i keep running and i don’t touch ground (13. 783)

Back in 2020, Matthew Wilder’s 1983 synth-pop breakout hit saw a resurgence when it became the subject of a brief viral trend on TikTok, which involved texting the lyrics line-by-line to friends until they recognise the song or disengage, then filming oneself dancing in front of the message chain, the inherent ridiculous of it—fresh at the time, often pranks or cheating lovers meeting their comeuppance—delighting the artist for the moment of rediscovery, though covered several times in the interim with a number of interpolations of the melody, and prompting Wilder to release a lyric video in the form of the exchange. Signed to Arista Records, Wilder was struggling to find his voice and a style of music that fit him, he self-financed the recording of “Break My Stride” as a rebuke to recording industry executives, whom Wilder felt were blocking his creativity with the song reflecting how he felt about his career at the time. The label, seeing little potential in Wilder, ended his contract, freeing him to shop around his repertoire and made a connection with iconic record promoter, responsible for shaping the careers of the likes of Elton John, Teena Marie, Murray Head, Lionel Richie, Neil Diamond, Paula Abdul, Wham!, Kim Carnes and many others, and reputed soldato of the Gambino crime family, accused of widespread racketeering and payola (the illegal practise of concealing pay-for-play deals with radio stations and now extended to streaming services but much harder to enforce) of Joe Isgro, who helped propel the single to the top of the charts by creating the illusion that it was a sleeper hit. 🏃🏽‍♀️💨