When I mentioned my childhood Olivia Newton-John/Cliff Richard microaggression yesterday, Damian remarked (and I agreed) how the Brit is one of those "biggest-selling artists of all time" who never really made it in the U.S. I still agree with this statement -- he's right up there with Take That -- although I was stunned to discover that besides "Suddenly," he's actually had NINE of his own Top 40 singles in the U.S., dating back to "Living Doll," a No. 30 hit in 1959. Off the top of my head I couldn't name one. (Only four of them reached the Top 20, so it's not like he was burning up the charts even when he did score.) But then scrolling through I did recall that today's pick was quite big in the early days of MTV -- it was the sixth video the channel ever aired -- and peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's also quite good!
