CHICAGO – The Oscar-winning singer-songwriter recalled a recent trip to the airport where an official took his passport and noticed his name. As she looked at the document, she said: "Christopher Cross. There was a singer named that. I really liked his music. He passed away a few years ago."
Cross was so stunned, all he could say was, "Oh, really?"
"I was afraid if I told her I was still alive, she'd have a heart attack or something," he added.
Not only is Cross alive and well, he's also out with a new album this month.
"Dr. Faith" is his first studio album in 12 years (he put out a live album, "The Cafe Carlyle Sessions," in 2008, and a Christmas album last year). Cross, who is best known for early 1980s hits like "Sailing," "Ride Like the Wind," "Never Be the Same" and "Think of Laura," cited a divorce after 18 years of marriage and "some personal distractions" as the reasons behind not releasing any new material for so long.
But he said time away can sometimes benefit the creative process.
"Maybe what happens after all these years of writing, you just want to take a break, let the well build up, let the energy build up until I ... had something to say."
Cross describes "Dr. Faith" as sounding like a Crowded House record. It's more guitar-oriented than his earlier albums.
"Instead of transcribing the songs to keyboard, I just did them with guitar, and I really had a good time," he said. "I've always been a guitarist, but this was a real fun exploration of that medium."
Releasing "Dr. Faith" means Cross can finally play those songs live. He refused to do so until the album came out.
"With all the downloading and YouTube and cellphone-taping and all that, it's just too risky. Once something's out there on the Web, it's out there and it's gone," he said.
Sharp-eyed Cross fans will notice that the flamingo that's traditionally on his album covers can only be seen in his name. His original drummer had drawn a much bigger flamingo for Cross' first album cover, and Cross put a flamingo on nearly every cover since then as a good-luck charm.
So where's the flamingo?
"We shot him in the head a long time ago," Cross joked. "After a while it gets to be kind of an annoyance, like people putting them in their yard. With this album, we just really decided to purposely let it go."
Cross, who recently turned 60, won the 1981 best original song Oscar for "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)."
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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