Songoftheday 10/3/15 - But it's gonna take money a whole lotta spending money, it's gonna take plenty of money to do it right child...

"Got My Mind Set On You" - George Harrison
from the album Cloud Nine (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 15

Today's Song of the Day comes from 'fab' musician George Harrison, the "quiet one" of the Beatles. After his long stint with the biggest band in rock and roll history, Harrison was also the first of the four to release a solo album (be it an experimental 'art-rock' piece), Wonderwall Music, which made the top-50 of the American albums chart in 1968. After a second experimental synthesizer record, Harrison made his true standard debut solo effort in 1970 after the breakup of the Beatles. That album, All Things Must Pass, was a three-disc monument of music, anchored by the mantra of his first single, the #1 "My Sweet Lord", a simple proclamation that ended up embroiled in the worst legal court case in music history. Sued for being a rewrite of the Chiffons' "He's So Fine", the dispute carried on for over a decade, with Harrison's own (former) manager embroiled in the fray and eventually causing the song to be sold to Harrison himself. Instead to boiling on the impact of that, however, George went the charitable route, creating one of the first benefit singles, "Bangla Desh", which highlighted the plight of the ravaged former East Pakistan. That single went to #10 in the UK and #23 in the States, and inspired George to put together the huge musical even The Concert for Bangladesh, which produced another big album of superstars including Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, fellow Beatle Ringo Starr, and more. In 1973, Harrison claimed his second solo #1 pop hit in America with "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)", the lead track from his Living In The Material World album, which itself spent five weeks atop Billboard's albums chart in the U.S.. However, the remainder of the 70s found Harrison's pop work overshadowed by the other three Beatles. After John Lennon's death in 1980, George got together with Ringo and Paul McCartney for an unlisted reunion of sorts for "All Those Years Ago", which returned him to the top-10 for the first time in eight years, while topping the adult contemporary list as well in 1981. He wasn't able to properly follow that success up, and he took a five year break from recording before releasing his eleventh studio set Cloud Nine at the end of 1987. Produced by ELO's Jeff Lynne with cameos from Clapton, Elton John, and Ringo (again), the bright and shiny new version of George Harrison fit right in at the end of the Reagan Years. The first single, "Got My Mind Set On You", was a remake of a forgotten soul nugget recorded by Washington DC singer James Ray...

While George's version sounds more like a scaled-down ELO record than one of his own, the simplicity and sing-along-able quality of the track paired with the video ready-made for MTV with the trick of highlighted young actors/dancers over the decidedly older artist (though mind you, he was only 44 years old at the time)...

"Got My Mind Set On You" became Harrison's third and final solo #1 hit in America in January of 1988. The song also climbed to #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") chart for four weeks, while stopping at #4 on their Mainstream Rock radio list. Internationally, the record peaked at #2 for a month in his native Britain, as it topped the singles charts in Canada, Ireland, and Australia.

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A second video solely featuring Harrison and some special effects nabbed him a trio of MTV video nominations....

...and finally a rare fan video of George performing "Got My Mind..." live in Japan in 1992...

Up tomorrow: a big-haired big-voiced powerhouse needs you to communicate with her organ.