Songoftheday 8/16/21 - Let's go and see the stars the Milky Way or even Mars, where it could just be ours...

 

 

"Fly Away" - Lenny Kravitz

from the album 5 (1998)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 22

 

Today's song comes from Lenny Kravitz, who had taken his retro-styled rock into the pop top ten in the summer of 1991 with the laid-back soul of "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over".  Two years later, Lenny returned with his third album Are You Gonna Go My Way. The title track was a big hit at rock radio, topping Billboard magazine's Mainstream Rock radio chart for two weeks and spending two weeks at #2 on their Alternative Rock format list. It also got a lot of attention at MTV, but for some unknown reason it never showed up on the pop airplay list, even though I know I heard it on their at the time. Not being released as a single, that meant it never showed on Billboard's official pop Hot 100 chart, which is gobsmacking, since it was such a presence at the time. The album went to #20 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, going on to move over two million copies, while "Are You Gonna Go My Way" was nominated for two Grammy Awards, losing Best Rock Song to Soul Asylum's "Runaway Train" and Best Male Rock Vocal to Meat Loaf's "I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)". Another track from the album, "Believe", was released as a retail single, and while it made the top ten at Alternative Rock radio (#10 AR), it stalled down at #60 on the Hot 100. Also, "Heaven Help", which popped on to the Hot 100 at #80 along with the non-album "B-Side" "Spinning Around Over You" from the movie Reality Bites, made the Billboard R&B chart at #92.

In 1996, Kravitz returned with his Circus, which scored his first top ten album in America at #10. However again while rock radio embraced him, with "Rock And Roll Is Dead" making the top ten on the Mainstream (#4) and Alternative (#10) rock radio charts, it stalled down at #75 on the pop Hot 100, while follow-up "Can't Get You Off My Mind" did slightly better on the pop list at #62, while the power-ballad homage made the older-skewing Adult Top-40 format list at #36, his first placing there since "It Ain't Over...". "Rock And Roll Is Dead" was again nominated for the Best Male Rock Vocal Grammy in 1996, which Tom Petty took home for "You Don't Know How It Feels".

Two years later, Lenny was back with his appropriately-named fifth effort 5. The lead single from the set, "If You Can't Say No", get a cold response even at rock radio, making it as high as #39 on Billboard's Alternative Rock chart. Despite its high-budget music video, rock radio had a tough time adjusting to Lenny's electronica turn on that song, but overseas it did a little better, making the top-40 in Iceland (#8), Spain (#9), Austria (#35), and Switzerland (#39), while almost making it at #48 in the UK. The second release, "Thinking Of You", was about Kravitz's recently deceased mother, actress Roxie Roker, but it stiffed. That summer of 1998, the third release, "I Belong To You", was originally ignored in the States, while becoming a top-40 hit in France (#24) and a minor British hit at #75. 

The fourth single from the album, though, changed all that. "Fly Away", written and produced by Kravitz, was a late addition to the album, but listening to it leaves one pondering how this wasn't promoted at the get-go. With its immediate guitar hook and Beatles-on-acid harmonizing on the "yeah, yeah, yeahs", the track was an growing winner at all format's of radio. With having a retail single not a factor anymore on the Hot 100, Lenny found himself back on the pop chart, where he stayed for eight months. The song is simple but not petty and sets a mind-expanding mood, while the music video features quite the lascivious party. Everything just rides on that fuzzy guitar and steady bassline...

"Fly Away" scored Kravitz's second top-40 pop hit in March of 1999. The song topped both of Billboard's rock radio charts, spending three weeks at Mainstream and two at the Alternative format. It also climbed to #8 on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 list. Internationally, the single went to #1 in the UK and Iceland, with the former aided by its inclusion on television ads for Peugeot cars. It also made the top ten in Canada (#3), Ireland (#5), Australia (#8), and New Zealand (#8). The 5 album, released in May of 1998, eventually peaked at #28 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, but spend over two years (110 weeks) on the chart, going on to sell over two million records. At the Grammy Awards in 1999, "Fly Away" finally rewarded Kravitz with his first win for Best Male Solo Rock Vocal Performance, starting a four-year streak for him. 

After the success of "Fly Away", Kravitz's contribution to the movie Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, a cover of the 70's rock classic "American Woman", was promoted to radio, where it was a big rock radio hit, spending eight weeks at #3 on the Mainstream Rock chart and getting to #7 at Alternative rock. It also crossed over to #23 on the Adult Top-40 station list, and stopped halfway up the pop Hot 100 at #49. Virgin Records re-released 5 with "American Woman" as a bonus track. Then, "I Belong To You" was re-promoted to radio in the States, where it went to #15 on the Adult Top-40 radio list and #71 on the pop Hot 100 in 2000. Lastly, in 2001, album track "Black Velveteen" was remixed for the DJ's, and placed at #6 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart. Lenny will be back to the series.

(9/10)

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Here's Lenny performing "Fly Away" live to promote the album on the Chris Rock Show in 1998...

Next up, at a concert in 1999 in Washington DC...

Fast forward to a show in 2002...

and lastly, he joined the Voices Of Praise choir in New Orleans for a rendition of "Fly Away"...

Disgraced R&B star sings about a female's breaking point. Yeah.