Songoftheday 8/11/16 - I remember the things that we used to do, a kiss in the rain till the sun shine through...

"Miss You Like Crazy" - Natalie Cole
from the album Good To Be Back (1989)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 13

Today's song of the day is by Natalie Cole, who had overcome the many demons in her life (like an addiction to drugs and divorce from her first husband) and made a well-deserved "comeback" in 1987 with her Everlasting album, which gave her a pair of top-20 pop/top-5 R&B hits with "Jump Start" and "I Live For Your Love", followed by the hit remake of Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac" that put her back into the top ten on the American top-40. A fourth single from the set, a "quiet-storm" cover of her father Nat "King" Cole's "When I Fall In Love", reached the top-40 on the adult contemporary (#14) and R&B (#31) charts, and slipped into the Hot 100 at #95. Two years later, she released her Good To Be Back album, clearly named for her gratitude on returning to good favor with fans. The first single from the record was another ballad, "Miss You Like Crazy", penned by songwriting vets Gerry Goffin, Preston Glass, and Michael Masser, the latter producing the track. With lyrics starting from heartbreak and traveling into hopeful re-kindling territory, it was a natch for 'adult' style radio stations...

"Miss You Like Crazy" became Natalie's fifth top ten pop hit in the U.S. in July of 1989. The track also landed Cole her first #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart, as well as topping their R&B chart for her sixth time (and first time since 1978). Internationally, the single was her biggest hit in the UK, climbing to #2, and going to #4 in Ireland, #15 in Germany, #22 in Australia, and #19 in Canada. The Good To Be Back album also earned her a nomination for a Best R&B Female Vocal Grammy award, losing in 1990 to Anita Baker's "Just Because".

Her next single from the album, the duet "I Do" with Freddie Jackson, made it to #7 on the R&B chart, but missed the pop Hot 100 completely. Another single, "Starting All Over Again", was a big easy listening hit, peaking at #5 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, while the more upbeat "As A Matter Of Fact" gave her a minor R&B hit at #52. She would eventually return to the top-40 with some help from a Pretty Woman.

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Here's Natalie performing the song live...

Up tomorrow: Bronx bombers are heading for the heavens.