The Charm Kings

I have often recieved questions about what happened to the track “Caught Up In The Crossfire”. No one seems to have it or be able to find it. Well, now we have the full story from the source. Sean, has spoken with the original writer and shared his findings with me. Mystery solved.

According to John Brennan - Song Writer
In 1986 I was working in New York with Tom Griffith, writing, producing and recording the music for the original Miller Genuine Draft “It’s As Real As It Gets” campaign.  At the same time, an old friend named Tim Sexton, who I grew up with in San Diego, was the head of music at Tri-Star Pictures.  Tim asked if I would be interested in composing something for the film “Iron Eagle.”  I said yes, of course, and wrote a song called “No More Mr. Nice Guy.”  The song ended up not being used in that film, but then Tim asked if I might have something for another soon-to-be-released Tri-Star film called “Rad.”  So Tom Griffith helped me re-write
the lyrics, we used the same music tracks that I had recorded for “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” brought back Tom Bernfeld, the original singer,  and “Caught Up In The Crossfire” was born.

The origin of the name “The Charm Kings” is another story.  From 1976 to1979 I had the honor of being the lead guitar player for legendary Byrds bassist, co-founder of The Flying Burrito Brothers and country-rock icon Chris Hillman.  After the band, (which included Loggins & Messina veterans Larry Sims, Al Garth and Merel Bregante,) had been on tour long enough for everyone to have lost all sense of reality, decorum, and/or regard for our fellow man or woman, we began to call ourselves the “The Charm Kings.”  (It made sense at the time.)

So.....when it became clear that “Caught Up In The Crossfire” was going to make the final cut of “Rad,” Tri-Star said they needed a name for the “band” in the credits. “The Charm Kings” was the first thing that popped into my mind...

According to Sean - Researcher
Sadly though, John was never able to find the master recording anywhere in his studio. He even asked a friend at the studio he recorded it at and he too was never able to find it. Sad to say that we will probably never be able to hear the full version... The song was not selected for the soundtrack and they never recorded another version.