Songoftheday 1/3/19 - In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep, from the mountains of faith to a river so deep...
from the album River Of Dreams (1993)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 24
Today's song of the day comes from Billy Joel, who closed out the 1980s with his Storm Front album that spun off three top-40 pop hits with the #1 history lesson "We Didn't Start The Fire", the top ten rager "I Go To Extremes", and the wistful "And So It Goes", the latter hitting the top-40 at the end of 1990. But that album title spoke volumes: during that time he fired and sued his manager as well as his lawyer, dismissed a big chunk of his band, declined to use his long-time producer Phil Ramone in favor of Foreigner's Mick Jones. It was almost four years before the release of his next album, which so far is his last "pop" record to date, River Of Dreams. Produced mostly by guitarist Danny Kortchmar (Don Henley's usual guy), the record pushed him further in the adult-pop vein, most visibly with the title track and first single, a rather mild song that combines vague tropical rhythms with doo-wop and gospel style vocal call and response between Billy and his backup vocalists. It would be popular enough to bring Joel back to the top ten, but it would be for the last time...
"The River Of Dreams" became Billy's thirteenth and last top ten pop hit in October of 1993. The song spent a massive (for that time) twelve weeks at #1 on Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart. Internationally the single topped the charts in Australia and New Zealand, and reached the top ten in Canada (#2), Ireland (#2), Switzerland (#2), Austria (#2), the UK (#3), France (#4), Germany (#4), the Netherlands (#5), Iceland (#7), Norway (#8), Sweden (#8), and Denmark (#9). At the Grammy Awards the following year, the River Of Dreams album was nominated for Album Of The Year, losing to the Bodyguard soundtrack, while the single was nominated for Song of the Year (losing to "A Whole New World"), Record of the Year (which went to Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You"), and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (which Sting took for "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You").
While "River Of Dreams" was conquering pop radio, album cut "No Man's Land" climbed to #18 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock radio chart, his last hit there ("River Of Dreams" didn't even place there). But Billy would have one more top-40 pop hit left in him...
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Here's Billy on the tour behind the album singing "River Of Dreams" in 1994...
And lastly, Joel closing down Shea Stadium in 2008 with "River Of Dreams" along with the Beatles' "A Hard Days Night"...
Up tomorrow: Dance-pop hunk revives a soul nugget from the 70s.
Comments