1976 Rock Classic Was Originally a Flop Before Climbing the Charts to No. 2

In 1976, Gary Wright released his breakthrough album with The Dream Weaver. And while he was best known for the title track, he actually had a bigger hit with the single “Love Is Alive.”

Written by former Spooky Tooth keyboardist Wright and released as the first single from the album, “Love Is  Alive” featured a synthesizer-driven riff and lyrics about the energy behind love. The futuristic, synth-rock hit became one of the most influential songs of the era—but it didn’t start out that way.

According to Rhino, “Love Is Alive” was “a big ol’ flop” when it was first released as a single in July 1975. It wasn’t until the album’s second single, the title track “Dream Weaver,” became a massive hit months later that “Love Is Alive” found a second life.

Fueled by the success of “Dream Weaver,”  Warner Brothers reissued “Love Is Alive” in April 1976. The re-released song climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100— the same peak position as “Dream Weaver.”  But “Love Is Alive” remained on the music chart for 27 weeks, seven weeks longer than “Dream Weaver,” making it a bigger all-around hit for Wright.

“Love Is Alive” was ranked the No. 9 song of 1976 by Billboard, beating out songs such as Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and The Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing” for the coveted spot in the year-end Top 10.

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Wright, who died in 2023 at age 80, once addressed the delayed success of “Love Is Alive” in an interview with Rock Cellar magazine. In the interview, he recalled that he knew he’d really “made it” when “Dream Weaver” became a radio hit.

“I was on tour with Peter Frampton at the time I heard the news; it was in January of 1976,” he shared. “That song wasn’t released as the first single from my album, instead the record company released ‘Love Is Alive,’ and it didn’t happen. It stiffed, but ‘Dream Weaver’ kept getting a huge amount of FM radio airplay, so Warner Brothers at the time decided they might as well release this song as a single. It went up the charts…and then the label re-released ‘Love Is Alive’ and that went to number two.”

Wright also revealed that his favorite times as a live performer came during the summer of 1976, when “Love Is Alive” was climbing the charts.

“The most memorable shows for me were during the summer of ‘76 when I was touring with Peter Frampton, Yes, and sometimes Fleetwood Mac,” Wright said in an interview published by Get Ready to Rock. “They were huge concerts anywhere from 30,000 to 80,000 at large stadiums to 125,000 at JFK and RFK stadiums. ‘Dream Weaver’ had been a [hit] single, and ‘Love Is Alive’ went to No. 2 that summer. There was enormous positive energy during the tours, my band had great musicians, including Steve Porcaro, Art Wood, and Peter Reilich.”

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