As one of the strongest pure pop/rock performers of the '80s - dependent equally on accessible songwriting, a propensity toward love ballads, and powerful injections of rock guitar - music veteran Kenny Loggins found a niche for his work in soft rock and uplifting film soundtracks. Ultimately a perfect match for the '80s style of bombast, catchy melody and danceability, Loggins stands as an underrated model figure of the era's music. Here's a look at not only his most popular hits as a solo artist but his finest compositions and performances of the period.
1. "This Is It"
Album Cover Image Courtesy of Columbia Records
2. "I'm Alright"
Album Cover Image Courtesy of Legacy Recordings
Launching a long and successful relationship with the '80s film soundtrack, Loggins recorded his second Top 10 solo hit with this rousing rocker that meshes all of Loggins' musical skills effectively into a single package. Hopeful exuberance, comforting innocence and a bright, lively melody share space here with some fine folk-oriented acoustic guitar to kick off the tune and a full, vibrant pop/rock arrangement that goes all over the place without disorienting the listener. This is feel-good music unbound by genre or era, which is perhaps the secret to Loggins's success in general but specifically explains the infectiousness of this often-heard but still thoroughly enjoyable track from the beloved film comedy Caddyshack.
3. "Don't Fight It"
Album Cover Image Courtesy of Columbia Records
4. "Heart to Heart"
Other than perhaps Dan Fogelberg, I can't think of an artist more suited to the early-'80s soft rock sound than Loggins, and that comment is made without any slight or insult. Both of these artists can't help being uplifting even when they sing about melancholy matters of the heart, and that earnestly sunny tone stands as Loggins' primary calling card nearly 30 years later. It's almost impossible not to feel a sense of safety and true belonging in the presence of a Loggins masterpiece, and I say that fully aware of the groans such an exhortation might inspire. I'd probably scoff myself if I weren't so convinced that this gem, another cowrite with McDonald, remains one of the most pleasing and impeccably crafted pop tunes of the era.5. "Heartlight"
Loggins goes for another rocking pose on this, his third Top 25 pop hit from 1982's High Adventure, and generally succeeds, especially in the dynamic, power chord-laced bridge that screams '80s in the best possible way: "Can you feel the love that's in my heart? Can you see the flame we've got to start? Burning like a beacon in the night." Still, even when the song gets really repetitive in the chorus, the strength of the central melody saves the tune from criminally obsessive overindulgence. As in Loggins' best songwriting, this track presents a skillfully democratic blend of approaches, ranging from the rhythmically inventive acoustic guitar churn of the verses to the splendid use of the famous pop music "Whoa-oh" vocal conceit.
6. "Footloose"
Album Cover Photo Courtesy of Columbia Records
7. "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)"
In a bid to stake his claim as the male Pat Benatar of soft rock, Loggins turns the guitar amp to 11, or at least 10 1/2, on this genial arena rocker also from the Footloose soundtrack. In the West Side Story-inspired music video for this tune, Loggins perhaps pushes the limits of credibility by casting himself as a car thief on the run from the fuzz, but the earnest intensity of Loggins' vocals and power chord flourishes works nonetheless. So much an artist of the pop song that he never stood a chance with some people of being taken seriously, Loggins presses on like a trooper in delivering music tailor-made for a fist-pumping, shouted refrain of the song title, which comes at exactly the time it needs to.
8. "Forever"
Album Cover Image Courtesy of Columbia Records
9. "Meet Me Half Way"
Album Cover Image Courtesy of Columbia Records
Yes, I know I left off "Danger Zone," but I must explain that of Loggins' biggest hits that one has always irritated me far more than the likable "Footloose." So I'm moving straight on to another excellent power ballad, which makes the list in spite of its packaging with one of the most unbelievably cheesy "sports" concept movies of the '80s, the Sylvester Stallone arm-wrestling epic, Over the Top. Loggins may rely a bit too heavily on the keyboards, a desperate trend that got a bit worse as the '80s limped to a close, but his songwriting caliber does not seem to have suffered in the meantime. This is a tinted-windows-rolled-up kind of song for dudes who like to belt out sweet love songs (privately) in public. I dare you not to be moved.
