Songoftheday 1/17/13 - It's not the way you look, it's not the way that you smile, although there's something to that...

A Flock Of Seagulls - "Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)"
from the album Listen (1983)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #26 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 7

Today's Song of the Day is by the outrageously-locked British new-wave group A Flock Of Seagulls, who were one of the biggest early successes of the genre with their self-titled debut album, which spun off a pair of classic top-40 hits, "I Ran (So Far Away)" and "Space Age Love Song" in 1982. The group followed it up the next year with their sophomore set Listen, with the lush soundscapes of the first single "Wishing", the first track on the album that was selected for the first single.

While the single was a modest hit in the States, it finally gave the quartet their first big hit in their home country, reaching #10 in 1983. The record also reached #3 on the rock radio chart, and equaled its pop success on the dance chart. It would be the group's last American top-40 hit, even though the band later moved to Philadelphia for a bit. They did grab the attention of Phil Spector with this single, and almost had him produce their next album, but that fell apart.

A Flock of Seagulls more recently were one of the groups on VH1's Bands Reunited, but these days lead singer Mike Score tours with the name with different guys.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


...and here are the Flock in 1983 performing the song live in Britain...

Up tomorrow: the Fab Five are asking a question. Answer it!