Songoftheday 10/22/15 - The paintworks gleaming in the rising sun, all our hopes are rising high now the battles won...

"Motortown" - The Kane Gang
from the album Miracle (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #36 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 3

Today's SOTD comes from the British trio the Kane Gang, who came together in the early 80s with singers Paul Woods and Martin Brammer along with Dave Brewis. They released their debut album The Bad and Lowdown World of the Kane Gang in 1985, and after the first single, "Smalltown Creed", became a minor hit in the UK at #60, the follow-up, "Closest Thing To Heaven", was their breakthrough in their home country, climbing to #12 on the British singles chart. The three matched that top-20 success with a remake of "Respect Yourself" from the Staples Singers (before Bruce Willis got his dirty paws on it). The album itself was a moderate seller as well at #21.

Fast forward two years later, and while their white-boy lite-funk of "sophisti-pop" had fallen out of favor in Britain, it was gaining steam in the U.S., with acts like Swing Out Sister and Danny Wilson among others scoring hits. In 1987 the Gang put out their sophomore effort, Miracle. And while the lead single "Motortown" failed to reach the top-40 in the UK, the song (written by the band) became their first success in the States...

"Motortown" was the Kane Gang's first and only top-40 pop hit in America in December of 1987, while making it up to #12 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart. In their native England, the single stopped down at #45, while the Miracle album peaked at a frustrating #41 in the UK.

They followed up the success of "Motortown" with another cover song, this time the club classic "Don't Look Any Further". While it was just a minor hit in both the U.S. and U.K., the extended remix went on to top Billboard's Dance Club Play chart for a week in April of 1988. The band though didn't last another album, splitting up in 1991.

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...and here's the Kane Gang appearing on the Roxy show to promote the single in 1987...

Up tomorrow: a pop legend's daughter exists for romance.