Songoftheday 4/2/18 - As I walk this land with broken dreams I have visions of many things, love's happiness is just an illusion filled with sadness and confusion...
from the album Fried Green Tomatoes (Original Soundtrack) (1991)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #22 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 6
Today's song of the day comes from British singer Paul Young, whose soulful rendition of the 70s hit "Oh Girl" brought him back to the pop top ten in America in the fall of 1990. The following year, Paul recapped his career with the From Time To Time collection, with three new collaborations included. The first "Senza Una Donna (Without A Woman)", with Italian singer Zucchero, climbed all the way to #4 on the British singles chart, matching his success in his home country with "Everytime You Go Away", and also reaching top ten all over Europe (though only appearing on the American Adult Contemporary radio chart at #23). Later that year, Paul contributed a song to the soundtrack of the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, starring Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy. It was another cover song of a soul classic like "Oh Girl", this time the track "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted". Written by Motown stable writers William Witherspoon, Paul Riser, and Jimmy Dean, and originally recorded by Jimmy Ruffin (brother of the Temptations' David Ruffin), the first release in 1966 was a huge success, landing Jimmy in the top ten on both the pop (#7) and R&B (#6) charts in America...
Paul's cover didn't stray far vocally from the Motown record, but did frost it was white-pop sugar instead of the emotional grit Ruffin brought to the song, though producer Arthur Baker, more known for his dance music concoctions, adds some percussive flair to the record...
Paul Young's version of "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" became his fifth and so-far final top-40 pop hit in the U.S. in March of 1991. The single was a huge "easy listening" radio hit, topping Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart for two weeks and spending six months on that list. Internationally, the record missed the top-40 at #46 in New Zealand, and didn't even chart in his native UK, but in Canada it outshined them all, with it peaking at #6 for two weeks.
Young's next studio album after this success was 1993's The Crossing, his last with Columbia Records, which landed him a pair of British top-40 hit including "Now I Know What Made Otis Blue" which climbed to #14. After another indie album that sold mildly, he returned in 1997 with a self-titled album, with his most recent British top-40 hit "I Wish You Love" (#33). During the 90s he also recorded and performed with the rockabilly/Latin Rock group Los Palominos. His most recent solo studio work was 2016's Good Thing, again produced by Arthur Baker.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Other acts have had success with the song; in 1980 keyboardist Dave Stewart (not the Eurythmics guy) joined up with the former lead singer of the Zombies, Colin Blunstone, and their cover went to #13 in the UK...
In 1988, Boy George included the song on his 1988 solo album Tense Nervous Heartache. It was dropped when it was put out in America as High Hat...
And in 1996, actor/singer duo Robson & Jerome went all the way to #1 on the British chart with their take on the song...
And lastly, here's Paul Young in concert in 2016...
Up tomorrow: A Canadian ingenue and a soul veteran get together for a Grammy-winning Disney theme.
Comments