Songoftheday 3/12/16 - Send me out to war with a gun in my hand, but I won't pull the trigger...

"I Don't Want To Be A Hero" - Johnny Hates Jazz
from the album Turn Back The Clock (1988)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 5

Today's song of the day comes from the British "sophisti-pop" trio Johnny Hates Jazz, who landed a #2 pop hit in America in the spring of 1988 with "Shattered Dreams". For their second single, they went a bit more political with the anti-war song "I Don't Want To Be A Hero". A daring choice in the era of Reagan and Thatcher, songwriter/lead singer Clark Datchler and bandmates/producers Mike Nocito and Calvin Hayes pulled no punches in its aversion to the military machine that sucks up our countries' mutual tax intake. And with a chorus that includes "I don't want to die for you", it's a true surprise this saw a radio release, but thankfully it did...

"I Don't Want To Be A Hero" became Johnny Hates Jazz's second and so-far last top-40 pop hit in America in August of 1988. It also climbed to #15 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart, while the extended version made it to #19 on their Dance Club Play list. Internationally, the record stopped at #11 in their native Britain, made the top ten in Sweden at #10, and reached the top-20 in Canada (#16), Italy (#11), Belgium (#13), Germany (#17), Ireland (#13), and Switzerland (#12).

The third single from the set was the title track from Turn Back The Clock, which climbed to #5 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S. and #12 in the UK. A fourth release, "Heart Of Gold", was their last top-40 hit in England at #19, while a fifth single, "Don't Say It's Love", just missed the mark at #48. Datchler would leave JHJ not long after, with Nocito and Hayes working with Phil Thornalley (formerly of the Cure) for a second album that went nowhere. The original trio reunited in 2013 for a single and album called Magnetized.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)




A second video was made for the American market and MTV that added clips of war...

...and finally, Datchler, Nocito, and Hayes performing live in 2010...

Up tomorrow: A rock-loving chick isn't quite happy with herself.