Songoftheday 9/12/18 - Didn't I tell you what I believe, did somebody say that a love like that won't last...
from the album Love Deluxe (1992)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 4
Today's song of the day comes from the jazz-soul band named for its beautiful and talented lead singer, Sade, who in the summer of 1988 scored their fourth top-40 pop hit with "Paradise". (They also reached #3 on the R&B chart in America with "Nothing Can Come Between Us".) After a long four-year break, they returned in the fall of 1992 with their fourth studio record, Love Deluxe. The first single released from the record would be the bass-driven downtempo classic "No Ordinary Love". Written by Sade with bandmate Stuart Matthewman, it would only spend a month in the pop top-40 in America, but was a much longer-lasting song in terms of popularity than that (it did manage to stay on the pop chart for 27 weeks). The song also gained exposure in its placement in the movie Indecent Proposal at a pivotful plot point...
"No Ordinary Love" became Sade's fifth and so far latest top-40 pop hit in America in January of 1993. The song climbed to #9 on Billboard's R&B chart, while crossing over to #14 on their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio format list. The record climbed the top-40 in the band's native UK twice as well, peaking at #14 in 1993. Internationally, the single reached the top-40 in Canada (#15), New Zealand (#17), France (#20), Australia (#21), Switzerland (#23), the Netherlands (#26), Sweden (#33), and Belgium (#37). The song would go on to win a Grammy Award for Best R&B Duo/Group Vocal in 1994.
The second single from Love Deluxe was the deep reggae of "Feel No Pain", which was a minor pop hit in Britain at #56, and minor R&B single in America at #59. That was followed by the jazzy "Kiss Of Life", which harkened back to the band's original sound. It fared a little bit better, reaching #75 on the U.S. pop chart, but going as high as #10 on Billboard's R&B list, and #20 on the Adult Contemporary tally. Lastly, the soft ballad "Cherish The Day" arrived to hit #45 on the American R&B chart (while "bubbling under" the pop Hot 100 at #116), and getting to #53 in the UK. Also, the band gave "Please Send Me Someone To Love" (a cover of a single from Percy Mayfield in 1950) to the movie Philadelphia, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Duo/R&B Vocal in 1995, losing to Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love To You".) After the tour behind this album and a greatest hits set, the band took a break twice as long as previous, with the non-Sade Adu bandmates recording as the side-project Sweetback. Under that moniker, they went to #42 on the R&B chart in 1997 with "You Will Rise" featuring Amel Larrieux of the R&B duo Groove Theory ("Tell Me").
Sade (the band) reunited in 2000 for their fifth studio creation, Lovers Rock. Lead single "By Your Side" returned them to the British top-40 at #17, while in America the song climbed to #18 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #75 on the pop Hot 100; however the club remix transformation caused it to become their biggest dance hit, spending two weeks at #2 on Billboard's Dance Club Play list.
After another long absence of ten years, Sade returned in 2010 with their latest studio record, Soldier Of Love, which hit #1 on the Albums chart in the U.S. The title track climbed to #6 on the R&B chart, while peaking at #52 on the pop Hot 100. A year later, the band release their Ultimate Collection compilation, which contained their most recent chart hit in America, a stripped down cover of rock band Thin Lizzy's "Still In Love With You", which got to #55 on the R&B chart. Most recently, they have been recording for another set, while contributing the song "Flower Of The Universe" to the fantasy movie A Wrinkle In Time starring Oprah Winfrey. But despite their spotty recording schedule, the band's stature and influence on soul music (just like Boston's with rock music) is immeasurable.
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Here's the band performing the song live in a TV appearance in 1993 on the Arsenio Hall show...
And live in concert in San Diego in 1994 for her Sade Live Concert video...
And again in 2002 for her Lovers Live album, which peaked at #10 on the American albums sales chart...
Art-metal band the Deftones covered "No Ordinary Love" for a B-sides collection, and their take was critically heralded...
In 2015, dance act Walden and DJ/singer Havana Brown released a version of the song that is totally unrecognizable from the original. Naturally, it tanked...
And finally, Sade live in 2011...
Up tomorrow: A vocal sensation declares her femininity.
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