Pocketful of Sunshine

Today in Music History: January 31

To encounter brothers and sisters who have been successful recording artists is not totally out of the question. But to have a brother and sister experience chart toppers at the same time is not so commonplace. In 2004, a brother and sister were the first to have separate solo UK No.1 hits. The spotlight for this day shines on the sister of Daniel Bedingfield.

Welcome into the Spotlight...

Natasha Bedingfield Gallery

Natasha Bedingfield: sultry combination of good looks, husky voice and charming personality 

It's difficult to find any other singer who possesses such great energy to represent women empowerment and create good music, other than Natasha Bedingfield. She released her debut album, Unwritten, in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. Bedingfield managed to break both UK and US markets in a short intevral of time with her pop/R&B signature songs.

Songfacts: This empowerment song was featured on the third season's finale of MTV's The Hills. Another Bedingfield song, "Unwritten," is the reality show's theme song. Bedingfield also performed this on the seventh series final of the Canadian teen drama TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation. "Pocketful of Sunshine also featured on the soundtrack of The Sims 2 Freetime computer game, Bedingfield recording a version in the unique language of The Sims called Simlish.

On this day...

2008 Natasha Bedingfield entered the US chart at number three with her album Pocketful of Sunshine, equaling the record set by soul singer Sade in having the highest-ever US chart debut for a UK-signed female. The British singer sold 50,000 copies of the record in its first week of release.

Bit of Sunshine humor...

This song was a running joke in the 2010 movie, Easy A, where Emma Stone's character gets one of those greeting cards that plays a song when you open it, and "Pocketful Of Sunshine" plays. After dismissing the song, she spends the next weekend sitting around the house constantly listening to it. Bedingfield's manager William Derella told Billboard magazine that he had reservations when he first heard the pitch. "They sent me the part of the script where the star of the film says the song is awful, so we turned it down," he said. "But then they sent me the rest of the script, where the character can't get the song out of her head and winds up loving it. I approved it, and we've seen a nice sales boost for the track."
[Source: Songfacts.com]

No.1 hits on this day...
[Click on the year for all the songs that hit number one on the charts in the US during that year.]

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  1970 The Jackson Five went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Want You Back'. The song was originally written for Gladys Knight & The Pips and was the first of four No.1's for the group. It made No.2 in the UK.

• 1981 Blondie went to No.1 on the US singles hart with 'The Tide Is High', the group's third US No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.

• 1988 Janet Jackson started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Together Again'.

 

2007 Jim Morrison was enlisted to help fight global warming more than 35 years after his death. 'Woman in the Window', a previously unreleased poem written and recorded by The Doors frontman shortly before he died in 1971 was being set to music and used to publicise the Global Cool campaign.

And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...