Songoftheday 3/11/13 - I've been away from you for far too long, too much absence makes the heart go frantic...

Sheena Easton - "Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)"
from the album Best Kept Secret (1983)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #9 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14

Today's Song of the Day is by the singer who shared the spotlight last with yesterday SOTD artist, Kenny Rogers, on his Top-10 duet remake of "We've Got Tonight".  Sheena Easton last solo trip to the top 40 was back in 1982 with her tender ballad "When He Shines", but after a great album that was pretty much ignored in the U.S. (including the "robbed hit" "I Wouldn't Beg For Water"), the hit collaboration was the boost her career needed.

In 1983 Sheena released her fourth album, Best Kept Secret, and the first single, "Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)", was a peppy dance-pop number written by lyricist Trevor Veitch and producer Greg Mathieson, who were responsible for Laura Branigan's breakthough hit "Gloria", where you can see the similarities...


telephone by sheena easton by benjie274

"Telefone" became Sheena's fourth top-10 pop hit in the US in the fall of 1983, and also was her first dance club hit, peaking at #9. She also did well at adult-contemporary radio, reaching #15 on the format, but in her native Britain, the single stiffed at #84. But the album did pretty well, reaching top-40 in the States, which is crazy why it's out of print right now.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


...and what's a 1983 single without an appearance on Solid Gold?

A year later, Mexican teen vocal group Timbiriche did a translated version of the song...

Up tomorrow: British new wavers discover the consequences...