Today we are going for a fun song for the Song of the Day – “Neutron Dance” by The Pointer Sisters. The song was written by Allee Willis and Danny Sembello. Allee Willis also wrote Earth, Wind & Fire’s hits “September” and “Boogie Wonderland“. Danny Sembello was the younger brother of Michael Sembello.
This song featuring Ruth Pointer on lead vocal was introduced on the Pointer Sisters’ October 1983 album release Break Out. There had already been four singles released from that album. But “Neutron Dance” was issued as a single in November 1984 thanks to its addition to the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack.
In March 1985 “Neutron Dance” became the fourth Top Ten single issued from the Break Out album rising as high as #6. It would be their last Top 10 hit. “Dare Me“, from their follow-up album Contact, peaked at #11.
In honor of Eric Clapton’s 77th birthday, today’s Song of the Day is his 1986 hit, “It’s in the Way That You Use It”. This song was the first track on the album August, which was named after the month Clapton’s son Conor was born. It was also was written for the movie The Color Of Money, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise as pool sharks. It appeared on the soundtrack before Clapton’s album was released. Clapton wrote this with Robbie Robertson, who’s work with The Band in the ’60s encouraged Clapton to get away from the long, heavy solos he was playing with Cream. Robertson was in charge of the music for The Color Of Money, but because he was not finished with his first solo album, his record company would not let him sing on any of the songs. He got around it by contributing instrumental songs to the soundtrack.
Today’s Song of the Day, “Love Is” by Alannah Myles, was the first single off of her self-titled debut album in Canada, and was the second single released after “
In honor of Elton John’s 75th birthday, today’s song of the day is his 1989 hit, “Healing Hands”. This was the lead single from his Sleeping With the Past, with the follow-ups being “
“You Might Think” by The Cars is the first single released off of their fifth studio album, Heartbeat City (1984). It by was written by the late Ric Ocasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019) and produced by Mutt Lange and the Cars, with Ocasek also providing the lead vocals. The song peaked at number seven in the United States and number eight in Canada.
On this day in 1986, “These Dreams” by Heart hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming the band’s first song to top the charts. Singer-songwriter Martin Page, who co-wrote other successful songs including “
Today’s Song of the Day, “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy, was the theme song for the 1989 film, Do the Right Thing which is directed by Spike Lee, who turned 65 yesterday. The song reached number one on Hot Rap Singles and number 20 on the Hot R&B Singles. It was named the best single of 1989 by The Village Voice in their Pazz & Jop critics’ poll. It has become Public Enemy’s best-known song and has received accolades as one of the greatest songs of all time by critics and publications.
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, today’s song of the day is not a U2 song, but it is “Orinoco Flow” by the Irish singer, Enya, who also happened to be born on this day in 1961. This song was released on October 3, 1988 off of Enya’s second album, Watermark. It became a hit all over the world reaching number one in several countries, including Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, where it stayed at the top of the UK Singles Chart for three weeks. In the U.S., the song peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1989.
Today’s Song of the Day is a deep track duet by James “J.T.” Taylor and Regina Belle that is underappreciated. James “J.T.” Taylor had been the lead singer of Kool & the Gang. This song is off of his debut solo album, Master of the Game, which was released in 1989. It also appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Tap, which starred Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. (in his last film role).
Return to the 80s 