Santana - "Winning"

(Debuted April 11, 1981, Peaked #17, 18 Weeks on the Chart)

First of all...I swear that I didn't pick a song with this particular title as a result of the recent nonsense regarding Charlie Sheen. This was picked out before that happened. I will, however, happily take any traffic Google sends my way as a result of the coincidence.

Yesterday's entry featured a guitarist who let others handle vocal duties while he wowed the audience with his instrument, and today's entry does the exact same thing.

The biggest difference between the two, however, is that Carlos Santana and his namesake band were already well-known by the general public, thanks to a breakout performance at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and a successful chart career during the early 1970s. The hits tailed off as Santana experimented with different styles and explored his spiritual side, but he never stopped recording. When "Winning" appeared, it was Santana's first Top 20 pop hit since 1971.

"Winning" was written by Russ Ballard, a British artist whose influence is likely deeper than many realize. He has written several hit songs through the years, including "New York Groove," Since You've Been Gone," "I Know There's Something Going On," "You Can Do Magic," "Liar" and "So You Win Again." The vocals were performed by Alex Ligertwood, and the pop sound was a marked difference from the bigger hits of Santana's 1970s work.For a little while, it was nice to have a Santana song on the radio again.