Released 31 August 1992 Genre Pop | Format 7" vinyl, CD single Length 4:15 | |
Label Virgin Music (UK)
SBK Records/Capitol-EMI (US) Writer(s) Tasmin Archer, John Beck, John Hughes | ||
"Sleeping Satellite" was the debut single by the British singer songwriter Tasmin Archer, released in 1992. The song was a number one in the United Kingdom, and was also an international hit.
Contents
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 Graham Broadhead whilst Gary Maughan played Fairlight.
Archer sings backing vocals on the track along with Tessa Niles and Carol Kenyon.
The lyrics of the song reference the Apollo Missions of the 1960s, characterised as "man's greatest adventure"; the sleeping satellite of the title being The Moon.
Chart performances
"Sleeping Satellite" was released in the United Kingdom on 31 August 1992, and swiftly rose up the charts in the United Kingdom 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 United States. The song hit the Modern Rock Tracks chart the last week of February 1993. Inching up to a peak of #12, it was her best showing on any chart in the United States, 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 Billboard 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 chart Adult Contemporary. 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 United Kingdom Top 10, and her only single to chart in the United States.
The song was the final song played on Pennine FM, before the station's closure in April 2010.