The Police “King of Pain” entered the Hot 100

King of Pain The Police

Writer(s): Sting (see lyrics here) Released: August 1983 First Charted: July 9, 1983 Peak: 3 US, 5 CB, 12 RR, 33 AC, 15 AR, 17 UK, 11 UK, 44 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 19.8 video, 31.66 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: In their native UK, the Police had landed four #1 songs and another four top-ten hits prior to 1983’s Synchronicity. They’d also had three consecutive #1 albums. In the United States, the band weren’t quite as big but they had landed three top-10 hits and two more top-40 hits. Their last two albums had reached the top 5 on the Billboard album chart. Still, no one was quite prepared for the blockbuster that was to come in 1983’s Synchronicity. The lead single, “Every Breath You Take,” was a massive hit in the United States, logging eight weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. Thanks to that song and three more top-20 hits, the album spent a whopping 17 weeks at #1 in the United States and went eight times platinum. In the United States, “King of Pain” was released as the follow-up to “Every Breath You Take” while “Wrapped Around Your Finger” was the second single in the UK. Both songs entered the Billboard album rock track the same week “Every Breath You Take” landed at #1 on the Hot 100. On August 27, “King of Pain” debuted inside the top 40 on the Billboard charts. On October 1, it leapt from 11 to 6 a week after “Every Breath You Take” had exited the top 10. The song grew out of lead singer Sting’s separation from his first wife, Frances Tomelty. He said, “I conjured up symbols of pain and related them to my soul.” WK He explained that while on vacation in Jamaica with future wife Trudie Styler he looked at the sun and said, “There’s a little black spot on the sun today…That’s my soul up there.” WK She responded, “There he goes again, the king of pain.” SF Those ended up as lyrics in the song, which was also fueled by his fascination with psychoanalyst Carl Jung and author Arthur Koestler, both of whom had explored the unexplained workings of the mind. WK Weird Al Yankovic recorded a parody of the song in 1984 called “King of Suede.” Alanis Morissette covered the song in 1999 on her MTV Unplugged album. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for The Police DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Sting SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/27/2022.

Air Supply chart with Greatest Hits

8/20/1983:

First posted 9/10/2020.

Greatest Hits Air Supply

Recorded: 1980-1983 Charted: August 20, 1983 Peak: 7 US, -- UK, -- CN, 11 AU Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, -- UK, 5.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: adult contemporary

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Lost in Love (2/9/80, 3 US, 1 AC, 13 AU, airplay: 2 million) Even the Nights Are Better (6/12/82, 5 US, 44 UK, 1 AC, 35 AU, airplay: 1 million) The One That You Love (5/16/81, 1 US, 2 AC, 10 AU, sales: 1 million, airplay: 1 million) Every Woman in the World (10/25/80, 5 US, 2 AC, 8 AU, sales: 2 million) Chances Making Love Out of Nothing at All (July 1983, 2 US, 2 AC, 80 UK, 3 CN, 45 AU) All Out of Love (6/14/80, 2 US, 11 UK, 5 AC, 9 AU, sales: 1 million, airplay: 2 million) Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You) (9/19/81, 5 US, 1 AC, 43 AU, airplay: 1 million) Sweet Dreams (12/12/81, 5 US, 4 AC, airplay: 1 million) Total Running Time: 37:27

Rating: 3.550 out of 5.00 (average of 4 ratings)

About the Album: Air Supply released four albums in their native Australia before finding success in the United States, thanks to signing a deal with Arista Records. From 1980 to 1983, the group released three albums which produced seven consecutive top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The 1980 album Lost in Love produced the title cut, All Out of Love, and Every Woman in the World. The title song to their 1981 album The One That You Love was the group’s only U.S. #1. It was followed by Here I Am and Sweet Dreams. They landed another top-five hit with Even the Nights Are Better from their 1982 Now and Forever album. They landed their eight and final top-ten hit with Making Love Out of Nothing at All, the one new song featured on their 1983 Greatest Hits compilation. The song was penned by Jim Steinman, who’d most famously worked with Meat Loaf on his Bat Out of Hell album. He also wrote Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” the song which kept “Making Love” from reaching the top spot in America. Unfortunately, this was Air Supply’s last trip to the top ten in the states. They only managed one more top 40 hit, the 1985 song “Just As I Am,” which peaked at #19. That makes this collection a pretty good sampling of the band, certainly during their heyday in the early ‘80s. At only nine songs, though, the collection feels a little light. They did have two minor hits (“Two Less Lonely People in the World” and “Young Love”) during this era which could have easily been added. Instead, the set features “Chances,” a non-single album cut from the band’s Lost in Love album.

Resources and Related Links: Air Supply’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry WK Wikipedia

Billy Joel’s An Innocent Man released

First posted 5/30/2008; updated 9/22/2020.

An Innocent Man Billy Joel

Released: August 8, 1983 Peak: 4 US, 2 UK, 12 CN, 3 AU Sales (in millions): 7.0 US, 0.9 UK, 13.3 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop/rock singer-songwriter

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Easy Money An Innocent Man (12/17/83, 10 US, 1 AC, 8 UK, 16 CN, 23 AU) The Longest Time (3/24/84, 14 US, 1 AC, 25 UK, 36 CN, 15 AU, gold single, airplay: 2 million) This Night (6/23/84, 78 UK) Tell Her about It (7/17/83, 1 US, 1 AC, 17 AR, 4 UK, 5 CN, 9 AU, gold single, airplay: 2 million) Uptown Girl (9/24/83, 3 US, 2 AC, 22 AR, 1 UK, 4 CN, 1 AU, platinum single, airplay: 2 million) Careless Talk Christie Lee Leave a Tender Moment Alone (6/23/84, 27 US, 1 AC, 29 UK, 58 CN, 76 AU, airplay: 2 million) Keeping the Faith (1/19/85, 18 US, 3 AC, 81 CN) Total Running Time: 40:25

Rating: 3.939 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings) Awards:

About the Album: “Recording The Nylon Curtain exhausted Billy Joel, and even though it had a pair of…hits” AMG with “Pressure” and “Allentown,” it was his first album since 1976’s Turnstiles to fail to generate a top-10 song. His previous two albums had been #1’s and Nylon Curtain’s 2 million in sales were impressive by anyone else’s standards, but were a letdown compared to his three previous albums which had sold at least 7 million each. “Since he labored so hard at the record, he decided it was time for a break – it was time to record an album just for fun. And that’s how his homage to pre-Beatles pop, An Innocent Man, was conceived: it was designed as a breezy romp through the music of his childhood.” AMG “This collection of barefaced salutes to Otis Redding, Frankie Valli and ‘Stand by Me’ was unabashedly corny in its re-creation of ‘50s pop and ‘60s R&B.” DB “The opener Easy Money is a slice of Stax/Volt pop-soul, via the Blues Brothers (quite possibly the inspiration for the album).” AMG Elsewhere, “he’s effortlessly spinning out infectious, memorable melodies in a variety of styles, from the Four Seasons send-up Uptown Girl and the soulful Tell Her About It to a pair of doo wop tributes, The Longest Time and Careless Talk.” AMG “He’s in top form as a craftsman throughout the record. Only once does he stumble on his own ambition (This Night, which appropriates its chorus from Beethoven).” AMG Otherwise, “Joel has rarely sounded so carefree either in performance or writing, possibly due to Christie Lee Brinkley, a supermodel who became his new love prior to An Innocent Man.” AMG “There was no denying the exuberance and joy in what he called his ‘valentine’ to his second (but not last) wife.” DB This is “his Christie Brinkley State of Mind album.” DB “He can’t stop writing about her throughout the album – only three songs, including the haunted title track, aren’t about her in some form or fashion. That giddiness is infectious.” AMG That’s probably why the album became his biggest in terms of charting singles. “Tell Her About It” was a #1 hit, “Uptown Girl” hit the top 3, and the title cut was also a top-10 hit. Beyond those three, he charted with three more top-40 hits from the album with “The Longest Time,” “Leave a Tender Moment Alone,” and “Keeping the Faith.”

Resources and Related Links: Billy Joel’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine DB David Browne (6/07). Blender magazine. Pages 114-5.