It was just months after the release of her self-titled debut album in 1986 that the John Hughes film Pretty in Pink hit the movie screens. Suzanne Vega had been asked to write a song for the project, and she along with co-writer Steve Addabbow delivered “Left Of Center”
Vega was well-known in New York coffee houses and college radio audiences, but the inclusion of the song in the film and soundtrack album helped to raise Vega’s status within “alternative” music circles in the US, while also increasing her name recognition with the mainstream.
The song features Joe Jackson on piano and was released as a single in May of 1986.
Today's ear X-tacy features a classic track or deep-cut from the Alternative era every weekday at 10:10.
