From the album
Title: “Suddenly”
Artist: Angry Anderson
Year: 1989
Writer(s): Angry Anderson
Genre: Pop/Power ballad
Highest chart position (if applicable) 3 (UK) 2 (Australia)
Album: Beats from a Single Drum
Did I own it? No
Album, single, both or neither? Neither
Opinion then: Positive
Opinion now: Meh
These days: I would imagine completely forgotten about, except maybe the odd time for novelty value.
If there was one person I would have expected least to have a hit with a love song, it was Angry Anderson. Born Gary Stephen Anderson, he had been the vocalist for Australian hard rock band Rose Tattoo for, at this point in time, thirteen years. Rose Tattoo had put out four albums by then, and Anderson had also had a part in the Mel Gibson movie
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, making it one of the few movies to have two singers acting, with Tina Turner having of course a more starring role. The unexpected success of this song was apparently due to a connection with Australian soap
Neighbours, where it was used as the theme to the marriage between Jason Donovan and Kylie (or their characters, at least) on its release. Although there are rumours it was written for the show, Anderson had written it long before.
Why is it uncharacteristic of the man? Well, you only have to see Angry Anderson (that’s him above, in the middle) to believe that this is hardly a man who would be singing, and indeed writing, a mushy power ballad. Anderson, the shaven-headed, tough-looking, tough-talking frontman of one of Australia’s premier hard rock bands, was more used to singing about “Sydney Girls” and “Revenge” than songs about “Suddenly” finding his softer side. I will admit I don’t think the song was that great; I don’t personally think he has or had the voice for a ballad, and no matter what I did I could not get out of my head the image of him driving a post-apocalyptic buggy with a skull on a pole on his back, screaming for Mel Gibson’s blood. It just didn’t easily translate for me. For my money, it sounds forced, and I always thought maybe he had been pushed into it by his record company, demanding a hit single. Guess I was wrong.
I still prefer Billy Ocean’s song though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ9txCCvaOA