Today’s classic song of the day is a somewhat obscure one, even if it was a Top Twenty hit back in the day. The song is “Pilot of the Airwaves” by British singer/songwriter Charlie Dore. She released this one in February of 1980 in the U.S. (November of 1979 in the UK) and it went all the way to #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, #12 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #4 on Billboard’s Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. In her native UK, the song only hit #66—although it did go to #3 in Canada.
“Pilot of the Airwaves,” which was written by Ms. Dore and her musical partner Julian Littman, was the singer’s only single in the U.S., making her a one-hit wonder on these shores. In the UK, however, Charlie Dore was much more well known. She was and is a successful singer, songwriter, actress, comedienne, and probably a lot more. According to information on the Interwebs, Ms. Dore was a repertory player for the Tyneside Theater Company, an actress on London’s fringe theater scene, a performer on the show Rainbow for Thames TV, and the composer of the theme song for the BBC’s You and Me children’s program. She acted in several movies, including The Ploughman’s Lunch, and in multiple British television shows, including A Killing on the Exchange, Hard Cases, South of the Border, Whistle Stop, and The Big Sweep. She appeared alongside Monty Python’s Eric Idle on the BBC radio program Behind the Crease and co-founded the improv comedy group Dogs on Holiday. That’s in addition to recording ten albums (the latest is 2020’s Like Animals), performing live, and writing songs for the likes of Celine Dion, No Angels, Lisa Stansfield, and Status Quo; she also co-wrote the song “Strut” which was a hit for Sheena Easton in 1984. Whew!
So even though we in America think of Charlie Dore as a one-trick pony and a one-hit wonder, she’s really a lot more than that—and she’s still going strong today at the ripe young age of 68. I kind of wish we’d seen more of her on these shores; her music is pretty good and, from what I’ve seen online, she appears to have a charming personality.
With all that in mind, here’s your daily bonus video of the day, Charlie’s Dore’s official music video for “Pilot of the Airwaves.” She has a little bit of a Juice Newton vibe on this one, IMHO, which ain’t a bad thing.
