"Presence of Love" by The Alarm

Song#:  3457

Date:  03/26/1988

Debut:  90

Peak:  77

Weeks:  6

Genre:  Alternative Rock

Pop Bits:  The Welsh band got their second single on the US Pop chart with "Rain in the Summertime" (#6 Rock), the first single from their third album Eye of the Hurricane. The Rock hit helped the album reach #77. For a follow-up, this next track was selected for release. It would get to #16 at Rock, but it struggled on the Pop chart where it ended up staying in the bottom quarter for a few weeks. Another track from the album, "Rescue Me," would not be released as a single, but it would garner enough airplay to reach #35 on the Rock chart.

ReduxReview:  This chuggin' track was a nice follow-up to "Rain in the Summertime." It wasn't a song that was gonna make you go "wow!" when you heard it on the radio, but it had an easy going pop feel that made it a pleasant listen. While the band got fairly/unfairly judged as a U2-ish clone, they often had tracks that set them apart from that superstar Irish band and I think this was one of them. The tune wasn't going to be a big hit, but it was a good single that should have done a bit better on the chart.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  In 2004, The Alarm's lead singer/songwriter Mike Peters would perpetrate a musical hoax that would garner a lot of attention. It seems Peters was getting frustrated that both industry execs and music listeners were only interest in the latest thing and that older artists were totally ignored even though their music was just as good and viable. Peters had just recorded a new song with a version of The Alarm he had formed and he thought it had hit potential. However, he knew if he tried to push it to a record company as by The Alarm, it would get ignored. So he decided to release it under the pseudonym The Poppy Fields and created a story that they were a teenage band from Chester, England. He then hired a young local band to portray The Poppy Fields in a music video.  Peters got the record pushed out along with the video and it started to get attention. Before long, the single, "45 RPM," made the UK chart and got to #28. Suddenly, music execs and others were desperately trying to find out more about this hot new band. Peters eventually revealed the truth and basically proved his point. The story of the hoax later became the basis for the 2012 film Vinyl.

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