Modern English “I Melt with You” released

I Melt with You Modern English

Writer(s): Robbie Grey, Gary McDowell, Richard Brown, Michael Conroy, Stephen Walker (see lyrics here) Released: August 1982 First Charted: March 26, 1983 Peak: 76 US, 7 AR, 1 CO, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, 0.08 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 6.0 radio, 52.5 video, 112.08 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The British new wave band Modern English formed in Colchester, Essex, England, in 1979. They released an independent single that year, followed by two more, before their 1981 debut album, Mesh & Lace. That album showed a Joy Division influence, but the follow-up, 1982’s After the Snow had a keyboard influence more in the vein of Simple Minds or Duran Duran. The album’s second single, “I Melt with You,” proved to be the band’s pinnacle. It took awhile to catch on in the United States, but gathered momentum at radio stations as an import single. It then gained popularity in dance clubs and on MTV. It was also featured in the 1983 teenage rom-com, Valley Girl. While it only reached the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100, it was a top-10 album rock hit and ranks amongst the top 500 songs ever played on U.S. radio. WK A Billboard review described te song as a “dreamy, acoustic-edged rocker.” WK The Chicago Tribune’s Chrissie Dickinson cited the song’s “irresistible guitar melody, danceable beat, and heartfelt call and response vocals.” WKAll Music Guide’s Tom Demalon called it “one of the most enduring songs of the new wave era.” WK The lyrics came in just minutes via a stream-of-consciousness style while he sat on the floor of a flat in London. SF While it is a love song, it comes from a bleak place, depicting a couple making love during the dropping of an atomic bomb. The lead singer, Robbie Grey, said, “The last thing we wanted was to write a song where boy meets girl, they go to the cinema and make love, and that’s the end of it.” WK He also explained, “I don’t think many people realized it was about a couple making love as the bomb dropped. As they made love, they become one and melt together.” SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Modern English SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 9/27/2022.