Songoftheday 7/21/13 - The winds of change are always blowing and every time I try to stay, the winds of change continue blowing and they just carry me away...

Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson - "To All The Girls I've Loved Before"
from the album 1100 Bel Air Place (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 12

Today's Song of the Day was the English-language breakthrough hit for the Latin superstar from Madrid, Julio Iglesias, whose soccer career in Spain was cut short by a disabling car crash, which led him to pursue music. He released his debut album in 1969, and had three Spanish top-10 single from it, with the title track "Yo Canto" reaching #10. His exposure grew as he represented his home country in the Eurovision song contest in 1970 with "Gwendolyne", placing fourth, and giving Julio his first #1 hit in Spain.

Julio moved to the United States in 1979, and began to record in English, almost immediately having a top-40 hit with "Hey" in 1980, and by the next year topped the UK chart with a cover of "Begin the Beguine".

But it took another two years and an album with a couple superstar cameos to bring Julio to the American mainstream. In 1984 he released 1100 Bel Air Place,  named for his former home in Los Angeles. The first single from the set, "To All The Girls I've Loved Before", paired him with country singer/songwriter/toker Willie Nelson, whose 1982 album Always on My Mind was a big pop success in itself, with a top-5 title cut and a top-40 remake of "Let It Be Me" as a follow-up. Written by legendary songwriters Albert Hammond and Hal David (of the Bacharach and David), "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" was like a Reese's Cup of Latin smarm and cowboy stoner goodness...

"To All The Girls..." became Julio's first top-40 hit, reaching the top-5 in May, as well as topping the top of the country charts and top-3 of the adult-contemporary charts. It also went to #1 in Canada, and top-20 in England. It ended up being the biggest country song of 1984, and won the Academy of Country Music award for single of the year.

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 ...and here are the pair live at Farm Aid....

Up tomorrow: New-wavers tackle the odds.