Planet P Project

Following a stint playing keyboards for Rainbow in the '70s, Californian Tony Carey relocated to Germany, continuing his musical career as a solo artist. He managed to achieve some chart success in the early '80s with songs like "I Won't Be Home Tonight," "A Fine, Fine Day," and "The First Day of Summer." Carey had also formed a creative union with German producer Peter Hauke under the moniker Planet P Project, with Carey handling all of the writing and most of the instrumental duties. Their eponymous 1983 debut was defined by the synthesizer-laden style of the day with a nod to the progressive rock of the prior decade. With heavy exposure of the accompanying video on MTV, the single "Why Me?" clicked at album rock outlets, climbing into the Top Ten while it also managed to crossover over onto the pop charts. Another track, "Static," also received enough airplay to be a moderate AOR hit. The act's next release was even more ambitious, a double album entitled Pink World, which was released in the fall of 1984. A sprawling concept album, Pink World, was musically a continuation of Planet P Project and touched on similar themes reflecting the Cold War paranoia of the mid-'80s. It failed to achieve the attention of the prior record, although the track "What I See" managed to make a slight impact on radio. With Pink World having been eclipsed by the success of his 1984 solo album Some Tough City, which had scored two Top 40 singles in "A Fine, Fine Day" and "The First Day of Summer," Carey shelved Planet P Project. ~ Tom Demalon, All Music Guide