Songoftheday 8/10/13 - I live among the creatures of the night I haven't got the will to try and fight against a new tomorrow...

Laura Branigan - "Self Control"
from the album Self Control (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 15

Today's song of the day is by the big-voiced singer from New York, Laura Branigan, who had established herself as more than a one-hit wonder as her sophomore album scored her a top-10 single "Solitaire" as well as a follow-up top-20 hit "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You". After contributing a song to the megahit Flashdance soundtrack, Laura released her third album, Self Control, and like the lead-off tracks from her other two sets, she went with a song that was written in Europe then translated to English. In this case, it was the title track, written by Italians Raffaele Riefoli along with Giancarli Bugazzi (who co-wrote her breakout hit "Gloria") and Steve Piccolo. The video was filmed by Oscar-winning director of the French Connection William Friedkin, and marked a much more sexual image for Laura...

"Self Control" became Laura's third top-10 single in June of 1984 and also was her second after "Gloria" to reach the #2 spot on the dance club chart (her highest rank). The record also went to #5 on the adult-contemporary (easy-listening) chart, which was pretty good for the time for a non-ballad track. It also was a huge hit around the world, going top-10 practically everywhere and topping the charts in places like Germany and Canada. It would be Laura's last top-10 hit in the US....

I had a real affection for "Self Control", as the production was a big step forward, and sounds the least dated of her up-tempo singles.

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At the same time tha Laura was having worldwide success with "Self Control", songwriter Raff(iele Reifoli) released his own version of the song, and topped the chart in his native Italy and Switzerland (where Laura's also topped the chart)...

Almost ten years later, in 1993, a post-Menudo/pre-Latin Invasion Ricky Martin released a Spanish-language version of the song as "Que Dia Es Hoy", and reached the top-40 on the Billboard Latin Songs chart...

After Laura's sad death from an aneurysm in 2004, a remixed version of  "Self Control" made the top-10 on the club chart in Billboard...

A year later, German Eurodance act Royal Gigolos covered the record and reached the charts in a bunch of countries on the continent...

In Denmark, where the Royal Gigolos cover went to #17, the group Infernal put out another dance version of "Self Control" which did even better, going top-10 there in 2006...

I'll finish off with Laura herself live in concert with "Self Control"...

Up tomorrow: British songster instructs about fulfillment.