Song Of The Day 11/20/2014: Goombay Dance Band - "Seven Tears"

British Hits, American Misses: When your group is called the Goombay Dance Band, you're much better off claiming that the name chose you. There are only two valid excuses for purposefully calling yourselves the Goombay Dance Band: (a) if you regularly perform at a European family-centric aquatic theme park, or (b) you're German and don't care how your name translates to the marketplace. Fortunately da GDB met condition (b), and their music certainly would support any notion they might have had to follow option (a). Their leader was Olivier Bendt, a gentleman who was "by profession a fire-eater who learnt his trade in St. Lucia, West Indies," according to their All-Music blurb. Fortunately Bendt was also able to spit the hot flames of Caribbean music right back out of his firehole, and found three other like-minded singer-dancers to forge the hot sounds of tropical compromise.

"Seven Tears" was a massive hit across Europe. In England it ruled at #1 for three weeks, sandwiched between two other chart-toppers: a lite version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by a group called Tight Fit and "My Camera Never Lies" from pop welterweights (and Eurovision Song Contest winners!) Bucks Fizz. These three consecutive #1 hits are like a thesis paper on British hits with no chance to hit the top in America. By contrast, the #1 song in America at the time was by one Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. Uh-huh. That's right. Of course the next two #1 hits in America were "Chariots of Fire" and "Ebony & Ivory," but let's make like American cable news networks and conveniently overlook that statistic.