Songoftheday 12/23/13 - In my life there's been heartache and pain I don't know if I can face it again, can't stop now I've traveled so far to change this lonely life...

Foreigner - "I Want To Know What Love Is"
from the album Agent Provocateur (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 16

Today's Song of the Day is by the British/American arena rock band Foreigner, who I last covered with their 1982 top-40 hit "Break It Up", the fourth single from their 4 album. After a tour behind the album and a greatest hits set that year, the band was out of sight for two years before releasing their fifth album Agent Provocateur at the tail end of 1984. The first single released from the set was the power-ballad "I Want To Know What Love Is", one of the two tracks on the album solely credited to guitarist Mick Jones. Its building crescendo was aided by the help of producer Alex Sadkin (Thompson Twins, Duran Duran), who may have been the one to nab TT member Tom Bailey, as well as background vocals from the New Jersey Mass Choir and Broadway star Jennifer Holliday. In the end the record seemed more a hymn than a pop song...

"I Want To Know What Love Is" reached the top of the singles chart in both America and Britain in February of 1985, while also making the summit on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart as well. The ballad also went to #3 on the adult-contemporary (easy-listening) format, and even crossed over to R&B stations, making it to #40 on the R&B chart.

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At the same time of Foreigner's release, another version of the song with the New Jersey Mass Choir as the lead artist was put out, which made it to #37 on the R&B chart..



The same year, Diana Ross and others performed the song as the finale of the Apollo Theater's silver anniversary...

Laura Branigan and John Farnham sung the song on the Aussie awards show...

Dame Shirley Bassey also tackled the song in the early 90s...


Australian singer/songwriter Tina Arena recorded a version of "I Want To Know What Love Is", produced by Mick Jones, who added an extra bridge. This take went top-40 in Australia and Belgium and made it to #13 in France...

The Barrio Boyzz went to #40 on the Tropical/Salsa Airplay radio chart with a danceable cover of the song...

Country singer Wynonna Judd also made a dancefloor-ready version of the track she originally had on her 2004 album What The World Needs Now Is Love and went top-20 on both the adult-contemporary and the dance chart...

The diva herself, Mariah Carey, lent her pipes to the classic, and ended up with a multi-format hit, reaching #60 on the Hot 100, #10 on Adult Contemporary, #39 on Adult Top-40, #40 on the R&B chart, and scaling to #2 on the Dance Club Play list in America, as well as reaching #19 in the UK, and top-10 in France, Portugal, and Japan..

Most recently, The Voice finalist Terry McDermott covered the single on the show, and the studio version of his cover went to #84 on the pop chart...

Finally, here's a couple of live clips of Foreigner - first at Farm Aid in 1985...

Second, at a Night at the Proms in Belgium with an orchestra backdrop...

Lastly, from a couple years ago with new lead singer Kelly Hansen..

Up tomorrow: the Christmas single that changed everything.