Songoftheday 9/23/12 - Just smile for me and let the day begin, you are the sunshine that lights my heart within...

Jeffrey Osborne - "On The Wings Of Love"
from the album Jeffrey Osborne (1982)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (three weeks)
Weeks in the top-40: 7

Today's Song of the Day is by R&B singer Jeffrey Osborne. After leaving L.T.D. at the beginning of the 80's, Osborne's first foray into a solo career, "I Really Don't Need No Light", scored him a top-40 pop hit.  That song fit into his wheelhouse of smooth funk, but his followup, "On The Wings Of Love", proved he can handle an epic pop ballad with the scope of his female competition. The wedding song staple was written by Osborne with tunesmith Peter Schless, and produced by jazz/soul fave George Duke.

"On The Wings Of Love" did better than his first single on the pop chart, making the top-30, though it just made #13 on the R&B chart. It was his first solo adult-contemporary (soft-rock) hit, going to #7, as well as his first hit in Britain, peaking at #11. It also remains his most remembered song so far, it's longevity due to its timeless message and performance.

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In 1998, reggae artist Trevor Sparks took on the song, though I'm not so keen on the rhythm disjunction...

...and in 1999, Filipino singer Regine Velasquez covered the song more faithfully...

Up tomorrow: Days after "Africa", the fourth continent I'll be covering, mate.