The Promise of a New Day

"The Promise of a New Day"
Single by Paula Abdul
from the album Spellbound
Released July 20, 1991
Format cassette, vinyl, CD
Recorded 1990—1991
Studio Masters[1]
(Los Angeles, California)
Sunset Sound Studios
(Los Angeles, California)
Genre Dance-pop
Length 4:32
Label Virgin
Writer(s) Paula Abdul, Peter Lord, Sandra St. Victor, V. Jeffrey Smith
Producer(s) Peter Lord & V. Jeffrey Smith
Certification Platinum
Paula Abdul singles chronology
"Rush Rush"
(1991)
"The Promise of a New Day"
(1991)
"Blowing Kisses in the Wind"
(1991)

"The Promise of a New Day" is the second single (and lead-off track) from American artist Paula Abdul's album Spellbound. The song was written by Peter Lord and V. Jeffrey Smith. The single was released to radio while the hit "Rush Rush" was still at the top of radio airplay and the pop charts.

Song information

The song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 14, 1991, becoming Abdul's sixth chart-topping single, and her last #1 hit to date.[2]

Music video

The video for the song was recorded in front of a green screen in Hawaii. However, since Abdul was unable to film the clip due to other commitments, she shot the necessary scenes elsewhere, which were then edited into the video. Production took place during the week of July 8, 1991.[3]

The video caused controversy when originally aired mainly because it appeared to make Abdul look taller and thinner than she actually was. However, on Pop Up Video, VH1 (and Abdul in a filmed segment) secured that the clip had been edited in such a way as to make the dancers appear closer together. In that same episode, Abdul admitted that she fell in heels during filming of the dance sequences and that the entire production crew saw up her skirt.

Track listings and formats

US Promo 5" CD

  1. The Promise Of A New Day - 7" Edit (Peter Lord; V. Jeffrey Smith)
  2. The Promise Of A New Day - West Coast 7" (Peter Lord; V. Jeffrey Smith)
  3. The Promise Of A New Day - West Coast 12" (Peter Lord; V. Jeffrey Smith)
  4. The Promise Of A New Day - Extended Club Version (Peter Lord; V. Jeffrey Smith)
  5. The Promise Of A New Day - West Coast Dub (Peter Lord; V. Jeffrey Smith)

UK 12" Record

  1. The Promise of a New Day - West Coast 12" (Peter Lord; V. Jeffrey Smith)
  2. The Promise of a New Day - Album Version (Peter Lord; V. Jeffrey Smith)
  3. The Promise of a New Day - Extended Club Version (Peter Lord; V. Jeffrey Smith)

US Cassette

  1. The Promise of a New Day - 7" Edit (Peter Lord; V. Jeffrey Smith)
  2. The Promise of a New Day - 12" Mix/West Coast 12" (Peter Lord; V. Jeffrey Smith)

Official remixes

Chart performance

Peak positions

Chart (1991) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
U.S. Hot Dance/Maxi Singles Sales 1
Canadian Charts 1
Australia ARIA Singles Chart 31
UK Singles Chart 52

End of year charts

End of year chart (1991) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4] 41

In the Media

The TV show In Living Color made a parody music video of this single (titled "Promise Of a Thin Me") featuring Kelly Coffield as Paula referencing that the "stretched out" appearance of the video was to make Paula Abdul look tall and thin and alleged that Paula wasn't singing on key and paid others to do it for her.

Cover versions

The song was covered by American indie band Mirror Ball Associates for the album Covers Vol. 1, which features Paul Durham (lead singer of Black Lab) on vocals.

References

  1. http://crydee.sai.msu.ru/public/lyrics/asv-collection/Lyrics/Abdul_Paula/abdul.91
  2. Kleid, Beth (July 8, 1991). "Tv/video". latimes.com.
  3. "Paula Abdul: Chart History". billboard.com.
  4. "Billboard Top 100 - 1991". Retrieved 2009-09-15.

External links

Preceded by
"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams
Billboard Hot 100 number one single
September 14, 1991
Succeeded by
"I Adore Mi Amor" by Color Me Badd