Keep track of the songs thru the week and then on Friday call in to name the 5 songs and their common theme to win a $25 Jersey Mike’s gift card
Today’s song is a number two smash from 1982. The song was written for an actress named Rosanna Arquette, who was dating a band member at the time. They broke up not long after this song was released. It would not be the last time Arquette dated a musician: she had a turbulent relationship with Peter Gabriel in the early '90s, and in 2007, she even went on some dates with Paul McCartney.
The girl who played Rosanna in the video will look familiar if you are a fan of the movie Dirty Dancing: It's Cynthia Rhodes, who played Penny Johnson in the movie. Patrick Swayze is also in the video, but much less visible - that's him wearing the red jacket among Rosanna's suitors.
The West Side Story-style dance fighting was used in the clip almost a year before Michael Jackson did it in his video for "Beat It." You might also remember that Rhodes was married to Richard Marx from 1989-2014, as we told you recently when Richard was the subject of our IKTS theme week.
Later in 1982, after this song was released and already a hit, Eddie Money had a hit with "Shakin'." The first line: "Rosanna's daddy had a car she loved to drive." (CLIP)
Here's another '80s hit with a connection to Rosanna Arquette: When The Tubes needed a young kid to star as a carnival rider in their "She's A Beauty" video, Arquette suggested her 12-year-old brother, Robert, who got the role. (CLIP)
Rosanna was friends with The Tubes, and Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, who co-wrote the song.
Toto...Rosanna...I Know That Song