Songoftheday 9/9/15 - When the night falls down I wait for you and you come around, and the world's alive with the sound of kids on the street outside...


"Heaven Is A Place On Earth" - Belinda Carlisle
from the album Heaven On Earth (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 15

Today's song of the day is by Belinda Carlisle, who left the all-female rock band the Go-Go's to embark on a solo career in the mid-80s and scored a top-3 pop hit with "Mad About You". That was from her debut solo set Belinda with her Go-Go's label I.R.S., and shared the indie-retro vibe of her old band. In 1987 she moved over to MCA, and with a more mature and glamorous image (and darker hair) released her sophomore effort Heaven On Earth. The lead single, the semi-title track "Heaven Is A Place On Earth", was written by the team of Rick Nowels (who produced the song) and Ellen Shipley, and the music video came A-listed, directed by none other than Diane Keaton, with husband Morgan Mason again making a cameo...


"Heaven Is A Place On Earth" became Belinda's biggest hit, landing her sole #1 pop hit in America in December of 1987. The single also made it to #7 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart (surprised it didn't go higher). Internationally, the record climbed to #1 in the UK for two weeks, as well as in Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and New Zealand, and top-3 in Australia, Canada, and Germany.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


Here's Belinda live in 1987 for the Prince's Trust...


...and a much better go at it on her tour in 1988...


..and yet again on her Runaway Horses show in 1990...


In 2003, the dance act Soda Club with Hannah Alethea peaked at #13 on the British singles chart with their cover of the song...


Finally, here she is in 2013 at the Rewind Festival....


Up tomorrow: pop-rock singer/songwriter has regrets.

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