Songoftheday 6/4/12: I've been writing letters every day now since you've been gone...

Karla Bonoff - "Personally"

from the album Wild Heart Of The Young (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #19 (two weeks)

Weeks in the top-40: 12

Today's Song of the Day is by singer/songwriter Karla Bonoff. Born in California, Bonoff bounced around the folk-rock circuit until three of her songs were used by Linda Ronstadt on her classic Hasten Down The Wind album, including the single "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me". Karla's debut album gave her her first charting single, the country-pop of  "I Can't Hold On" in 1978. Two years later, "Baby Don't Go" from her sophomore effort made the top-40 of the soft-rock chart and had more of the harmonies that helped Ronstadt's success.

In 1982, Bonoff released her Wild Heart of the Young album, and the first single from that record, "Personally", wasn't written by Bonoff, but rather was a cover of a song by Paul Kelly that was a minor hit for the soul/disco singer Jackie Moore ("This Time Baby") in the 70s.

Bonoff's version was a perfect mesh of breezy 70's pop and soul groove in the Laura Nyro vein.

The song made the top-20 on the pop chart, and #3 on the soft rock chart, and is Bonoff's sole top-40 hit. Bonoff would also have a track on the Footloose soundtrack in 1984, and the song, "Somebody's Eyes", was the seventh single from the LP and reached the soft-rock top-20. She now performs in a group called Bryndle, which included fellow singer/songwriters Andrew Gold ("Thank You For Being A Friend"), Wendy Waldman, and her producer, the late Kenny Edwards.

"Personally" also went to the top-10 of the country charts in a version by Ronnie McDowell in 1983...

Up tomorrow: Steve Perry and the boys keep ridin'...