Songoftheday 12/1/15 - Kissing like a bandit stealing time underneath the sycamore tree...

"Wishing Well" - Terence Trent D'Arby
from the album Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 15

Today's song of the day is from American singer Terence Trent D'Arby, who had started out as a boxer before joining the Army and eventually ending up in Germany, where he skipped out on the service and jetted around as a vocalist in a number of acts before being signed to a solo record deal in England. His debut album, Introducing the Hardline..., was a fresh retake on the gruff soul of James Brown combines with the battered restraint of David Ruffin of the Temptations. The first single from the album, the retro-sounding "If You Let Me Stay", was a big hit in the UK, reaching #7 on the singles chart, and crossed the Atlantic to #19 on Billboard's R&B chart, but stopped cold at #68 on their pop Hot 100. It was then that I bought the album back in Chicago, drawn in by D'Arby's voice which runs rings around the rather "simple" song. Another of the album's tracks, "Wishing Well", was subtitled "A Tone Poem" on the CD case. Written by Terence with band bassist Sean Oliver, and co-produced by former Human League/Heaven 17 member Martyn Ware, the final product was a laid-back slice of alt-funk that preceded Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do" by years. The video, from the moment he slides into frame, captured the world with his striking looks (and locks) and kept them there with a much more nuanced use of his vocal range...

"Wishing Well" climbed all the way to #1 on the American top-40 in May of 1988. It also spent a week atop Billboard's R&B chart, and popped onto the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio list at #44. The 12" extended remix made it to #7 on the Dance Club Play chart. Internationally, the song made the top 10 in the UK (#4), New Zealand (#4), the Netherlands (#3), Switzerland (#5), and Austria (#10), and top-20 in France and Germany. D'Arby was nominated for a New Artist Grammy, losing to Jody Watley.

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Here's the "Cool In The Shade Mix" from the 12" single that reached the top-10 on the dance chart...

...and D'arby performing the song live...

...and another respectable TV appearance...

...and finally, from a concert in 1995...

Up tomorrow: Actor/rocker finds a vital mineral.