Songoftheday 6/17/15 - Love can make you weep can make you run for cover, roots that spread so deep bring life to frozen ground...

"Something So Strong" - Crowded House
from the album Crowded House (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 11

Today's SOTD comes from the modern rock band Crowded House, the trio from New Zealand and Australia that scored a #2 pop hit in America with "Don't Dream It's Over" in the spring of 1987. Their follow-up single in the U.S. was the upbeat jangle-pop of "Something So Strong", written by lead singer Neil Finn with producer Mitchell Froom...

"Something So Strong" became Crowded House's second top-10 hit in America in July of 1987, while going a notch higher than its predecessor did on the Mainstream Rock radio chart at #10. Internationally, the single made the top-10 in Canada (#10) and New Zealand (#3), top-20 in Australia (#18), but surprisingly bombed in the UK at #95.

The trio's next album, Temple Of Low Men, failed to recapture their success in the States, with first single "Better Be Home Soon" stopping right under the American Top-40 at #42 the following year. Returning three years later with Neil's brother Tim joining the band, they found that although the pop single from their third album, "Fall At Your Feet", managed a modest #75 peak on the Hot 100, the new modern rock radio format embraced their record, with two top-ten hits on that new chart, and "Chocolate Cake" reaching #2. They even nabbed a top-10 pop hit in England with "Weather With You" from the same release. They claimed another top-10 Modern Rock hit in America in 1994 with "Locked Out", but wouldn't nick another American singles chart since. Drummer Paul Hester left the band shortly after, and after a compilation that sent three singles into the British top 40 with "Instinct" at #12. Sadly, Hester killed himself in 2005, leaving Finn and bassist Nick Seymour to reunite to record a new album, which landed them a top-40 hit in Australia with "Don't Stop Now" (which also came one step away from making the British top-40). Most recently, they released the Intriguer album which topped the Australian albums chart, hit #12 in Britain, and #50 in the U.S.

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Here's the band performing live on TV in 1987..

...and again from 1996..

..and finally, from the Live Earth concert in 2007...

Up tomorrow: A Detroit rocker is arresting in Beverly Hills.