Trivia Corner: Mr. Mister Cher

In the mid to late 80s, Cher was cranking out a healthy dose of pop rock and AOR with the help of some big league players in game at the time. Her 1991 effort "Love Hurts", for example, features songs by Diane Warren and Desmond Child and production by Richie Zito and Bob Rock, staples of many a hairband.

Other familiar guests to melodic rockers will recognize the work and backing vocals of Richard Page (Mr. Mister) on the hit track "Save Up All Your Tears" and her duet, "One Small Step". "World Without Heroes" has songwriters as diverse as Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons (Kiss) and Lou Reed, with Steve Lukather on guitar (Toto) and Richard Marx on backing vocals - can you imagine all those folks in the same studio at the same time? Steve actually lends his guitar talents to many tracks on this CD. AOR master Kevin Chalfant is also credited for the track "Who You Gonna Believe".

Finally, we have a cover of the Nazareth classic, "Love Hurts" featuring Gunnar Nelson on backing vocals and Jeff Porcaro on drums. If you were a fan of Heart or any other artist/songwriter here, this CD might be worth a second listen.

Rare CD: Cher "NOT.COM.MERCIAL"

"not.com.mercial is the twenty fourth album released by American singer/actress Cher released on November 8, 2000 exclusively through Cher.com and Artist Direct, it was the album that followed Cher's largest commercial hit - Believe.

The majority of not.com.mercial (pronounced not dot com dot mercial) was written by Cher in 1994 when she retreated to France. The song Born With A Hunger was written by Eikhardt, and Classified 1a is a newly-remixed version of her 1970 Sonny Bono-penned song. The rock-themed album with some slow ballads was never taken to record companies for release, because it was considered "too personal for commercial purposes".

Many years later, it was decided to be released as an exclusive Cher fan project through her website and Artist Direct. not.com.mercial, which released no singles, received moderate sales. Though no singles were released, the song "Born With the Hunger" has been featured on the international version of The Very Best of Cher.

None of the songs have ever been sung live and little information is known about the album itself, though Cher's comments (and liner notes) assert that the song "The Fall (Kurt's Blues)", co-written with Pat MacDonald of Timbuk3 and Bruce Roberts, is her tribute to rock singer Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994.

Track listing:

01 Still [Cher, Roberts, Thiele] 06:15

02 Sisters of Mercy [Cher, MacDonald, Roberts] 05:01

03 Runnin' [Cher, MacDonald, Roberts] 03:56

04 Born With the Hunger [Eikhardt] 04:05

05 The Fall (Kurt's Blues) [Cher, MacDonald, Roberts] 05:17

06 With or Without You [Cher] 04:50

07 Fit to Fly [Cher, Millet Savigar] 03:53

08 Disaster Cake [Cher, MacDonald, Roberts] 03:25

09 Our Lady of San Francisco [Cher, Garvin, Wayland]02:15

10 Classified 1A [Bono] 02:15"

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