Escalator Of Life

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  Seven Songs for the Week #66

  Jason Carty

  Robert Hazard passed away in 2008 at the age of 59 from pancreatic cancer. You know one of his songs, but this is not it. Escalator of Life got to 58 in the US charts and was the only US hit he had in his own name. It's very of its time, but with a sound that has come around again. His mannered vocals scream Bowie, but you could imagine this song being by early eighties Sparks.

  Robert Hazard also wrote Girls Just Want To Have Fun in 1979. He never officially released a version of the song himself, but the demo is online and reveals a very new wave-y track with a sub-Costello vocal, a different structure and an extraneous bridge. The track was radically overhauled for the Cyndi Lauper version, but Hazard kept the sole credit. I hope the royalties kept him comfortable all his days - Girls... was a hit everywhere and Cyndi's album sold 9 million in the US alone.