Songoftheday 6/19/13 - I'm just an average man with an average life I work from 9 to 5, hey, hell, I pay the price...

Rockwell - "Somebody's Watching Me"
from the album Somebody's Watching Me (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (three weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14

Today's song of the day is by Kennedy William Gordy,  who instead of banking on my Motown chief father's name, recorded under the moniker Rockwell. However, he didn't seem to mind getting a little help in the vocal department, as none other than Michael Jackson sang the chorus on his first hit single, "Somebody's Watching Me" (Jermaine also does backup). Written by Gordy, there's no doubt that Jackson's cred help it get radio and MTV play (even though Michael isn't in the video)...

"Somebody's Watching Me" spent three weeks in the runner-up spot on the US pop chart in March of 1984 (kept out by Van Halen's "Jump" and Kenny Loggins' "Footloose", no small records). It managed to top the R&B chart, while reaching #3 on the dance chart in Billboard magazine. Overseas, the single reached the top-10 in Britain, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, and Holland among other, and went to #1 in France. As "novelty" records go, the record still remained one of the better-aged ones, especially with Halloween parties.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


In 1992, Swiss "Eurodance" musician DJ Bobo had his first big hit with "Somebody Dance With Me", which co-opts the song for the dancefloor. It went to #1 in Sweden and his home country, and top-10 in most of Europe ..

R&B singer Ciara had a top-10 pop hit that cribbed a little of the lyrics with "Get Up" in 2006...

The same year, Dutch filter-sample act Beatfreakz went top-10 in Britain and #1 in Spain with "Somebody's Watching Me"...

Up tomorrow: the 80's soundtrack king's biggest moment.