Throwback Thursday: "How Do You Talk to an Angel" The Heights

Musical drama The Heights was a total flop for Fox back in 1992, but its fictional band accomplished something the Glee kids never have: a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. (Two weeks later, the show was cancelled.) Unfortunately, said hit—the show's theme song, "How Do You Talk to an Angel"—has not aged gracefully in the intervening two decades. It's chock-full of the era's cheesiest soft-rock impulses: husky yet tender vocals, courtesy of Jamie Walters; ridiculously oversold conceptions of romance ("It's like trying to catch a falling star"); and, of course, sexy saxophone flourishes. That's not to say "Angel" is entirely without appeal these days (seriously, who doesn't love some sexy sax?), but it rests more on nostalgia and campy appreciation than a sense of artistic accomplishment. B-

20 years ago this week, "How Do You Talk to an Angel" was the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100.