Song#: 2958
Date: 12/06/1986
Debut: 88
Peak: 44
Weeks: 11
Genre: Synthpop, Electro-Funk
Pop Bits: The UK band scored their second #1 hit with "Human," the lead single from their fifth album Crash. The song was a different sound for them thanks to the songwriting/production team of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. While Jam & Lewis' song got the League to the top of the chart, the relationship between the band and the producers wasn't the best with Jam & Lewis asserting their control over most everything, which most likely included the choice of singles to be released. This follow-up was another Jam & Lewis composition (along with members of their Flyte Tyme band/production crew) and it was selected for release over any of the album's tracks written by the band. It proved to be the wrong choice when the song failed to reach the Pop Top 40. It also made an appearance on the R&B chart at #52. Without a second strong single, album sales took a hit and it ended up missing the gold-level mark. The band would return in 1990 with the album Romantic?, which spawned the #29 Pop single "Heart Like a Wheel." In 1995, they would release Octopus. The single "Tell Me When" would get to #31 Pop. It would be their last song to reach the US Pop chart. Back in the UK, "Tell Me When" did far better getting to #6. It created a resurgence in popularity for the band there and the album would also get to #6 and go gold.
ReduxReview: My guess is that Jam & Lewis tried to do a funkier take on the band's new wave synthpop style. Critics didn't particularly like it, but I thought it was okay. I just didn't think it was the right choice for a single. Obviously, they needed to release something that was a counterpoint to the balladry of "Human," but this one just wasn't the right song for the job. The problem was that there wasn't another sure-fire hit on the album so the next single would have a difficult time anyway. I would have chosen the band's own "Jam" to push out. I think it had more potential than this one and a good remix of it might have scored on the Dance chart. Even the Motown-ish "Love on the Run" might have done better. The problem just came down to a power struggle and Jam & Lewis won out, therefore their works were going to be released over the band's material and it led to this dud single.
ReduxRating: 5/10
Trivia: A third single would be released from Crash, but it was issued out just over two years after the album was released. Late in 1988, the band's first compilation, Greatest Hits, was issued out. To help promote the collection, an edited version of "Love Is All That Matters" from Crash was included on the album and pushed out as a single. It didn't chart in the US and neither did the album. However, the song got to #41 in the UK and the collection was a hit getting to #3. It would be a double-platinum seller there. Like the previous two singles from Crash, "Love Is All That Matters" was written and produced by Jam & Lewis.
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