Songoftheday 8/29/16 - It wasn't my intention to mislead you, It never should have been this way what can I say?

"Toy Soldiers" - Martika
from the album Martika (1988)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 13

Today's song of the day is from (then) teen pop singer Martika, who had gone from a stint as a child variety show star in Kids Incorporated to her Madonna-esque first hit single "More Than You Know" in the spring of 1989. The follow-up release swung to the other side of the spectrum, as she co-wrote the anti-drug "message song" "Toy Soldiers" with her producer Michael Jay. Inspired by a friend struggling with addiction, the marching plea sported background vocals from Kids Incorporated co-stars like Fergie (of later Black Eyed Peas fame), Rashaan Patterson, and Jennifer Love Hewitt...

"Toy Soldiers" became Martika's biggest pop hit, topping the American pop chart in July of 1989. The song also slipped onto Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart at #37. Internationally, the record went to #1 in New Zealand, top-10 in Norway (#2), Ireland (#3), Switzerland (#3), Canada (#4), Finland (#4), Sweden (#4), Germany (#5), Australia (#5), the UK (#5), and Spain (#10).

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In 2000, Japanese singer Kirari made the top-20 in her country with a translated cover of the song....

Five years later, rapper Eminem interpolated the composition for his own "message song", "Like Toy Soldiers", with Martika providing the chorus; the single went to #34 on the American Hot 100, and #1 in Britain...

Lastly, here's Martika performing live (with children) in Chile in 1991...

Up tomorrow: Scotsman goes insane. Film at eleven.