduring singalong with a killer chorus, but the video was also shot in Adams’ hometown of Vancouver, where strolls the city’s streets and alleys singing about his need to  find somebody before making his way to B.C. Place and wandering into an empty playing field in front of a huge crowd being beamed onto the Jumbotron.

But he isn’t just looking for any somebody but rather a particular one. Lysette Anthony, obv, who is in the crowd and also appeared briefly at the beginning of the video in a car with some jerk who clearly doesn’t appreciate her the way she deserves.

Somebody like Lysette Anthony

3. Heaven

This power ballad was Adams’ first number one hit. An instant favorite for lap dances and slow dances alike, “Heaven” was actually released a year earlier as part of the soundtrack for the box office bomb A Night in Heaven.

The song was written after Adams was the opening act on a tour with Journey, and “Heaven” shares a certain, um, similarity to their own big hit “Faithfully.”

Recorded at The Power Station in New York City, it’s the only track not recorded in Vancouver although the video was shot there and, as you might expect, featured a guest appearance by none other than British actress Lysette Anthony.

We first see her outside the Stanley Theatre on Granville Street while the angry dude she was sharing a car with in “Somebody” is now failing a breathalyzer test.  She looks up sadly before recognizing a certain somebody on posters outside the venue before heading inside, where he is in the midst of performing. Their eyes lock but she suddenly bolts from the crowd while Adams, true to his word from “Run to You,” runs backstage to try and cut her off.

Unfortunately, the fire exits had been chained shut in an inexplicable violation of Vancouver fire safety codes and all he can do is peer helplessly through the door window at the sudden, equally inexplicable heavy snowfall, which no doubt baffled more than a few viewers who hadn’t seen the video for “Run to You.” Or even those who did.

4. Summer of ‘69

Bryan Adams was only nine back in the summer of 1969 and it seems unlikely he would’ve been in a band with some guys from school, let alone be spending his evenings down at the drive-in. It’s almost like was waxing nostalgic about something else entirely.

If you ever noted the lyric “Me and my baby in a 69” and thought this was an oral sex reference, you are correct. He finally came clean in a 2001 interview.

“Some parts are autobiographical, but the title comes from the idea of 69 as a metaphor for sex. Most people thought it was about the year 1969.”

Which only goes to show the hit songwriter’s understanding of metaphors is on a par with Alanis Morissette’s grasp of irony, although at least she has the balls to be upfront about it when tossing the sex act into a song.

While there isn’t a whiff of sex in the song’s video, we do get introduced to a woman playing the teenaged Adams’ girlfriend and, yes, it’s British actress Lysette Anthony. After she rescues him when he fell asleep on the job down at the drive-in, the two make their way to a romantic outdoor setting.

At which point Adams turns his back on her and simply walks away. Seriously, who the fuck does that to Lysette Anthony and then claim it was one of the best days of their lives!?

Certainly not this guy

Adams then heads off to break into a factory and have a tomato fight with his pals before getting chased by the cops. Which is the probably the sort of thing that would appeal more to a typical nine-year-old than making sweet love with Lysette Anthony.

5. One Night Love Affair

One thing immediately jumps out when watching the video for the fifth single: the glaring absence of Lysette Anthony.

Did she not want to be included in a song about a one-night stand? Was she upset he abandoned her in the last video or by the lame 69 reference? Had she gotten back together with the mysterious drunk driver? Or did she simply head back home to star in a BBC miniseries based on Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist?

Sadly, we may never know.

6. It’s Only Love

Or did the late Queen of Rock n’ Roll come between them? The final single is a duet with the late, great Tina Turner, and the two seem to have some serious chemistry in the video for the song, which earned them a Grammy nomination.

If he did spurn the affections of the lovely Lysette Anthony for a woman 20 years his senior, there’s only one word to describe it.

Reckless.