Despite employing numerous musical devices that I quickly grew to detest, 1982’s Chicago 16 sits at No. 9 on my list of the Top 10 all time Chicago albums – and one of those devices, on full display here, is extremely orchestrated melodrama. “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” became one of the classic collaborations between Peter Cetera and David Foster.
The song’s lyrics are nothing special. In fact, they’re rather generic. It’s Cetera’s vocals that stand out on what is only minimally a Chicago track. They had a lot of help in the studio for this record, and the only other member of the band to appear on “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” is drummer Danny Seraphine.
One of the reasons I can listen to this song, which became the first hit single by the “new” Chicago, is the happy miracle that occurs after “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” ends. While both the single and radio edit faded into oblivion, the album version seques into a joyous instrumental called “Get Away” – the only title on Chicago 16 that features Robert Lamm as a composer (along with Cetera and Foster).
The two songs are joined together musically into one busy, highly polished arrangement, but they’re seemingly unrelated. “Get Away” is brief, around a minute long, but the horn section is in full glory, providing us with one of the finer moments of their already-incomparable career. When inspired, Chicago could still deliver the goods and we shouldn’t be surprised that Lamm had a hand in it. He almost always led the way when it came to offering fans something new and different.
“Hard to Say I’m Sorry” went to No. 1 for two weeks in 1982. It was only Chicago’s second chart-topping single, and it was their first hit in four years. The track was nominated for a Grammy for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal, and it earned a gold record.
