Category Archives: song of the day

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Song of the Day #5,903: ‘When Doves Cry (Live)’ – Prince

Top Ten Songs of the Summer
#5 – Prince – ‘When Doves Cry’ (1984)

The 80s is my favorite musical decade, so it follows that it’s also the decade that produced the best Songs of the Summer. Three of my top five SotS came from that great period.

1984 was a particularly good year. I’ll get to Prince in a second, but the runners-up that year included Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Dancing in the Dark,’ Billy Idol’s ‘Eyes Without a Face,’ Lionel Richie’s ‘Stuck On You,’ and Duran Duran’s ‘The Reflex.’ Also in the running were the two songs I blogged about yesterday, Tina Turner’s ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’ and John Waite’s ‘Missing You.’

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Song of the Day #5,902: ‘Missing You’ – John Waite

Tina Turner had the #1 song the week of September 1, 1984, with ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It?‘ It was her first and only solo #1, and spent three weeks atop the Hot 100.

That week, the second spot was held by English singer-songwriter John Waite with his soft rock balled ‘Missing You.’ Waite would eventually replace Turner at #1, topping the chart for a single week. ‘Missing You’ was the only song in that great music year to spend only one week at #1.

Turner would cover this song 12 years later for her album Wildest Dreams.

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Song of the Day #5,901: ‘(You’re) Having My Baby’ – Paul Anka with Odia Coates

Throwing back to the week of August 31, 1974, we find Paul Anka atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘(You’re) Having My Baby,’ a song that spent three weeks at #1. It was Anka’s second and last chart-topper.

The treacly duet with singer Odia Coates has been widely derided in the years since its release, including being voted the worst song of all time in a 2006 CNN poll.

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Song of the Day #5,900: ‘Crazy in Love (Live)’ – Beyoncé

Top Ten Songs of the Summer
#6 – Beyoncé – ‘Crazy in Love’ (2003)

This is one of only three songs on my list from the current millennium — two from the 00s and one from the 20s.

The 2010s didn’t manage to land one song on the list, a dubious distinction that decade shares with the 90s. Technically, the 50s are unrepresented as well, but with only two qualifying songs that’s not much of a surprise.

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Song of the Day #5,899: ‘One of These Nights (Live)’ – Eagles

Top Ten Songs of the Summer
#7 – Eagles – ‘One of These Nights’ (1975)

The title track of the Eagles’ fourth studio album, ‘One of These Nights’ was the band’s second #1 hit and their only song to appear on the Song of the Summer charts.

This isn’t my very favorite Eagles song, but it’s definitely a great one. Written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, and sung with sexy soulfulness by Henley, the song was a stylistic departure from the band’s country-rock roots, even finding room for a dash of disco.

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