Songoftheday 11/21/17 - Look into my eyes you will see what you mean to me...

"(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" - Bryan Adams
from the albums Waking Up The Neighbors and Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves (Original Soundtrack) (1991)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (seven weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 17

Today's song of the day comes from Canadian rock star Bryan Adams, who had followed up his massive album Reckless with the more introspective Into The Fire, which also scored him a trio of hit singles in 1987 with "Victim Of Love", "Heart's On Fire", and the top ten "Heat Of The Night". In 1990, he made an appearance on Billboard's Mainstream Rock radio chart with a live cover of Pink Floyd's "Young Lust" which went to #7. It took a long four years for Adams to record his next record with producer Robert "Mutt" Lange, who had transformed the sound and careers of hard rock bands like AC/DC and Def Leppard. The first result of those sessions came in the summer of 1991, when Adams' contribution to the soundtrack to the Kevin Costner movie Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You", written by Adams and Lange along with Michael Kamen, who composed and produced the rest of the Robin Hood score, was a love song that seemed to be handed down from another time, as if it had always existed but wasn't tired, with Adams' husky yet restrained voice selling the future wedding reception staple like nobody's business. It ended up becoming the biggest hit of the year, and the longest stay at the top of the American top-40 since the Police's "Every Breath I Take" in 1983...


"(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" spent seven weeks at #1 on the American pop chart in July, August, and September of 1991. The song also logged in eight weeks atop Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio list, and peaked at #10 on their Mainstream Rock tally. Internationally, the single set the record for longest stay at #1 in the UK with 16 weeks, while also reaching the top in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. It won a Grammy for Best Song from a Film or Television show, and was nominated for Record of the Year, losing out to Natalie and Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable". It also lost out on the Oscar in 1992 to Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson's "Beauty & The Beast".

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


Here's the alternate version of the video, which subsituted live footage for the Robin Hood scenes...


and next up, Bryan on the tour behind the Waking Up The Neighbours album in 1992...


In 1992, Irish alternative rock band Fatima Mansions transformed the song into a chill-out experiment that reached #7 on the UK singles chart...

 
Here he is at Wembley Arena in London in 1996, with camera work that let's you know how massive he is there in the UK...


Three years later, American R&B singer/actress Brandy covered the song as a "double-A side" single, and reached #28 in New Zealand....


Back to Bryan with his Festival De Vina live appearance in Chile in 2007...


Lastly, here he is stripped down on his PBS Great Performances gig in 2015...


Up tomorrow: Soul trio enjoys the evening.

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