Songoftehday 11/3/12 - I can tell you that love is too deep to be played on...

Earth, Wind & Fire - "Fall In Love With Me"
from the album Powerlight (1983)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #17 (three weeks)
Weeks in the top-40: 10

Today's Song of the Day is by the R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire, who were formed under Maurice White, who backed musician Ramsey Lewis, in the early 70s. They released their self-titled first album in 1971, and from it came their first hit single, "Love Is Life". By the time they got to their fifth album, Open Our Eyes, they ventured to the pop top-40 and R&B top-10 for the first time with "Mighty Mighty" in 1974. That version of the group was totally changed up from their earliest incarnation, but this focus on funk with a rock edge started to pay off. In 1975, the band released their classic That's The Way Of The World album, and scored their first #1 pop and R&B hit, "Shining Star". It would be the first of their eight charttoppers on the R&B list.

The band released their twelfth studio album, Powerlight, in 1983. The first single, "Fall In Love With Me", had the same electro-funk groove as their recent top-10 pop hit "Let's Groove".  Written by White along with Wayne and Wanda Vaughn, Maurice's futuristic sheen on the song ages better than most of its contemporary songs, even if the video seems like a ripoff of Olivia Newton-John's "Xanadu"..

The song made it to #17 on the pop chart, their last top-40 pop hit so far, and #4 on the R&B chart. It also made the top-40 on the dance chart, given it's post-disco groove, I'm surprised it didn't do better. It was even a bigger hit in Canada, going to #12. The song also nabbed the group a Grammy nomination that year.

Up tomorrow: A Swedish icon gets paranoid.