Songoftheday 10/18/24 - Turning and returning to some secret place and time, watching in slow motion as you turn around and say...
"Take My Breath Away" - Jessica Simpson
from the album In This Skin (Re-Release) (2004)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 8
Today's song comes from Jessica Simpson, who by the 2000s had gone from a young vocal ingenue to tabloid fodder and reality show star. Her third studio album In This Skin became her highest-charting album coming in at #2 on the Billboard 200, but had a rocky start when the initial single "Sweetest Sin" stiffed, though the follow-up "With You" at least brought her back to the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the spring of 2004. At that time, Simpson had also recorded three new songs for a re-release of the album in advance of a proposed tour. Along with an acoustic version of "With You", there were two cover songs that would be released as singles. The first of them was a version of the 80's #1 ballad "Take My Breath Away", recorded by the band Berlin (well, the lead singer Terri Nunn really) backed by producer Giorgio Moroder. Simpson's remake, produced by Billy Mann, brings the snap-beat that eventually would infect county music for a while. It's easy to forget that Jessica started out as a formidable vocalist in between Christina and Britney, but even with her giving her college try to a favorite of hers, this doesn't seems more like karaoke of a song eighteen years old at the time. But it's inoffensive, and served to place itself on pop radio where older DJ's will go for the familiar oldie sung by a hot young woman. The music video tries for gravitas, but is forced atmosphere...
Simpson's take on "Take My Breath Away" reached the top 20 on Billboard's Hot 100 in May of 2004. On the radio, the song peaked at #8 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, #29 on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 list, and #23 on the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") format. Remixes of the track, done by Eddie Baez and the Passengerz, helped it rise to #10 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart as well. Internationally, the single reached the top-40 in Canada (#10 Sales/#30 Airplay), Australia (#15), Belgium (#16 Wallonia/#32 Flanders), and France (#18).
The other new addition to the reissue was "Angels", which was a massive international hit for ex-boybander from Britain Robbie Williams, but wasn't as well known in the States (though it made the top-40 on airplay, it stopped at #53 on the Hot 100). Jessica's version made it to #23 on Billboard's Mainstream Top-40 radio chart, but only managed to "bubble under" the Hot 100 at #106.
At the end of the year, Simpson released ReJoyce: The Christmas Album, which went to #14 on the Billboard 200 and sold over a half million copies. Two tracks from the set made the Adult Contemporary radio chart, with "What Christmas Means To Me" peaking at #8 and "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" getting to #20.
Jessica will be back to the series.
(4/10)
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And finally, on a TV special...
Tomorrow I'll run down my top hits from the previous week, then on Monday SOTD will be back with a country trio visiting Andy Griffith, perhaps.
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