"Set the Night on Fire" by Oak

Song#:  0437
Date:  12/13/1980
Debut:  85
Peak:  71
Weeks:  6
Genre:  Pop, Rock



Pop Bits:  New Hampshire's Oak had their first and only Top 40 hit when "King of the Hill" peaked at #36 earlier in the year. (I chose the song as a Redux Spotlight selection.) Trying to keep the momentum going, the group had a personnel change and then released their second album "Set the Night on Fire." The lead title-track single made it to the chart, but it couldn't capitalize on the success of their previous single. The band dissolved once their label, Mercury, dropped them.

ReduxReview:  I found some info on the group that said they wanted to expand on their sound from the first album. And with this single, it seems like that was the case. The first album was quite fun and had interesting pop tunes. This song is a bit darker and is almost reminiscent of the Alan Parsons Project's "Games People Play," which hit the chart the week before. It's an average rock tune, but I kind of like it. Just not as much as I enjoyed the material on their debut album.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  In a newspaper article on the band from 1981 featured in the Lewiston, Maine paper, it said that in Stephen King's book "The Dead Zone," there is a scene where a bar burns down. Apparently the band mentioned playing in the bar was Oak. I've never read the book, but something to look for if you do!

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