Songoftheday 6/3/20 - Staring back at you, did you see my lips or were you smiling right in front of me?
from the album Fairweather Johnson (1996)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #38 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 5
Today's song of the day comes from the affable rock band from South Carolina, Hootie & The Blowfish, who were attempting to overcome the "sophomore slump" syndrome following the massive success of their debut album Cracked Rear View. Their second effort, Fairweather Johnson, did make its debut at #1 on the chart, but lead single "Old Man & Me (When I Get To Heaven)" stopped below the top ten in the summer of 1996. The second release from the set would be "Tucker's Town", written by the band's Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The song's title comes from a part of the Atlantic Ocean territory of Bermuda that has a dark history, as it once was a haven for working class black families, who were forced to sell their property to make way for gentrification of the rich hotels that would dominate the island. But this song isn't about that. It's vaguely about a man who finds love with a lady who leaves her father for him. So there's that.
"Tucker's Town" became Hootie & The Blowfish's sixth top-40 hit on Billboard's pop Hot 100 chart in August of 1996. It would be their final appearance on that chart, though two more songs would climb into the Hot 100 Airplay top-40 (and will be upcoming SOTD's). The song climbed to #12 on the Adult Top-40 radio chart, while getting to #24 on the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") format list. It also placed at #29 on the Mainstream Rock radio tally as well. Internationally, the single was big in Canada, peaking at #2, while reaching #20 in Iceland, and was a minor hit in Britain at #79.
A third song from Fairweather Johnson, "Sad Caper", was promoted to radio without being released as a commercial single. It peaked at #74 on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart, while going to #26 on the Adult Top-40 radio list.
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Here's the band appearing on the Rosie O'Donnell Show to perform the song live...
and lastly, live in South Carolina in 2019...
Up tomorrow: This diva is everlasting.
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