AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Sa-Fire

Artist:Sa-Fire

Song:Thinking of You

Album:Romantic Hits of the 80s

Puerto Rican born Freestyle singer Wilma "Sa-Fire" Cosme had success mostly on the dance charts in the late 80s. But she had her greatest success when the 1989 ballad Thinking of You was a top 20 pop hit. She sounds a lot like Madonna on the record. So my guess is most listeners thought it was Madonna. Soundalike hits are not unusual. She was born Jan. 16,1966 in San Juan, Puerto Rico but she grew up in the East Harlem section of New York City. She started out as a session singer and earned a record deal with Cutting Records at an audition. Cutting was a Freestyle label owned by Aldo Marin with Mercury Records distribution. Wilma recorded the 1988 album Sa-Fire. The debut single Boy, I've Been Told reached #13 on the Dance chart and #48 on the Billboard Hot 100. That song was written by Marc Anthony and he appeared on it. Thinking of You was the third single and it reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. It didn't do well on the Dance chart but Mercury liked it and wanted more of the same. Thinking of You was the only song on the album co-written by Wilma. She wrote it as a tribute to her uncle who died of AIDS in 1984. The other writers were Russell DeSalvo who played all the guitar solos and Bob Steele. Marin and partner Carlos Rodgers produced that song and most of the album. As I said, the record sounds a lot like Madonna and there may be those who still think that. But you can get Thinking of You on this K-Tel various artists comp. The album Sa-Fire is still available on CD. As I said, Mercury wanted more ballads on Sa-Fire's 1991 album I Wasn't Born Yesterday. But Marin was resistant to that and Freestyle music was fading anyway. So the album didn't sell and Wilma was released. Wilma signed with Sony Latin for the 1996 album Atrevida. She released an album of new and old songs and released an occasional single. But Thinking of You is Wilma's only big hit. Here's the video for Thinking of You by Sa-Fire.