Songoftheday 12/18/13 - Empty lake empty streets the sun goes down alone, I'm drivin' by your house though I know you're not at home...

Don Henley - "The Boys Of Summer"
from the album Building The Perfect Beast (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14

Today's Song of the Day is by Don Henley, whose first solo album after leaving the Eagles in 1982 produced a top-10 pop hit with its second single "Dirty Laundry". Two years later Don released the follow-up to that record, Building The Perfect Beast, which was much more cohesive with stronger songs and tighter production. The first single from the set, "The Boys Of Summer", was a snarky nostalgia trip tugging at those former hippies who have assimilated into the corporate borg. Written by the artist with Mike Campbell from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers and produced by the pair with Danny Kortchmar and Greg Ladanyi. The video for the song was a high-class affair shot in black and white by Jean-Baptiste Mondino (his first major work)...

"The Boys Of Summer" became Henley's third solo top-10 hit (including his duet with Stevie Nicks, "Leather And Lace") in February of 1985, while also going all the way to #1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock radio chart and #3 on the adult-contemporary format (where now it's rather a staple). Internationally, the single made it to #12 in the UK (where it peaked there again in 1998) and #15 in Canada. Not only would Henley win a Grammy for best male rock performance for the single, but the video also picked up four MTV Music Video Awards as well.

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Spanish Eurodance producer DJ Sammy covered the song in 2002, and it became a hit around the world, reaching the top-10 in Australia and New Zealand and going as high as #2 in Britain...

A year later, pop/punk band the Ataris also released a version of "The Boys Of Summer", and they went to #20 on the American pop chart, #2 on the Modern Rock chart, #18 on the Adult Top-40 list, #36 on Mainstream Rock, and even got noticed overseas, reaching #49 in the UK, while being a top-40 hit in both Australia and New Zealand...

 

Up tomorrow: two guys lipsynching terribly.