The album had three singles, but only one made it to the top 40 charts; “I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You” peaked at #36. The second single, “Don't Let it Show,” barely made it to the Hot 100 at 92 and “Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)” never even charted.
“Breakdown” didn’t chart either; however, it received an inordinate amount of airplay on album rock stations. Even though it wasn’t released as a single, it is often the song most people remember from this classic album that originally was to be based on Isaac Asimov’s “I, Robot” stories from the 1940s.
The Alan Parsons Project was a collaboration between songwriter Eric Woolfson and studio engineer and producer Alan Parsons. Parsons cut his teeth on projects such as The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” He won a Grammy for his engineering on Pink Floyd’s masterpiece from 1973.
In addition, you can hear his influence on Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat” and a couple of hits by The Hollies, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” and “The Air That I Breathe.” The experience with The Hollies brought him in contact with lead singer Allen Clarke who, by the way, sings lead on “Breakdown.”
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