Songoftheday 3/14/16 - Ain't got no place to lay your head, somebody came and took your bed...

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" - Bobby McFerrin
from the albums Simple Pleasures and Cocktail (Original Soundtrack) (1988)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 13

Today's song of the day comes from jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin, who grew up in New York and California. The son of two singers (his dad Robert sang with the Metropolitan Opera in New York), he himself got off to a late start in his own recording career, releasing his self-titled debut debut in his early 30's. With a couple of moderately successful jazz albums under his belt, his exposure rose with his contributions to the Manhattan Transfer album Vocalese, which netted him a pair of Grammy Awards for "One Night In Tunisia" in 1985. The next two years also rewarded him with two more Grammys for contributions to the soundtrack to the movie 'Round Midnight. His third solo album Spontaneous Inventions in 1987 capitalized on that and went to #2 on the Contemporary Jazz albums chart and even crossed to the main albums chart in America at #103. With a distinct vocal style which made him a chameleon of orchestral sound-alikes, it seemed like his work would continue to grow in that genre, but avoid the over-produced mainstream pop landscape that dominated the late 80s. That changed with a little Cruise. Tom Cruise.

Cruise's 1988 film Cocktail was the cinematic hit of the fall of 1988, the guy's counterpart to the ultra-romantic Dirty Dancing from the previous year. For the soundtrack, Bobby recorded a completely a cappella song inspired by the philosophy of Indian guru Meher Baba, who professed the simple lesson of "Don't Worry, Be Happy". The earworm caught on with moviegoers who spread the word, and soon as single sales skyrocketed, radio had to catch up to play the unusual and goofily giddy song. And to bring MTV along for the ride, a music video featuring McFerrin clowning around with comedians Robin Williams and Bill Irwin did the trick...

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" went all the way to #1 on the American pop chart in September of 1988. The single also climbed to #7 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart, and peaked at #11 on their R&B chart. Internationally, the song also topped the singles charts in Canada, Australia, Germany, and Australia, stopped at #2 in the UK, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Belgium, and popped in at #3 in Ireland and the Netherlands. It would go on to win three Grammys for Bobby, nabbing the Record and Song of the Year as well as Pop Male Performance statues.

The song would be McFerrin's sole entry on to the American pop singles chart, making him a true "one-hit wonder", though in England he re-appeared later that year with "Thinkin' About Your Body" at #46, thanks to its use in a TV commercial. However, jazz radio never left, and he continued to place top ten albums on that genre chart to this day.


Up tomorrow: A power-pop band invokes the King to ask you to be nice.