‘Cold as Ice’ & ‘Hotblooded’

Today in Music History: February 2

At the height of the 70s transitioning on into the 80s, some of rock 'n' roll’s most enduring anthems were released, including Juke Box Hero (1982),  Feels Like The First Time (1977), Urgent (1981), Head Games (1979), Say You Will (1987), Cold as Ice (1977), Hot Blooded (1978), and the worldwide No.1 hit that is in this day's spotlight. The band continues to rock the charts more than thirty years into the game. 

Welcome into the Spotlight...

Foreigner: Whether their singles were ‘Cold as Ice’ or ‘Hotblooded’, the seventies saw rock band Foreigner shoot straight to the top of the charts, where the group achieved platinum status time and again.

Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musician Mick Jones and fellow Briton and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm. With ten multi-platinum albums and sixteen Top 30 hits, Foreigner is universally hailed as one of the most popular rock acts in the world with a formidable musical arsenal that continues to propel sold-out tours and album sales, now exceeding 75 million.

On this day in...

1985 Foreigner started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles charts with 'I Want To Know What Love Is', also a UK No.1. London-born Mick Jones wrote the song.

Songfacts: Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones wrote this song. He told us: "'I Want To Know What Love Is' started off on more of a personal level. I'd been through a lot of relationships that eventually failed, and still searching for something that could really endure. And that sort of took a life of its own as well. It became more of a universal feeling. I adjusted that during the recording of it, and ended up putting a gospel choir on it. And you know, realized suddenly that I'd written almost a spiritual song, almost a gospel song. Sometimes, you feel like you had nothing to do with it, really. You're just putting it down on paper, or coming up with a melody that will bring the meaning of the song out, bring the emotion out in the song."

Click the icon at left for the songs that were No.1 on February 2 from 1940 to 2014. Then, select a year to see all songs that hit No.1 in that year.

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