Make Me Lose Control (song)

Carmen stated in the liner notes to a compilation album that "Make Me Lose Control" was an "odd record because it was all by itself. The song wasn't part of an album, but it was an interesting experience to jump back into the studio with Jimmy Ienner after ten years".^[2] The B-side was Carmen's original 1975 recording of his song which became a major hit in 1977 for Shaun Cassidy, "That's Rock 'n' Roll".

"Make Me Lose Control" did not originally appear on any of Carmen's studio albums; the song later surfaced on various greatest hits releases. In keeping with its nostalgic feel, the richness of harmony, and underlying yearning for the "sweet songs" of the 1950s and 1960s, references are made to four other songs from that era and another from the 1970s: "Uptown" (whether the song recorded by Roy Orbison or the one recorded by the Crystals is unclear), "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King, "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes, "Back in My Arms Again" by the Supremes, and "I Go Crazy" by Paul Davis.

Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated it to be Carmen's 6th greatest solo song, stating that "The song’s Drifters meets Phil Spector sound proved quite a success for Eric Carmen in 1988."^[3] Chaospin critic Linda Giantino rated it Carmen's 9th greatest solo song, stating that "it’s up there among his most catchy tunes."^[4]

The song was featured on an episode of the American TV show Dexter.^[4]

The music video was produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich of FYI. It features Kid Leo, a radio personality who got his start in Cleveland, Carmen's hometown. The video refers to the film American Graffiti by re-creating the scene in which the blonde in the white T-Bird (Suzanne Somers) tells Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) "I love you", and his near-misses with her after that. In the video, a mysterious young blonde pulls up beside Carmen's car and tells him, "I love you." Like Dreyfuss' character, Carmen only sees a T-Bird in passing for the remainder of the video. Cast in the video was actress Annette Sinclair, who had just been divorced from rock singer Bob Seger, whom she had married in 1987.

Released a few months after the success of Carmen's song from the film Dirty Dancing, "Hungry Eyes", which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Make Me Lose Control" also reached the top 5 on the Hot 100, peaking at No. 3.^[5] On the Sales chart, the song spent a week at No. 1, while on the Airplay chart, it reached No. 4. It spent 13 weeks at the top 40. In addition, "Make Me Lose Control" spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, the singer's second song to do so (following "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" from 1976).^[2] It was Carmen's second to last charting hit and his final to chart inside the top 40.