Songoftheday 8/22/13 - I thought that dreams belonged to other men, 'cause each time I got close they'd fall apart again...

Mike Reno and Ann Wilson - "Almost Paradise"
from the album Footloose (Original Soundtrack) (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 13

Today's Song of the Day is yet another hit single from the insanely popular soundtrack to the Kevin Bacon movie Footloose. After the title track by Kenny Loggins topped the chart, Bonnie Tyler's epic "Holding Out For A Hero" made the top-40. Then the bubbly "Let's Hear It For The Boy" by R&B singer Deniece Williams scored the movie a second #1 hit, while post-disco trio Shalamar made a respectable showing in the top-20 with "Dancing In The Sheets".  The next single to reach pop radio was a duet between the lead singers of two big-name mainstream rock acts Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart. At the time, it was actually Reno that had the momentum, as his group scored back to back top-10 albums, while Heart at the time of Footloose was in a dry spell, with their last top-40 hit "This Man Is Mine" sputtering at #33 in 1982 and being dropped by their label after their next record failed to even make a top-40 hit. (Of course now their legacy's are pretty much switched)...

"Almost Paradise", written by singer/songwriter Eric Carmen (who would go on to soundtrack success himself with "Hungry Eyes" from Dirty Dancing) and the film's screenwriter Dean Pitchford, was promoted as the "love theme" to the movie, and as such became as ingrained in viewers heads as Bacon's dance moves...

"Almost Paradise" became the third and last top-10 hit from Footloose in July of 1984. It also topped the adult-contemporary (easy listening) radio chart for a week as well.

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When Footloose was remade in 2011 with a more country music-based slant, "Almost Paradise" was covered by ingenu Hunter Hayes with teen star Victoria Justice..

Up tomorrow: the Boss makes a "nighttime" Friend.