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Wednesday, August 6, 2014

"Shanghai Breezes" by John Denver

Song#:  0939
Date:  03/06/1982
Debut:  87
Peak:  31
Weeks:  14
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  After providing an assist to opera star Placido Domingo ("Perhaps Love," #59), Denver set out to record a new solo album. "Seasons of the Heart" featured a solo version of the Domingo duet along with this first single. While it only made the pop Top 40, the song reached #1 at AC. Denver would have a couple of more chart songs, but this one closed his Top 40 career. The album would also be his last studio album to reach gold status.

ReduxReview:  You have to hand it to Denver that he really didn't change his sound much over the years and he remained quite popular. This song would easily sit by any of his early 70s output and probably would have been a bigger hit then. I'm surprised it got into the Top 40, but that was probably due to its popularity at AC. Even though I wasn't a fan of his output during this time, I did go see him in concert that summer at Pine Knob Amphitheater. He did a lovely acoustic performance and everyone was singing along. I always remember that concert because my best friend's brother was trying to sing along but he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. He sounded like a dying walrus (or so I imagine what one would sound like). And on the way there, we were driving with the windows down and this other person with us said "I smell a lake." We laughed, but she was right. Around the next bend was a lake. Good times.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  Interested in the preservation of the ecology and environmental issues, Denver befriended ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau. Denver spent time on Cousteau's research boat and ended up writing a song about it. "Calypso" was the name of Cousteau's boat and Denver's song of the same name became a popular b-side to his 1975 #1 hit "I'm Sorry."

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