Break My Stride - Matthew Wilder (1983-84) 12/4/23

At 91 years old, Clive Davis continues to be a living legend in the music business.

He's been a a record producer, record label executive and owner, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer back in 2000.

Clive is a also a genius at A&R, which, in the music business, stands for "Artists and Repertoire." In short, he has been responsible for finding and developing singers and songwriters, matching songs to artists, and attending to contracts and other legal aspects of their careers.

He has been directly or indirectly responsible for the success of countless artists, and is still one of the most well respected figures in the music business..

That said, he has occasionally made the wrong call. (No one is perfect 100% of the time!)

And that brings us to today's Great Song of 1983-84: "Break My Stride" by Matthew Wilder.

Clive signed Matthew to Arista Records, but it was quickly apparent that their ideas didn't match up. Before long, it was obvious to Matthew that we wasn't getting anywhere, so he took matters into his own hands. He he booked studio time with his own money and recorded "Break My Stride." (Note: The title was a not-so-subtle message to Mr. Davis.)

When Clive heard it, he not only didn't think it was a hit, he decided to drop Matthew from Arista altogether.

This actually turned out to be good news. Because Matthew never got paid for anything he did at the label, he was free to take his music elsewhere. A new label called Private-I ("I" for owner Joe Isgro), released "Break My Stride" as a single, and promoted it vigorously to radio stations.

It worked! As 1983 crossed into 1984, "Break My Stride" had broken into the Top 10 in 12 countries, including the US, where it reached #4 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart and #5 on The Hot 100!

Mathew was vindicated--and although he became a one-hit wonder, he's done some other pretty cool things during his career.

For example, he wrote the music for the Disney film "Mulan," and provided the singing voice for the character of Ling.

"Break My Stride" by Matthew Wilder: neither Clive Davis nor anyone else was going to break his stride toward a Great Song and a successful musical career.

From 1983-84: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4c_SkROzzo

Tomorrow: Prince gets Biblical.