One Hit Wondering – Boy Meets Girl

One Hit Wondering is a series of columns where I listen to the album of a one hit wonder, and find three songs, other than the hit, that people should hear. 

Boy Meets Girl is the one hit wonder that had more than one hit. Confused? Don’t worry, it’s a great story.

Consisting of George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, Boy Meets Girl gave the world a classic with “Waiting for a Star to Fall.” The joyful, infectious pop tune was released in June of 1988, and came from their second LP, Reel Life.

Produced by the legendary Arif Mardin, “Waiting for a Star to Fall” reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100, climbed all the way to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and was a Top 10 hit in Canada, Ireland, and the U.K.

The story of the song, however, and the duo’s partnership, dated back a number of years, and a number of hits … just not under the name Boy Meets Girl.

George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam originally met in Seattle when they were both were hired to sing at the wedding of one of the daughters of the Boeing family (as in Boeing airplanes). Over time they got to know each other, enjoyed writing together, and both a working relationship, and a romance, was sparked.

While writing, and pitching, their songs, they also sang backing vocals for other artists. This is how they wound up on their first #1 song.

In 1984, four years before the world was singing along to “Waiting for a Star to Fall,” Merrill and Rubicam were singing backing vocals for Deniece Williams on her now legendary hit “Let’s Hear It For The Boy.”

This would be one of three #1 songs they were a part of before they had their hit as Boy Meets Girl.

The following year they released the first Boy Meets Girl album, a self-titled effort, but the closest thing to a hit off it was the synth heavy pop song “Oh Girl” that just barely squeaked into the Top 40, peaking at #39 (although, in retrospect, I have no idea how it wasn’t bigger).

At the same time the duo were also shopping some of their songs, and had one in particular that they wrote with Janet Jackson in mind. Janet, however, was working on Control, and the song didn’t fit with the album. In a prime example of the old adage “when one door closes, another one opens,” the song then made its way to desk of Clive Davis, and he was interested in it for one of his artists, a female vocalist working on her debut album.

The artist was Whitney Houston.

The song – “How Will I Know.”

Whitney recorded the song, which Narada Michael Walden produced, and made some lyrical alterations to, and to say the results were good would be an understatement.

“How Will I Know” skyrocketed to #1, and Whitney Houston became one of the biggest stars on the planet.

Clive Davis was so pleased with the results of “How Will I Know” – and who wouldn’t be? – he went back to Merrill and Rubicam, and asked them to write something for Whitney’s next album.

Following up a song as big as “How Will I Know” would be a daunting task for anyone, but it was a challenge the Boy Meets Girl duo were more than up for. Their submission became a song that was released in 1987 that you may be familiar with. A little tune titled “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”

Yeah, they followed “How Will I Know” with “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.” Imagine being tasked to equal your greatest achievement ever, and then not only equaling it, but surpassing it. That’s what Merrill and Rubicam did.

That same year they also wrote “I Know You By Heart,” a duet that would be recorded by Dolly Parton and Smokey Robinson for Dolly’s Rainbow album. It was then covered just one year later, in 1988, by Bette Midler and David Pack, for the Beaches soundtrack.

1988 was also the year Boy Meets Girl’s Reel Life was released, along with “Waiting for a Star to Fall.” The duo almost ended up a no-hit wonder, however, as they initially tried to place their eventual big hit with another artist.

This desire stemmed from the song being inspired by Merrill and Rubicam witnessing a falling star while at a Whitney Houston concert (we can be pretty sure they had a nice in for tickets). With that in mind, they first offered it to Whitney, but Clive Davis wasn’t interested (a rare miss for the mogul).

Belinda Carlisle then recorded a demo version of the song, but ultimately decided she didn’t want it for her 1987 album, Heaven on Earth.

It was at this point that “Waiting for a Star to Fall” became a Boy Meets Girl song, and with its release their real life, and Reel Life, saw them gain fame.

Unfortunately, when their follow up album, New Dream, was about to be released in 1990, the label they were on, RCA/BMG, went through a drastic reorganization. In an interview with Music Business Worldwide, Rubicam said, “Eighty groups got the axe in one week from RCA/BMG at the time and we were one of them,” adding, “It was very discouraging. We were a week away from doing the video for what was going to be the initial single.” 

The album would only be released in the UK, and Europe, and didn’t see the light of day in the U.S. until a remastering and rerelease 15 years later, in 2005. Not exactly “striking while the iron is hot” when it comes to following up a 1988 hit.

By the time 2005 rolled around life had become very different for Merrill and Rubicam. Having gotten married in the ‘80s, and being parents, after the disappointment of being dropped they walked away from the industry to focus on raising their kids. Writers never stop writing, though, so they kept penning new songs.

In the early 2000s, Merrill and Rubicam broke up as a couple, getting a divorce, but stayed together as a writing team, and around that same time UK songwriter/producer Eliot Kennedy inspired them to get back to placing their songs with other artists.

In 2003, the world saw the return of Boy Meets Girl as recording artists, when the duo released the album The Wonderground via their own label. Rubicam would later publish a novel of the same name in 2011.

Their most recent release was a 2021 EP titled 5.

The question a lot of people may have at this point is – how could a writing duo that wrote multiple legendary hits be a one hit wonder as performers? Surely they had to have other great songs as Boy Meets Girl, right?

With that question in mind, I dug Reel Life out my record collection, dropped the needle on it, and found three songs, other than “Waiting for a Star to Fall,” that you should hear.  

“Restless Dreamer”

 

A big pop-rock song, “Restless Dreamer” sounds totally different from “Waiting for a Star to Fall,” but it’s equally fantastic.

That said, while I love what Merrill and Rubicam did with the song, I can’t help but think it could’ve been a huge monster ballad had it been performed by a rock band, or rock artist. Personally, I think Bryan Adams would’ve crushed it as a duet with someone like Susanna Hoffs, but that’s just me playing A&R more than 35 years after the fact.

Heck, this song could still work in the present with the right artists! It’s timeless.

“If You Run”

 

A pure ‘80s pop song, “If You Run” feels like it would’ve been perfect as a soundtrack to a movie scene. If it never made its way into a film, that means someone seriously dropped the ball, because this is an addictive tune that should’ve been everywhere.

“One Sweet Dream”

 

A great ‘80s pop duet, I’m not sure why “One Sweet Dream” wasn’t released as a single, because it would’ve been a perfect follow up to “Waiting for a Star to Fall.” I guess sometimes songs are destined to be album cuts, only discovered by those who listen to the full LP. Good thing that’s something I, and all of you, enjoy doing!

Until next time, here’s to discovering more great music from one hit wonders!