“When I’m Away From You”
The Bellamy Brothers
Written by Frankie Miller
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
March 25, 1983
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
April 2, 1983
The Bellamy Brothers find a country hit on a Kim Carnes pop album.
Mistaken Identity was a smashing success because of Kim’s cover of Jackie De Shannon’s “Bette Davis Eyes,” so there’s a nice “pay it forward” element of another artist having a hit song by covering one of its tracks.
The song itself is fairly slight, and would benefit from a shorter running time and less repetitive lyrics. It’s produced well and the brothers are in fine voice. They’re just not working with great material this time around.
We won’t see the Bellamy Brothers again until 1985, but between now and then, they earned a handful of additional hits, including the top five “I Love Her Mind” and “Forget About Me,” and the top ten “World’s Greatest Lover.”
“Whenever I’m Away From You” gets a B.
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The Bellamy Brothers just continue to grow on me as a listener. They were a good example of an artist just staying in their musical lane and playing to their strengths. I think if we charted their performances to date, we would see a steady increase in their marks as they move through the decade. Maybe it’s the Jimmy Bowen effect, maybe it is artistic maturity.
This song was a core piece of my K-102 radio listening experience as a burgeoning country music fan. I recall it getting a to of air play.
Either way, The Bellamy Brothers remain an underappreciated player in ’80s country music history.