Songoftheday 12/6/17 - Let's dance together just for the night let's don't worry about the future or nothin' else, 'cause just like the music's sayin' you gotta take chances go ahead just do it and trust yourself...
from the album Vagabond Heart (1991)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 11
Today's song of the day is by Scottish rock legend Rod Stewart, whose first studio album of the 1990s, Vagabond Heart, returned him to the top ten on the American pop chart with "Rhythm Of My Heart" in the spring of 1991. (Another track from the record, "Rebel Heart", was a moderate hit on rock stations, peaking at #17 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock radio chart shortly after). His next pop radio release from the record would be reminiscent of the second single from his box set from the previous year, the cover of "This Old Heart Of Mine" featuring Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers. This time out, it was a more obscure cover of Larry McNally's "The Motown Song" from the Kevin Bacon film Quicksilver from 1986. Rod recruited the Temptations (the kings of Motown) to sing backup on this kitschy and bouncy pop ditty, which the older demo ate up like hotcakes on an early bird special. And this music video, which has the corniest animation this side of Paula Abdul, still found a home on MTV before the onslaught of grunge...
"The Motown Song" became Rod's second top ten pop hit from Vagabond Heart in September of 1991. The song also spent five weeks at #3 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart. Internationally, the record went to #1 for one week in Canada, and reached the top ten in Ireland (#2) and the UK (#10). It also made the top 10 in Sweden (#11), Germany (#21), New Zealand (#23), and Australia (#26).
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Here's the original version of the song from Quicksilver from Larry John McNally...
And finally, Rod on tour behind the Vagabond Heart album in 1991...
Up tomorrow: Soul singer makes a spectacular comeback singing with her dad.
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