Sleeping Satellite
| "Sleeping Satellite" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Tasmin Archer | ||||
| from the album Great Expectations | ||||
| Released | 31 August 1992 | |||
| Format | 7" Vinyl, CD Single | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 4:15 | |||
| Label | Virgin Music (UK) SBK Records/Capitol-EMI (U.S.) |
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| Writer(s) | Tasmin Archer, John Beck, John Hughes | |||
| Producer | Julian Mendelsohn, Paul Wickens | |||
| Tasmin Archer singles chronology | ||||
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"Sleeping Satellite" was the debut single by the British singer-songwriter Tasmin Archer, released in 1992. The song peaked at no.1 in the UK, and was also an international hit.
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[edit] Lyrics and music
Although first released in 1992, Archer and her co-writers wrote the song in the late 1980s, but it was only when Archer got a record deal that the song saw the light of day.
Four instruments were used in the recording of "Sleeping Satellite", John Hughes and Robbie McIntosh provided the guitars in the song, and John Beck and Paul Wickens were keyboard players. The drummer was Charlie Morgan whilst Gary Maughan played Fairlight.
Archer sings backing vocals on the track along with Tessa Niles and Carol Kenyon.
[edit] Chart performances
"Sleeping Satellite" was released to the UK on 31 August 1992 and swiftly rose up the UK charts to the number one spot, replacing "Ebeneezer Goode" by The Shamen. It stayed there for two weeks, before being dethroned by Boyz II Men’s "End of the Road".
The song was a multiformat success in the U.S. The song hit the Modern Rock Tracks chart the last week of February 1993. Inching up to a peak of #11, it was her best showing on any U.S. chart, but the song gradually proved its crossover potential in April when it appeared first on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and the following week hit the main chart. By the early '90s, the Hot 100 had splintered into several sub-charts, and the song hit two of these, peaking in late May/early June 1993 at #29 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, and at #16 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart. "Sleeping Satellite" also hit #24 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The single peaked at #32 on the traditional Hot 100.
Archer's song was successful throughout the world, notably hitting the top 5 in Sweden and Switzerland, #6 in France, and #14 in Australia.
"Sleeping Satellite" is Tasmin Archer’s most successful single to date, her only UK Top 10, and her only single to chart in the U.S.
The song was the final song played on Pennine FM before the station's closure in April 2010.
[edit] Cover versions
- 1992: A dance remake was released by Italy-based Ketty DB[1] featuring the same lyrics and melody but with a danceable, haunting arrangement.[2]
- 2003: Another dance remix was released by Aurora. A selection of the original lyrics were used with an electronic synth sound as a backing track.[3]
- 2005: The song was also covered by Australian progressive rock band Karnivool and was released as the B-side to their single "Themata".
- 2007: Danish singer Bryan Rice covered the song for his second album Good News.
- 2007: Russian vocal drum and bass duo Stim Axel mixed a cover.
- 2008: A house remix of the song was released by French DJ Junior Caldera and peaked at #37 on the French Singles Chart.[4]
- 2009: Jan Johnston released a cover with multiple mixes on the Perfecto label.
- 2011: Kim Wilde recorded the song for her covers album, Snapshots, and it was released as the lead single along with "It's Alright".
[edit] Track listings
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[edit] Certifications
| Country | Certification | Date | Sales certified |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK[5] | Silver | 1 October 1992 | 200,000 |
[edit] Charts
[edit] Peak positions
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[edit] End of year charts
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[edit] Chart successions
| Preceded by "Ebeneezer Goode" by The Shamen |
Irish IRMA number-one single 15 October 1992 – 5 November 1992 (4 weeks) |
Succeeded by "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men |
| UK number-one single 17 October 1992 – 24 October 1992 (2 weeks) |
[edit] References
- ^ Ketty DB Discogs.com
- ^ Discogs.com
- ^ Discogs.com
- ^ "Sleeping Satellite", by Junior Caldera, French Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved September 28, 2008)
- ^ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved 14 September 2008)
- ^ a b c d e "Sleeping Satellite", Australian, Austrian, French, Swedish, Swiss Charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved 15 December 2007)
- ^ a b "Single top 100 over 1992" (in Dutch) (pdf). Top40. http://www.top40.nl/pdf/Top%20100/top%20100%20-%201992.pdf. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
- ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved 14 September 2008)
- ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved 14 September 2008)
- ^ "Sleeping Satellite", UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved 14 September 2008)
- ^ a b c d Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved 14 September 2008)
