Not to be confused with the theme song for the animated educational television series Arthur or the Rick Wakeman song used by the BBC as the theme for their election coverage.
A commercial success in the United States, it reached the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Adult Contemporary charts in October 1981, remaining at the top of the Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks. The song topped the VG-lista chart in Norway and was a top-ten hit in several other countries.
The song was written in collaboration between Cross, Burt Bacharach, and Bacharach's frequent writing partner and then-wife Carole Bayer Sager. A fourth writing credit went to Minnelli's ex-husband, Australian songwriter Peter Allen,[2] a frequent collaborator with Bayer Sager. The line in the chorus "When you get caught between the moon and New York City" was taken from an unreleased song written by Allen and Bayer Sager.[3] Allen came up with the line while his plane was in a holding pattern during a night arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport.[4]
Release
The song "Minstrel Gigolo" served as the record's B-side, having previously backed Cross's debut single, "Ride Like the Wind".
Cross included "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" as a bonus track exclusive to cassette and CD versions of his 1983 album Another Page.
Music video
The music video consists of two acts, which are edited together in fade outs. In one, Christopher Cross performs the song with musicians in a recording studio, and the other is the story the song illustrates.
^Deggans, Eric (1998). "Christopher Cross". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 293.
^ abcRoberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 136. ISBN1-904994-10-5.
^Bremer, K. (April 26, 2013). "Peter Allen". Blue Desert Music. Archived from the original on July 20, 2001. Retrieved April 30, 2013.