Songoftheday 11/29/16 - Miracle of miracles look what the night dragged in, it's a pocket full of misery and trouble on the wind...
from the album We Too Are One (1989)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #40 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 1
Today's song of the day comes from the British new wave duo Eurythmics, who had last scored a top-40 pop hit in the U.S. in 1986 with their modern rock jam "Missionary Man". The following year, they released their stellar album Savage, though they just missed the American Top-40 with the loud and racy "I Need A Man". Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart toned it back to their synthpop start on their eighth album We Too Are One. While internationally the bouncy "Revival" came as the first single, reaching #30 in the UK and top-10 in Sweden and Switzerland, in America the more subdued "Don't Ask Me Why" was promoted as the lead track. With a start that hearkened to their "Here Comes The Rain Again" with string flourishes and a restrained vocal from Annie, the single brought them back to mainstream radio here...
"Don't Ask Me Why" became the Eurythmics' tenth and so-far most recent top-40 pop hit in the States in November of 1989. The song also climbed to #12 on Billboard's Modern Rock radio chart. Internationally, the single reached the top-40 in Italy (#16), Ireland (#17), Canada (#21), Switzerland (#30), Australia (#35), and their native Britain (#25). The duo would have two more British top-40 hits from the album with the bombastic "King and Queen of America" (#29) and the mournful reflection of "Angel" (#23). They would not work together as "Eurythmics" for a decade, with Dave landing a top-40 pop hit in the U.S. with the instrumental "Lily Was Here" with saxophonist Candy Dulfer, and Annie having a fruitful solo career since. The pair reunited in 1999 for their most recent studio album, Peace. The first single "I Saved The World Today" just missed the British top ten at #11, while "17 Again" went all the way to #1 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart in America. In 2005, they released the hits set Ultimate Collection, and a new track from the record, "I've Got A Life (It's The Only Thing That's Mine)", reached #31 on the American adult contemporary radio chart and spent three weeks at #1 on the Dance Club Play chart in Billboard, while it peaked at #14 in the UK. Going their separate ways again, we may yet see another reunion in the future.
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...and here's the duo on tour behind the We Too Are One album in 1989...
Up tomorrow: Prog-rock drummer come dorky pop star gets a little Seriously.
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