Charlie - Good Morning America (1981)

Continuing their corporate wanderings, 1981's "Good Morning" found the band signed domestically by RCA Victor.  This time the album was co-produced by Terry Thomas and guitarist John Verity.  A former member of The Kinks and Phoenix. Verity was supposedly brought in to 'toughen up' the band's sound and ended up joining the line-up on guitar.  He also handled lead vocals on 'Roll the Dice' and 'Heading for Home'.  Fellow Kinks/Phoenix alumnus Bob Henrit came along on drums. 
Partnering with a big label should have opened the door for mega success ('course the deal with Arista should have done that), but as is often the case, it didn't happen.  In fact, this was the first Charlie effort that I'd describe as a major disappointment.  While the band's sound remained instantly recognizable, this time around Thomas and company seemed to have opted for a more AOR attack with an occasional shot of new wave angst (the group-penned 'I'm Angry with You'). 
While it may have been a right marketing move and was clearly intended to break the band in the States, the unfortunate result was that material like 'I Can't Get Over You' (with a strange reggae undercurrent), 'Heading for Home' and 'Saturday Night' was competent, but largely forgettable. 
If I had to pick a favorite track - well none of them were great, but at least the title track (featuring Thomas' dry humor), and All My Life' had some nice harmony work. 
To be honest, Thomas and company seem to have simply run out of creative steam.  Perhaps not a major shock given the amount of material they'd churned out over the past five years, or recent problems on the business end.  

Track listing

01.  "Good Morning America"  (Terry Thomas)  - 5:23 
02.  "I Can't Get Over You"  (Terry Thomas)  - 3:40 
03.  "Roll The Dice"  (Chris Couchois, Mike Couchois)  - 3:58 
04.  "Heading For Home " (Terry Thomas)  - 4:11 
05.  "Saturday Night"  - 3:16 
06.  "All My Life"  - 3:43 
07.  "Fool For Your Love"  - 4:11 
08.  "My Perfect Lover"  - 3:34 
09.  "I'm Angry With You"  (Steve Gadd, Robert Henrit, Terry Thomas, John Verity)  - 3:04 
10.  "Just One More Chance"  (Terry Thomas)  - 3:46 
11.  "The Girl Won't Dance With Me"  (Terry Thomas)  - 3:43 

Credits
Bass, Vocals – John Anderson
Drums – Bob Henrit, Steve Gadd 
Guitar, Vocals – John Verity, Terry Thomas
Producer – Terry Thomas
Producer, Engineer – John Verity

Notes
Recorded at Livingstone Studios, London
Genre: Pop, Rock
Length: 43:00
Label: RCA Victor Records

© 1981