Christopher Cross emerged as one of the biggest singing sensations of 1980 who gained acclaim not only for his extraordinary talent but for helping define adult contemporary radio with his string of smoothly sophisticated ballads led by the chart-topping, Sailing.
Although he was also known for his other Top 10 hit songs like Ride With The Wind and Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do), it was Sailing which earned him a permanent place in pop music when it won several awards in the 1981 Grammy Awards ceremony.
Cross will share with fans his brand of sophisticated ballads in a remarkable combination with the smooth soul and jazz sounds of Workshy when he performs back-to-back with Workshy featuring Chrysta Jones during the singing stars’ Philippine tour this month.
The concert series to be mounted by Ovation Productions will be highlighted by a major performance on Nov. 29 at the Araneta Coliseum following its opening on Nov. 28 at the Cebu Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City.
Other shows are slated on Nov. 30 at La Salle Coliseum, Bacolod City, and Dec. 1 at Limketkai Center, Cagayan de Oro City.
Aside from Sailing, his other hits that established him as one of the biggest musical stars of 1980 were Ride Like The Wind and Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do), which he sang for the motion picture, Arthur, starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli.
Sailing won three prizes in the 1981 Grammy Awards (Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Arrangement), while Arthur’s Theme garnered the Oscar Award in 1981 for Best Original Song (with co-composers Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen).
Chrysta Jones, on the other hand, was a founding member of the band Workshy which she organized in London in 1986 together with Michael McDermott and Kevin Kehoe until it evolved into a duet when Kehoe left the group in 1992.
Workshy gained attention for its extraordinary sound best described as a cross between the music of Swing Out Sister and the down tempo beat of Matt Bianco, with a dash of Sade thrown in.
Among its original works were Never The Same, Get It Clear, Trouble Mind, You’re The Summer and many others.
It has also recorded an album of Bacharach standards, such as Do You Know The Way To San Jose, There’s Always Something There To Remind Me, This Guy’s In Love With You, Close To You, I’ll Never Fall In Love Again, The Look Of Love, I Say A Little Prayer and many more.
Workshy is also remembered for its cover of the songs, If I Ever Lose This Heaven, Hello It’s Me, I Saw The Light and, most especially, It’s Too Late by Carole King.
The Philippine tour of Christopher and Chrysta is presented by etc, 2nd Avenue, C/S Origin, Jack TV, RJ 100.3 FM, Philippine Airlines, Chrysler Jeep and Dodge, Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, Tagaytay Highlands, Pearl of the Pacific Boracay, The Philippine Star, BusinessWorld, Magic 89.9 FM, Monster Radio RX 93.1, 96.3 WRocK, Energy FM 91.5, 105.1 FM Crossover, Love Radio, 97.9 Home Radio, XFM 92.3, Optima Solutions, GetzMo! and Focalcast.
Tickets to the Araneta Coliseum concert are priced at P3,700, P3,200, P2,700, P1,700, P800 and P500 and available at Ticketnet outlets at SM Department Stores and Araneta Coliseum ticket office. For details, call 911-5555.