S.O.D. "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen

4/23/2015     This is Springsteen's highest charting song to date peaking above #12 in the 13 countries it charted in,  reaching #1 in the US and Belgium and #2 in Sweden, Ireland, and New Zealand.  In Australia it stayed on the Top 100 for 64 weeks and was its highest selling single in 1984.  The tune was responsible for Springsteen's first Grammy award in 1985 for Best Rock Vocal Performance and also took the award for Best Stage Performance for that year's MTV Video Music Award.  In the video toward the end of the song, Springsteen would search the front row for a woman played by then 20-year-old Courtney Cox to bring up on the stage and dance with.  

     Record producer and DJ, Arthur Baker created a remix of the tune in July of 1984 that went to the top of the Hot Dance Music /Club Play charts and became the best selling single in the U.S. that year.  The song is from the album, "Born in the USA" which became the best selling album of 1985 moving more than 15 million units in the U.S. alone and more than 30 million worldwide.  It also tied a record with Michael Jackson's Thriller and Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" for containing 7 top 10 singles.  More than 20 artists have done cover versions including Tina Turner and Kermit the frog.  

     Springsteen has received about every award you can imagine including 20 Grammys, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in his home state, the New Jersey Hall of Fame.  He is ranked #23 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and has a small planet named after him.  His albums Born in the USA and Born to Run showcase a talent for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily American life.  This marks the 200th S.O.D.