When in Rome “The Promise” released

The Promise When in Rome

Writer(s): Clive Farrington, Andrew Mann, Michael Floreale (see lyrics here) Released: September 7, 1987 First Charted: September 3, 1988 Peak: 11 US, 15 CB, 10 RR, 45 AC, 1 CO, 58 UK, 7 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 125.0 video, 122.42 streaming

The Promise Sturgill Simpson

Released: May 13, 2014 (album cut) First Charted: -- Peak: 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 5.0 video, -- streaming

Awards (When in Rome): Click on award for more details.

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Awards (Sturgill Simpson):

About the Song: The British new wave group When in Rome formed in 1987. Singers Clive Farrington and Andrew Mann, formerly of Beau Leisure, decided to form a new group, recruiting keyboardist Michael Floreale. The group’s name was inspired by the phrase, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Farrington said it was a favorite phrase of his dad’s. SF The trio released the single “The Promise” in September that year as a 12”record and topped the Billboard dance chart. It hit the Billboard 100 a year after its initial release and reached #11. They never reached the top 40 again, effectively making them a one-hit wonder although the follow-single, “Heaven Knows,” did get to #95 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #14 on the dance chart. Allmusic.com’s William Cooper called the song “a carbon copy of New Order’s radio-friendly dance-rock” AMG saying it “certainly deserved the success.” AMG The group converted a garden shed in the backyard of Farrington’s father’s house into a studio. They had so little space, they attached the keyboards vertically to the walls. WK1 Floreale was experimenting with the music which became “The Promise” when Clive came in and sang along. WK1 He wrote the first verse and Mann wrote the second verse. Clive had recently gone through a breakup, which Floreale believes was the inspiration for the song. WK1 More than 25 years later, “The Promise” underwent an unusual transformation. Despite its roots as a new wave dance hit from the 1980s, Sturgill Simpson slowed down the tempo to, as American Songwriter’s Jonathan Bernstein said, turn it “into a countrypolitan torch song that culminates in a cathartic release.” WK2 It was released as an album cut on Simpson’s sophomore album, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for When in Rome DMDB encyclopedia entry for Sturgill Simpson AMG All Music Guide SF Songfacts WK1 Wikipedia.org “entry for When in Rome’s “The Promise” WK2 Wikipedia.org “entry for Sturgill Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music First posted 11/13/2023.

Eurythmics hit #1 with “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This”

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This Eurythmics

Writer(s): Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart (see lyrics here) Released: January 21, 1983 First Charted: February 12, 1983 Peak: 11 US, 11 CB, 3 GR, 3 RR, 36 AC, 16 AR, 1 CO, 2 UK, 12 CN, 6 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 1.0 UK, 3.14 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 570.6 video, 1002.53 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer Annie Lennox and multi-instrumentalist Dave Stewart were in the British pop group the Tourists in the latter half of the ‘70s, reaching #4 in the UK with a cover of “I Only Want to Be with You.” After two albums the group dissolved – as did the romantic relationship between Lennox and Stewart. A new working partnership was established, however, when the pair decided to continue working together as the Eurythmics. The new wave duo released an album in 1981 that went nowhere. After Stewart experienced a collapsed lung and Lennox had a nervous breakdown, FB she doubted their dreams would ever happen. That pessimism, balanced with Stewart’s messages to “hold your head up, movin’ on,” fueled the lyrics for “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This.” WK She wrote the largely stream-of-consciousness song in reaction to a catchy rhythm and bass line dreamed up in the studio by Stewart. SJ It was the fastest the pair ever wrote a song. SJ She thinks “Sweet Dreams” has become a mantra that’s an overview of human existence and open to interpretation: “whatever it is that makes you tick, that is what it is.” SF Music critic Dave Marsh called it “the smartest synth-pop song.” DM The “wondrous oddity of this decidedly minimalist, downright skeletal pop song” AMG is that it simultaneously “sounds both warmly inviting and off-puttingly chilly.” AMG It “brought an emotional resonance to the often soulless sound of 1980s synth pop” TB because of an “instrumental track [that] is strikingly minimalist and evocative of Kraftwerk…offering and effective contrast to Lennox’s soulful vocal.” TB Lyrically, the song offers “a pointed critique of the commody culture of late twentieth century capitalism.” DM Lennox said”that line in ‘Sweet Dreams’ about being ‘used and abused’ refers directly to my own experiences. Not just in love, but in this business too.” TC Stewart produced the song’s beat and riff on one synthesizer and Lennox started playing on another to create the dueling synths at the beginning of the song. WK Otherwise the only instruments on the track were the electronic drums. TC The record company wasn’t sold on the song because it had no chorus and released three singles in the UK from the Sweet Dreams Are Made of This album before finally taking a shot with the title cut. That might not have happened if the song hadn’t generated a strong response in Cleveland when a radio DJ played it. WK It was released in January 1983 in the UK and reached #2 two months later. In the U.S., it wasn’t released until May and hit #1 in September. Another part of the song’s success was due to its video, which is “widely considered a classic clip from the early-MTV era.” WK The video paired surreal imagery such as Stewart playing keyboards next to a cow in a field with Lennox’s androgynous look marked by “striking cheekbones and ice-blue eyes emphasized by her close-cropped traffic-cone orange hair and tailored black suit.” AMG Lennonx said, “I thought the ambiguity gave me a degree of power” TC but “I’d never intended it to be that controversial.” TC Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Eurythmics AMG All Music Guide review by Stewart Mason FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 575. TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 473-5. DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Pages 504-5. SJ Bob Shannon and John Javna (1986). Behind the Hits: Inside Stories of Classic Pop and Rock and Roll. Warner Brothers, Inc.: New York, NY. Page 180. SF Songfacts TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 210. WK Wikipedia First posted 2/1/2021; last updated 4/14/2023.