Paula Abdul "The Promise Of A New Day (Cassette Single & Video, USA, Virgin America, 4-98752)"

"The Promise of a New Day" is a song by American singer and entertainer Paula Abdul, recorded for her second studio album Spellbound (1991) and services as the album's opening track. The track, written by Abdul, Peter Lord, Sandra St. Victor, and V. Jeffrey Smith and produced by Lord and Smith, was released as the album's second official single in July 1991 in the United States. The song lyrically finds the singer singing optimistically about a relationship, with a vague sub-context of improvement of the world. It was also her first single released under her own label, Captive Records.

Despite mixed critical reception, "The Promise of a New Day" became another hit single for Abdul. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 in September 1991, becoming Abdul's sixth and final number-one song as of 2025. Internationally, the track entered the top 10 in Canada, the top 20 in Finland, and the top 40 in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden.

In an interview with Songfacts, when asked how the song came to be, co-writer Peter Lord said, "Paula had an idea for the title and feel for the song and we built it from there."

The video was directed by Big TV!, a duo made up of Andy Delaney and Monty Whitebloom and of which would be the first of multiple times of Abdul working with them. The live waterfall and tropical footage were filmed on location in Hawaii, but Abdul was unable to attend filming due to prior commitments. Filming and production took place on July 8, 1991, in which Abdul and a number of background dancers filmed on a sound stage in Los Angeles, in which it would be edited in the video through green screen. The video would be released on August 17, 1991 on MTV as an exclusive, where it was shortly placed on heavy rotation.

The video attracted controversy due to the fact that special lenses were used to film the video. This method was in order so that editors could fit in more dancers but unintentionally made Abdul taller and a lot more thinner than what she actually was. The video was later mocked on In Living Color, where it was parodied as "Promise of a Thin Me" and took jabs at Abdul's singing voice and also fat-shamed her.

Tracklist:

Side A

1. The Promise Of A New Day (7" Edit)
2. The Promise Of A New Day (West Coast 12")

Side B

1. The Promise Of A New Day (7" Edit)
2. The Promise Of A New Day (West Coast 12")

All tracks appear on both sides.

Paula Abdul "Cold Hearted (Single & Video)"

"Cold Hearted" is a song by American singer Paula Abdul, released in June 1989 as the fifth single from her debut album, Forever Your Girl (1988). It was written and co-produced by Elliot Wolff and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the album's third song to top the US chart.

"Cold Hearted" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in September 1989, giving Abdul her third US number-one single. "Cold Hearted" was ranked sixth on Billboard's Year-End Hot 100 ranking of 1989. It spent a total of 21 weeks within the Billboard Hot 100. In Canada, "Cold Hearted" peaked at number one according to The Record magazine and number two according to RPM magazine, while in Finland, in entered the top 20.

The official music video for "Cold Hearted" was directed by David Fincher and spent more than three weeks on top of MTV's video rotation list. It uses the album version of the song, with the rap section from the extended 12" version spliced in after the 3rd chorus. The inspiration for the video came from Bob Fosse's choreography of the "Take Off with Us" scene in the movie All That Jazz. Abdul dances for music executives with a group of semi-nude dancers. Abdul was wearing a black fishnet dress which exposed her belly button and was sporting a hat of the German "Kriegsmarine". The dance floor included scaffolding where Abdul and her dancers hang and dance suggestively. The video was filmed in Downtown Los Angeles where Christina Aguilera's music video for "What a Girl Wants" would also be filmed at.

The video and its "late-'80s energy" served as a visual inspiration for the music video of Ariana Grande's 2024 single "Yes, And?".

Paula Abdul "Forever Your Girl "Single & Video)"

"Forever Your Girl" is a song by American singer Paula Abdul from her debut studio album, Forever Your Girl (1988). The song was written and produced by Oliver Leiber, with additional production by Keith "K.C." Cohen. Virgin Records released it as the album's fourth single on February 20, 1989. "Forever Your Girl" spent two weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100 in May 1989, reached number 28 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart, and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Worldwide, it peaked at number one in Canada and number nine in Finland.

The song is about loyalty in a relationship. The female vocalist proclaims that, despite rumors that others may be interested in her, none of those matter because she will remain faithful to the man she loves; she will remain "forever his girl." The single version differs slightly from the album version, as it uses more of the background male vocal featuring the Wild Pair, Bruce DeShazer, and Marvin Gunn.

Eleanor Levy left an ironically negative review on this single for British music newspaper Record Mirror. She called it "a disappointingly predictable pop song".

The accompanying music video for the song was directed by David Fincher, and features Abdul acting as a choreographer and director of a children's performance. A young Elijah Wood appears in the video, playing the kid in the suit. It also parodies Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love video, with three girls dressed like the women of the aforementioned video.

Paula Abdul "Straight Up (45 rpm Vinyl Single & Video)"

"Straight Up" is a song by American recording artist Paula Abdul from her debut studio album, Forever Your Girl (1988). The song is a mid-tempo dance-pop song with influence from new jack swing. Written and produced entirely by Elliot Wolff, the song was released as the album's third single on November 22, 1988, by Virgin Records.

"Straight Up" became Abdul's first top-40 hit in the United States, eventually topping the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1989. The single brought Abdul widespread public attention and remains her biggest international hit to date, reaching the top 10 in at least 16 countries. The song was also included in her six compilation albums, released between 1998 and 2013.

The song received positive reviews from music critics, with Daniel J. Levitin's This Is Your Brain on Music praising it as "hold[ing] a certain appeal over many, many listenings." It also earned Abdul several award nominations in the US, most notably including her first Grammy nomination in the category of Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1990, and six other nominations for its accompanying music video, which was directed by David Fincher, at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards.

According to Paula Abdul, her mother found this song for her. She explains that her mother knew someone whose boyfriend was an aspiring songwriter, and she got "Straight Up" as an 8-track demo. The demo version was "so bad" that Abdul's mother was "crying laughing" at it and threw it in the trash. But Abdul heard something she liked in it and retrieved it. At that time she was a full-time choreographer, and on the side late at night she was recording music. The record label did not think the song was any good, but Abdul offered to record two songs they wanted, which she did not like, if they would let her do "Straight Up". The song was recorded at a cost of $3,000. Later a friend of hers told her that somebody with her same name was being played on a northern California radio station. "Literally, within 10 days I [it] sold a million copies." The song was originally recorded in a bathroom, and in the masters of the recording someone in the next apartment can be heard yelling "Shut up".

"Straight Up" was the third single released from her debut album Forever Your Girl, after "Knocked Out" and "The Way That You Love Me." While the latter found modest success on the R&B charts, radio station KMEL in San Francisco started playing "Straight Up" from the album. The label switched promotion "The Way That You Love Me" to "Straight Up". The strategy paid off, as "Straight Up" spent three weeks at No. 1 in the U.S. "The Way That You Love Me" was promoted a year later and became Abdul's fourth (of five) Top 5 hits from the album in the U.S.

One of the 12" versions was remixed by LA "Powermixers" Chris Modig and Boris Granich, known for their special Power mixes at Power 106 during the 1980s.

"Straight Up" attained breakthrough success for Abdul in the States. After debuting at number 79 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of December 3, 1988, the single quickly rose up the chart. By the week of January 21, 1989, the song reached number 13 on the chart, becoming her first top 40 entry and her first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of February 11, 1989, dethroning Sheriff's "When I'm with You" and remaining on the top spot for three consecutive weeks. The song has since spent a total 25 consecutive chart weeks, thus tying with her later re-released second single as her longest charting performance on the Billboard Hot 100, and was eventually ranked as the fourth biggest hit of 1989 on Billboard's year-end chart for that year. The single was certified Platinum by the RIAA with sales of more than one million units, and remained as her best-selling single in the country to date.

The song also attained international success, reaching the top 10 in at least 16 countries. In addition to topping the charts in the United States, the single also reached the top in Norway. It reached number two in Canada, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden, and number three in Denmark, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and West Germany. It also reached number five in Belgium and Finland, number six in Ireland and New Zealand, and number eight in Austria and Finland. In France, the single fell short of the top 10, reaching number 12. The single fell short of the top 20 in Australia, reaching number 27.

It was used as a lip sync song in the third season of reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, where contestants Raja and Carmen Carrera had to perform it to avoid elimination.

The song became so popular that it ascended up the charts before a music video had even been shot for the song. The black and white video, directed by American director David Fincher and choreographed by Abdul herself in mid-January 1989, won four 1989 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video, Best Editing, Best Choreography, and the first Best Dance Video. The video features an appearance by her friend, comedian Arsenio Hall, whose popular talk show had premiered a few weeks prior to the video shoot. Djimon Hounsou also appears. Released later that month, the video at the time went into very heavy rotation on MTV, helping further Abdul's popularity.

Track listings and formats

Australia 12-inch single

1. "Straight Up" (Ultimix)
2. "Opposites Attract" (1990 mix)
3. "Straight Up" (single version)

French 12-inch vinyl

1. "Straight Up" (12-inch remix)
2. "Straight Up" (Power mix)
3. "Straight Up" (House mix)
4. "Straight Up" (Marley Marl mix)

US 12-inch single

1. "Straight Up" (12-inch remix)
2. "Straight Up" (Power mix)
3. "Straight Up" (House mix)

Japanese mini-CD single

1. "Straight Up"
2. "Cold Hearted"

Paul & Linda McCartney "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (Single & Video)"

"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is a song by Paul and Linda McCartney from the album Ram. Released in the United States as a single on 2 August 1971, it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 4 September 1971, making it the first of a string of post-Beatles, Paul McCartney-penned singles to top the US pop chart during the 1970s and 1980s. Billboard ranked the song as number 22 on its Top Pop Singles of 1971 year-end chart. It became McCartney's first gold record after the break-up of the Beatles.

"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is composed of several unfinished song fragments that Norwegian engineer Eirik Wangberg [no] stitched together in a similar manner to the medleys from the Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road. The orchestral arrangements by George Martin were recorded in New York at A & R Recording, along with other instruments by McCartney and his new band. The project was moved to Los Angeles where vocals were added by Paul and Linda McCartney – her first experience of recording in a professional studio. The song is notable for its thunderstorm and environmental sound effects added by Wangberg in Los Angeles; he had been invited by McCartney to mix and sequence the Ram album in any way he saw fit, and he copied the thunder from a monaural film soundtrack, then fashioned an artificial stereo version of it for the song.

McCartney stated that "Uncle Albert" was based on his uncle: "He's someone I recall fondly, and when the song was coming it was like a nostalgia thing." He also stated: "I had an uncle – Albert Kendall – who was a lot of fun, and when I came to write 'Uncle Albert'/'Admiral Halsey' it was loosely about addressing that older generation, half thinking, 'What would they think of the way my generation does things?' That's why I wrote the line 'We're so sorry, Uncle Albert.'" McCartney also told an American journalist, "As for Admiral Halsey, he's one of yours, an American admiral", referring to Fleet Admiral William "Bull" Halsey (1882–1959). McCartney has described the "Uncle Albert" section of the song as an apology from his generation to the older generation, and Admiral Halsey as an authoritarian figure who ought to be ignored.

McCartney talks to Uncle Albert on the telephone using "a posh British accent", apologizing but not overly concerned that he does not have time to talk.

McCartney said that the lyric, "'Hands across the water/Heads across the sky' refers to Linda and me being American and British."

"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" appears on the Wings Greatest compilation album released in 1978, even though Ram was not a Wings album.

The song appears on several solo Paul McCartney compilations: the US version of All the Best! (1987), as well as Wingspan: Hits and History (2001), and on both the standard and deluxe versions of Pure McCartney (2016). It was also included on The 7" Singles Box in 2022.

Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder "Ebony And Ivory (Single & Video)"

"Ebony and Ivory" is a song that was released in 1982 as a single by Paul McCartney featuring Stevie Wonder. It was issued on 29 March that year as the lead single from McCartney's third solo album, Tug of War (1982). Written by McCartney, the song aligns the black and white keys of a piano keyboard with the theme of racial harmony. The single reached number one on both the UK and the US charts and was among the top-selling singles of 1982 in the US. During the apartheid era, the South African Broadcasting Corporation banned the song after Wonder dedicated his 1984 Academy Award for Best Original Song to Nelson Mandela.

McCartney and Wonder began recording "Ebony and Ivory" in Montserrat in early 1981. The single marked the first time that McCartney had released a duet with another major artist and anticipated his 1980s collaborations with Michael Jackson. The track also appears on McCartney compilations All the Best! (1987) and Pure McCartney (2016), and on the two-disc version of Wonder's The Definitive Collection (2002). In 2013, Billboard ranked it as the 69th-biggest hit of all-time on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

McCartney wrote "Ebony and Ivory" at his farm in Scotland in 1978. He first rehearsed the song with Wings in 1979. The song uses the ebony (black) and ivory (white) keys on a piano as a metaphor for integration and racial harmony. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say, "Black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony, folks!" The figure of speech is much older. It was popularised by James Aggrey in the 1920s, inspiring the title of the pan-African journal The Keys, but was in use from at least the 1840s.

While writing the song, McCartney envisaged singing it with a black male singer. He and Wonder recorded it together at George Martin's AIR Studios in Montserrat during sessions lasting from 27 February to 2 March 1981. McCartney then carried out overdubs on the track at AIR in London. Due to conflicting work schedules, McCartney and Wonder filmed their parts for the song's music video separately (as explained by McCartney in his commentary for The McCartney Years 3-DVD boxed set).

A video for the solo version was also made, which showed McCartney playing piano with a bright spotlight, and black men in prison, including one of them being uplifted by the song, dancing and listening to it in prison as well as in the studio. This version was directed by Barry Myers on 11 February 1982. That same day, McCartney filmed a promotional interview for the Tug of War album.

The B-side of the single, "Rainclouds", was written by McCartney and Denny Laine, though on early pressings of the single the song was credited only to McCartney. According to authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter, "Rainclouds" is "perhaps most notorious" as the track that McCartney worked on during 9 December 1980, straight after hearing that John Lennon had been fatally shot in New York. When leaving AIR Studios in central London that evening, he said in response to a TV reporter's question about the murder: "drag, isn't it?" The footage was included in news broadcasts around the world and McCartney's apparent casualness, though masking his profound shock, earned condemnation from the press.

The "Ebony and Ivory" single was released on 29 March 1982 in both the UK and the United States. It marked the first time in McCartney's solo career that he had sung a duet with another major star. In this, McCartney and Wonder fitted a trend as duetting artists became commonplace throughout the 1980s, particularly in mainstream British pop.

The single spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and it was the fourth-biggest hit there of 1982. Its commercial success was aided by the music video, with MTV having been launched the year before. The song was also number one in the UK and spent three weeks atop the Irish Singles Chart.

In the US, the single's run atop the chart was the longest of any of McCartney's post-Beatles works, and the second longest career-wise (behind the Beatles' "Hey Jude"). For Wonder, it was his longest-running chart-topper and made him the first solo artist to achieve a number-one single in the US over three consecutive decades. It marked the first time that any single released by any member of the Beatles placed on the Billboard R&B chart. It was McCartney's record 28th song to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2008, "Ebony and Ivory" was ranked at number 59 on Billboard's Hot 100 songs of all-time. It was ranked 69th on a similar list published by the magazine in 2013.

Track listings:

7" single (R 6054)

1. "Ebony and Ivory" – 3:41
2. "Rainclouds" – 3:47

12" single (12R 6054)

1. "Ebony and Ivory" – 3:41
2. "Rainclouds" – 3:47
3. "Ebony and Ivory" (Solo Version) – 3:41

Olivia Newton-John "The Rumour (US 12″ Single & Video, MCA Records, MCA-23890)"

"The Rumour" is a song recorded by Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton-John for her thirteenth studio album of the same name (1988). It was released as the album's lead single in April 1988 through Mercury Records. The song was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and it features backing vocals and piano by John.

Billboard commented that the single was "benefiting from aggressive pop production and songwriting aid from label mate John, the distinctive songstress is set for a comeback." A reviewer from Cash Box said that "The Rumour" is "the snappiest tune that Olivia's done in a long stretch and she rises to the occasion delivering a heartfelt performance." Jonh Wilde from Melody Maker wrote, "Okay, I'm not trying to suggest that she's The Monkees or anything, but when she gets rocking like this, it's 23 skidoo and away before you know it. Stars like this are not going cheap. We have to give in. It's our duty. I'm entirely serious about all this. Boom, boom, boom. That's me humming the second verse."

Olivia Newton-John "Soul Kiss (US 12'' Single & Video, MCA Records, MCA-23593)"

"Soul Kiss" is a song recorded by English-born Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her twelfth studio album, Soul Kiss (1985). It was released as the lead single from the album on 25 September 1985 by MCA Records. The song was produced by John Farrar and written by Mark Goldenberg.

No Doubt "Hella Good (Single & Video)"

"Hella Good" is a song by American rock band No Doubt from their fifth studio album, Rock Steady (2001). Written by Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal and the Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo), and produced by Nellee Hooper and the band, "Hella Good" was released as the album's second single on March 11, 2002, and received positive reviews from contemporary music critics, who made comparisons to the work of a diverse range of artists such as Afrika Bambaataa and Madonna.

Commercially, "Hella Good" was successful, and Roger Sanchez's remix of the song topped the US Billboard Dance Club Songs. For the 45th Grammy Awards, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences introduced new categories for Best Dance Recording and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. "Hella Good" was nominated for Best Dance Recording, but lost to Dirty Vegas' "Days Go By", and Sanchez's remix won for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. No Doubt performed a medley of "Underneath It All" and "Hella Good" at the ceremony.

The accompanying music video for "Hella Good", directed by Mark Romanek, was filmed in March 2002 and released in April 2002, and it features the band squatting in an abandoned ship. The song was featured in the opening sequence of the 2005 film The Longest Yard, covered by Rita Ora at Radio 1's Big Weekend, and was also used for the second season Alias episode "The Getaway" in 2003 and in the pilot episode of The Black Donnellys in 2007.

No Doubt decided to work with hip hop production duo the Neptunes as a sort of "cultural collision". Lead singer Gwen Stefani wanted to write a high-spirited and celebratory song about the positive things in her life, so they wrote an optimistic upbeat song. The word hella was a slang term used mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area and other parts of California to mean "very". Having toured in the Bay Area, Stefani borrowed the term to describe her mood. Stefani wanted to use the word dance in a chorus, so she decided to end each line of "Hella Good"'s chorus with the phrase "keep on dancing". The song's funk sound is based on songs such as Queen's 1980 single "Another One Bites the Dust" and The Commodores' 1977 single "Brick House".

"Hella Good" is a rock song composed in the key of G minor. It is written in common time and moves at a moderately fast 115 beats per minute. The song is influenced by electro, punk and funk music. The song's beat drew several comparisons to that of Michael Jackson's 1983 single "Billie Jean". Its hook comes from a simple progression of power chords alternating between G and A flat, suggesting Phrygian mode. "Hella Good" follows a verse-chorus form with a chorus following each of the two verses. Following the bridge, the chorus is repeated and the song closes with an outro.

The black-and-white music video was directed by Mark Romanek. Not following any plot, the video depicts the band as a group of punk rockers squatting in an abandoned ship while the rest are chasing Stefani throughout the ship. During the course of the video, the band members perform the song, using bodyboards to float electronic equipment, and they and their friends explore and dance throughout the ship. There are also sequences of people riding on personal water crafts, Stefani performing on a coiled rope, people playing Jet Set Radio Future, and Stefani broadcasting on a pirate radio station.

Romanek came up with the video's concept it and e-mailed it to the band. He based it on a black-and-white Italian Vogue fashion shoot from the mid-1990s which featured models on waverunners. The video was then filmed over three days in March 2002 in Long Beach, California. The scenes inside the ship were filmed from man-made sets at South Bay Studios.

The music video was moderately successful. Following a premiere on an episode of MTV's Making the Video, it reached number four on the network's video countdown Total Request Live. The video debuted on MuchMusic's Countdown in April 2002 and peaked at number six, spending over four months on the program. At the 2003 Music Video Production Association Awards, production designer Laura Fox won the Universal Studios Production Services Award for Best Art Direction for her work on this video.

No Doubt "Don't Speak (Single & Video)"

"Don't Speak" is a song by American rock band No Doubt, featured on their third studio album, Tragic Kingdom (1995). Released as an album track in 1996 by Interscope Records, the song was initially written as a love song by lead singer Gwen Stefani and her brother, former band member Eric Stefani. However, after several revisions, Gwen reworked the lyrics into a breakup song, reflecting the end of her seven-year relationship with bandmate Tony Kanal.

Despite the song's substantial airplay in the United States, "Don't Speak" was not allowed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 since a physical single was not issued for the song in the US, which was a rule at the time. Instead, "Don't Speak" topped the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart for 16 weeks. Outside the United States, it topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, becoming No Doubt's most successful international single. "Don't Speak" was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 40th Grammy Awards.

"Don't Speak" was ranked at number 495 on Blender magazine's "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". The song is a playable track in the 2009 video game Band Hero, and was also released as a downloadable song for 2008's Rock Band 2, as well as part of the No Doubt Track Pack for Guitar Hero III. The song has been sampled by multiple hip hop artists, including in Rakim's song "Dedicated" and Ice Cube's "War & Peace".

"Don't Speak" is an alternative rock power ballad written by lead singer Gwen Stefani and her brother Eric Stefani, and produced by Matthew Wilder. It was originally a love song, but Stefani rewrote the lyrics almost completely after her breakup with the band's bass player Tony Kanal. According to her, "It used to be more upbeat, more of a Seventies rock-type thing. [When] Tony and I broke up... it turned into a sad song." The opening chords are reminiscent of the intro to the 1979 pop hit "Breakfast in America" by the British rock band Supertramp. A live version that exists from April 1994 shows off a bouncy tune that has the same skeleton as the released version, but not the same urgency. The band performed part of the original song on VH1 Storytellers on August 10, 2000.

The band's lead guitarist Tom Dumont said about the song's composition:

There's a lot of stories about that song, because that one unfolded over a longer period of time. Originally, Gwen's brother wrote most of that song, and then after we got at it as a band, Gwen changed the lyrics around to fit her life. Musically, we brought it to another level, but near the end we reworded it. There's an earlier version of the song where the verses are totally different, which is a really beautiful version and it's awesome but it's way more jazzy and really different. That song had a long incubation process.

Sheet music for "Don't Speak" shows the key of E ♭ major. A demo version also appeared on a demo CD, which was presented to Interscope Records prior to the release of Tragic Kingdom.

British magazine Music Week rated the song three out of five, writing that "this Californian quartet sound more like Swedish Eurovision hopefuls on this debut UK offering but, if radio bites, it could be a smash."

Upon release, "Don't Speak" immediately began to receive extensive airplay and it eventually became the most widely played song on American radio in 1996. It reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart and maintained that position for 16 non-consecutive weeks, a record at the time. Despite its copious airplay, "Don't Speak" was not allowed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 since no commercial single was released for it in the United States (a requirement for charting purposes at the time). Slate magazine music critic Chris Molanphy has stated that if the song had been eligible to chart, it almost certainly would have claimed the number one spot. An import CD did sell in the US, but this format was not allowed to chart either.

On other Billboard charts, "Don't Speak" stayed at number two on Modern Rock Tracks chart for five consecutive weeks. The song also proved to be a crossover hit, reaching number one on the Adult Top 40 chart for 15 consecutive weeks as well as numbers six and nine on the Adult Contemporary and Rhythmic Top 40 charts, respectively. It was ultimately placed at number one on the Hot 100 Airplay year-end chart of 1997.

Internationally, "Don't Speak" was also very successful. In February 1997, it peaked at number one in both the United Kingdom and Ireland for three weeks. Elsewhere in Europe, "Don't Speak" reached the top position in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Australia was another major music market where the song received widespread airplay, debuting at number one and maintaining the peak position for eight weeks.

The video was directed by Sophie Muller and it is the first of the long-time collaboration between the band and the director. Before the music starts, at the beginning of the music video, there is a scene of Kanal picking a rotten orange from a tree (these scenes are usually cut out when VH1 airs this video). The majority of the video for "Don't Speak" takes place on Stage 2 at Mack Sennett Studios in Silver Lake as the band plays. Other scenes tell the story of how the media mainly focused on Stefani while the band was always in the background. The second half of the video features snippets of live footage filmed during the band's performance with Dog Eat Dog and Goldfinger at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on August 21, 1996. The video also features clips of Dumont playing together with Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear. The video ends with Kanal replacing the orange in the tree, which is actually footage of Kanal in reverse pulling the orange off.

Tensions in the band had been running high and they reportedly were on the verge of breaking up the day before they were scheduled to film the video. They decided to go ahead and film it as a form of "therapy".

The video won the award for Best Group Video and was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. It has one billion views on YouTube as of May 2023, and 700 million of the views come from 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 alone. The video, now remastered in 4K, was uploaded on October 7, 2009.

There is an alternate version of the video showing just the live performance part. Both versions of the video are included on the DVD release The Videos 1992–2003 (2004).

Track listings

Australian, Japanese, and UK CD single

1. "Don't Speak" – 4:23
2. "Don't Speak" (alternate version) – 4:23 (*)
3. "Hey You" (acoustic version) – 3:27 (*)
4. "Greener Pastures" (from The Beacon Street Collection album) – 5:05

European CD single; UK 7-inch and cassette single

1. "Don't Speak" – 4:23
2. "Greener Pastures" (from The Beacon Street Collection album) – 5:05

(*) Recorded at York Street Studios, Auckland, New Zealand, in September 1996.

Nik Kershaw "Wouldn't It Be Good (Germany 12'' Single & Video)"

"Wouldn't It Be Good" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw, released on 20 January 1984 as the second single from his debut studio album, Human Racing (1984). The release was Kershaw's second single, with the non-album track "Monkey Business" as its B-side; it was a bonus track on the 2012 re-release of the album. The music video was directed by Storm Thorgerson.

"Wouldn't It Be Good" was the second single from Kershaw's debut studio album Human Racing (1984). It spent three weeks at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart and was successful throughout Europe, as well as a top-10 entry in Canada and Australia. Kershaw is also most closely associated with this song in the United States, where it narrowly missed the top 40. Kershaw performed it at Live Aid in London's Wembley Stadium in July 1985.

Kershaw's first single from this album had failed to be a major hit, and it was on the strength of this recording's success that the earlier single, "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", was promoted for a re-release. This time the single went all the way to No. 2 in the UK, becoming his highest-charting single there to date.

Kershaw remembers that this was one of the last songs he wrote for the Human Racing album, mapping out the chords first on a keyboard. However, the aggressive guitar sound he wanted led to a clash in harmonics and therefore the result sounded rather unpleasant. Thus he decided to create a kind of "guitar orchestra", inspired by work of Queen's Brian May, where the notes were separated into single lines and harmonies. Kershaw elaborates on the layering of the guitar lines:

I think I'm playing fifths in one go. But some of the more subtle notes just didn't work, so I think I did about four takes of each note, so there were a lot of takes, and this was all on analogue tape, obviously. We then bounced them all together to make that one sound.

According to Kershaw, there were about 20 guitars on this song alone, and there was a bit of trouble in trying to get the other instruments being overdubbed (such as bass and keyboards) in tune with the guitars.

The main synthesizer riff was produced using a combination of PPG Wave 2.2 and a Yamaha DX7.

"Wouldn't It Be Good" was released in a single version and an extended 12" version. A remix by Simon Boswell, clocking in at 7:20, appears on the album Retro:Active 4: Rare & Remixed.

In 1985, "Wouldn't It Be Good" appeared on the soundtrack to the film Gotcha!

In the music video for "Wouldn't It Be Good", Kershaw is an extraterrestrial visitor who observes the characteristics of the people around him. It was directed by graphic designer Storm Thorgerson, was released in 1984 and received heavy rotation on MTV, which helped the song reach No. 46 on the US charts. It used chroma key technology to achieve the alien suit's special effects. The music video was filmed in mid-January 1984 over a period of three days, primarily in and around St. James' Court Hotel, London. The closing scenes were recorded at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory, near Cambridge.

According to Kershaw, the song was about "always wanting it better than everyone else", a concept which the director of the video further developed and integrated into the video plot of Kershaw being the alien who steps into other people's shoes. But in the end the alien realises that it was not such a good idea at all, and decides to return to his home planet.

In a review of the single's 1991 reissue, Stephen Dalton of NME praised it as "a deeply felt ennui at the hopeless dreams and aspirations of idealistic youth" and a "welcome re-release from a much underrated innovator of early synth-pop".

Track listings

7-inch single

       A. "Wouldn't It Be Good" – 4:35

       B. "Monkey Business" – 3:28

12-inch single

        A. "Wouldn't It Be Good" (special extended mix) – 6:50

        B. "Monkey Business" – 3:28

Natalie Imbruglia "Torn (Single & Video)"

In 1997, Australian singer and actress Natalie Imbruglia, working with Thornalley, covered the song for her debut studio album, Left of the Middle (1997). Imbruglia's version was recorded in Kilburn, London, with David Munday (lead guitar), Thornalley (bass, rhythm guitars), Chuck Sabo (drums), Henry Binns, Sam Hardaker (Zero 7) (drum programming) and Katrina Leskanich (background vocals). It was mixed by Nigel Godrich. Released as a single, Imbruglia's version became a worldwide hit.

For the song, Imbruglia received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, losing to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On". The accompanying music video for "Torn" features British actor Jeremy Sheffield.

Imbruglia also recorded an acoustic version of the song in 2001 for MTV Unplugged. The sheet music for "Torn" is published in the key of F major.

Larry Flick from Billboard described the song as a "shuffling, acoustic-lined rocker", noting that it "has the rich texture and guitar flavor needed to win the props of rock radio." He added, "However, the song also has an infectious melody that will warm the heart of anyone with a hankering for a slice of pure pop. Imbruglia has a charming, heartfelt delivery mildly reminiscent of Jewel." Scottish newspaper Daily Record commented, "Gorgeous tune from a gorgeous lady". A reviewer from Music & Media stated that "this very convincing debut single" has taken the U.K. charts by storm, "and looks likely to do so elsewhere." Music Week rated it five out of five, picking it as Single of the Week. They wrote, "The former Neighbours star possesses a sweet voice and this song — produced by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead) — has a gentle beauty. Should be huge." The magazine's Alan Jones viewed it as an "excellent single", adding, "A star is reborn."

In 2013, "Torn" was declared the "Best Pop Song" on a top 10 list, part of a larger collection of songs by Q magazine in their special edition 1001 Best Songs Ever issue. In 2013, Billboard ranked "Torn" the number 26 Biggest Pop Song based only on pop radio charts compiled between 1992 and 2012. In 2005, "Torn" was listed at number 383 on Blender magazine's list of "500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".

The music video to Natalie Imbruglia's cover version, filmed on 25 October 1997 under the direction of Alison Maclean, features a shot of an apartment where the angle of vision never changes. Shots of Imbruglia singing along with the song are interspersed with footage of her and British actor Jeremy Sheffield engaging in a romantically inclined conversation. These few scenes turn out to be B-roll footage, as the two actors are seen fumbling their lines and positions; and the director constantly steps into frame to redirect the two. During the last chorus, the apartment walls start wobbling and the crew comes to dismantle it, revealing the location to be a set inside a soundstage. Imbruglia begins to dance during the finishing guitar solo as her "world" crumbles around her.

The song was pantomimed by David Armand for a 2005 HBO broadcast which spread on the internet. This popularity of the "Karaoke for the Deaf" performance by Armand as Johan Lippowitz resulted in the 2006 live performance (Amnesty International's Secret Policeman's Ball) with Imbruglia where she sings "Torn" and then joins into the "interpretive dance" pantomime featuring both Armand and Imbruglia acting out the words of the song.

Track listings

Australian CD single and UK CD1

1. "Torn" Scott Cutler/Anne Preven/Phil Thornalley  4:06
2. "Sometimes" (incorrectly lists length on sleeve as 5:51) Natalie Imbruglia/Rick Palombi/Nick Trevisik   3:52
3. "Frightened Child"   Imbruglia/Dave Munday/Thornalley   1:56

UK CD2 (withdrawn a day after release)

1. "Torn"  Cutler/Preven/Thornalley   4:06
2. "Contradictions" Imbruglia/Palombi/Trevisik  4:07
3. "Diving in the Deep End" (ending cut short) Imbruglia/Thornalley   3:30

UK cassette single

1. "Torn" Cutler/Preven/Thornalley 4:06
2. "Sometimes" (length incorrectly listed on sleeve as 5:51) Imbruglia/Palombi/Trevisik   3:52

European CD single

1. "Torn" Cutler/Preven/Thornalley   4:06
2. "Diving in the Deep End" Imbruglia/Thornalley  3:54

Mr. Mister "Kyrie (Single & Video)"

"Kyrie" is a song by American pop rock band Mr. Mister, from their album Welcome to the Real World. Released around Christmas in 1985, it hit the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1986, where it was number 1 for two weeks. It also hit the top spot on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart for one week. In the UK, the song peaked at number 11 in March 1986.

The lyrics to "Kyrie" were written by Arizona-born John Lang, who co-wrote the songs on all of Mr. Mister's albums. The music was composed by Richard Page and Steve George while on tour with Adam Ant.

In Greek, Kýrie, eléison means "Lord, have mercy" and is a part of many liturgical rites in both Eastern and Western Christianity. Kýrie, eléison; Christé, eléison; Kýrie, eléison is a prayer that asks "Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy." According to Page's statements, he was initially skeptical about singing the Christian text Lang had written because he didn't want to make a "religious statement".

There is a myth that singer Richard Page wrote "Kyrie" while lying in a hospital bed after being assaulted. It was John Lang who had been assaulted three years before the composition; Lang has stated that the incident has nothing to do with the song.

The video was directed by Nick Morris, and shows the band in performance mixed with footage taken at the tail end of their Autumn 1985 tour with Tina Turner.

"Kyrie" was used in the hit U.S. TV series Miami Vice during season two, episode fourteen "One-Way Ticket". It was also used in the Netflix series' GLOW as well as the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs. The U.S. 7" single can be found pressed on transparent purple vinyl or polystyrene, depending on where it was manufactured.

Cash Box said it's a "booming track which ... features top musicianship and a soaring chorus hook."

Track listings

Non-UK 7-inch single

A. "Kyrie" – 4:10

B. "Run to Her" – 3:36

UK 7-inch single

A. "Kyrie" (edited version) – 3:38

B. "Kyrie" – 4:10

UK 12-inch single

A1. "Kyrie" – 4:10

B1. "Kyrie" (edited version) – 3:38

B2. "Hunters of the Night" – 4:07

European and Japanese 12-inch single

A1. "Kyrie" – 4:24

B1. "Run to Her" – 3:36

B2. "Hunters of the Night" – 5:07

The single edit (which was also used for the video version) ends with the a cappella phrase "Kýrie, eléison, down the road that I must travel", while the album version simply fades out.

Mr. Mister "Broken Wings (Single & Video)"

"Broken Wings" is a 1985 song recorded by American pop rock band Mr. Mister. It was released in June 1985 as the lead single from their second album Welcome to the Real World. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1985, where it remained for two weeks. "Broken Wings" became the first of two consecutive number ones of the band on the American charts, the other chart-topper being "Kyrie".

Outside of the United States, "Broken Wings" topped the charts in Canada, peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Belgium (Flanders), the Netherlands, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and West Germany, and the top twenty of the charts in Austria, New Zealand, Spain and Sweden.

The ballad was co-written with lyricist John Lang, who was inspired by Kahlil Gibran's novel Broken Wings. The song is a mix of synth, digitally delayed guitar, bass which is provided by synthsesizer and drums. The song's hissing intro was an effect created by the sound of a crash cymbal played in reverse.

Although the 1968 Beatles song "Blackbird" contains an identical lyric, "Take these broken wings and learn to fly", Richard Page has described this as "a mindless unintentional reference" attributable to both compositions being influenced by the Gibran novel.

The music video for "Broken Wings" was directed by Oley Sassone and filmed in black and white. It features lead vocalist/bassist Richard Page driving through the desert in a classic Ford Thunderbird, the first allusion to birds. There is a scene where Page is sitting in a church when a Harris's Hawk flies in through the window and lands next to him on the pew and they exchange a gaze. The full band is also featured in performance scenes. Also appearing in the video are an unknown man and woman dancing tango. They are only shown from the waist down. At the end of the video Page is seen next to the Thunderbird with the vehicle's hood open.

Stereogum wrote about the song:

Lyrically, "Broken Wings" is an attempt to keep a relationship together through the magic of flowery language: "Take these broken wings/ And learn to fly again, learn to live so free/ When we hear the voices sing/ The book of love will open up and let us in." Those words are grandiloquent enough to be self-parody, but Page delivers them all perfectly straight-faced. He means every bit of it. In Page's mouth, the word "take" becomes a desperate animal yelp. I love it. I also love how overproduced "Broken Wings" is. The song is all ominous churn, and it never really kicks in. Instead, it captures a state of sustained anticipation.

Track listing

7" single

1. "Broken Wings" (single edit) – 4:29
2. "Uniform of Youth" – 4:25

12" maxi single

1. "Broken Wings" (album version) – 5:45
2. "Uniform of Youth" – 4:25
3. "Welcome to the Real World" – 4:18

Mike Oldfield "Tattoo (Single & Video)"

"Tattoo" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1992. It is from the album Tubular Bells II. There were two singles released for "Tattoo", one being called the Live at Edinburgh Castle EP.

One of the B-sides is Oldfield's instrumental rendition of the Christmas carol "Silent Night".

Track listing

CD single

1. "Tattoo" (edit) – 3:41
2. "Sentinel" (live) – 8:06
3. "Silent Night" – 4:19

Live at Edinburgh Castle EP

1. "Tattoo" – 3:44
2. "Maya Gold" – 4:10
3. "Moonshine" – 1:42
4. "Reprise" – 1:20