Send Me an Angel (Real Life song) explained

Send Me an Angel
Cover:	Real Life-Send Me an Angel.jpg
Caption:	1983 Spain release
Type:	single
Artist:	Real Life
Album:	Heartland
B-Side:	"Like a Gun" (original release) "Always" (1989 reissue)
Length:	3:53
Producer:	Ross Cockle
Year:	1983
Next Title:	Openhearted
Next Year:	1983

"Send Me an Angel" is a 1983 song by Australian band Real Life. The song was released in May 1983 as the band's debut single from their debut studio album Heartland. The song peaked in the top 10 in Australia and is the band's best-known song. This version peaked in early 1984 in the US at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[1] The song was No. 1 in Germany and New Zealand and Top 10 in other countries.

In the US, "Send Me an Angel '89" surpassed the original version from 1983. "Send Me An Angel '89" reached a peak of No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1989 in the US.^[1]

The song features in the soundtracks of the American movies Rad (1986), Teen Wolf Too (1987) and The Wizard (1989).

Track listing

7" single (WRS-001)

1. Send Me an Angel – 3:53
2. Like a Gun – 3:16

12" single

1. Send Me an Angel (Extended Dance Mix) – 5:40
2. Send Me an Angel – 3:53
3. Like a Gun – 3:14

12" Maxi-Single

1. Send Me an Angel (Extended Mix) – 5:43
2. Send Me an Angel – 3:53
3. Burning Blue – 4:43

Charts

Original version

Weekly charts

Chart (1983–1984)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[2]	6
Spain (AFYVE)^[3]	19
US Cash Box Top 100^[4]	22

Year-end charts

Chart (1983)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[5]	26
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[6]	8

Chart (1984)	Position
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)^[7]	27
West Germany (Official German Charts)^[8]	7

"Send Me an Angel '89"

Chart (1989)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)^[9]	51
New Zealand (RIANZ)^[10]	22
US Cash Box^[11]	20

Cover versions

"Send Me an Angel" has been covered by various artists including:

• Netzwerk on their 1992 EP Send Me an Angel^[12]
• Pobi on the 1993 album Send Me An Angel. Some of the lyrics were altered to be from the perspective of the other party in the song^[13]
• Atrocity on their 1997 cover album Werk 80^[14]
• Zeromancer on their 2001 album Eurotrash^[15]
• Thrice for the 2002 compilation Punk Goes Pop, which later appears on the 2005 compilation If We Could Only See Us Now^[16]
• Deadstar Assembly on their 2003 self-titled debut album^[17]
• XO Stereo on their 2015 EP The Struggle^[18]
• Highly Suspect on their 2016 album The Boy Who Died Wolf^[19]
• Gunship, released as a standalone single in 2023.^[20]

See also

• List of number-one hits of 1984 (Germany)
• List of number-one singles from the 1980s (New Zealand)

Notes and References

1. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn . 2010 . The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits . Billboard Books . 9th . 978-0-8230-8554-5.
2. Web site: Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Chart Positions Pre 1989 . Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien . 24 July 2013 .
3. Book: Salaverri, Fernando . Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 . 1st . September 2005 . Fundación Autor-SGAE . Spain . 84-8048-639-2 . es.
4. CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending FEBRUARY 25, 1984 . . dead . 30 September 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120930235037/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/80s_files/19840225.html.
5. Web site: Kent Music Report – National Top 100 Singles for 1983 . . Imgur.com . 22 January 2023.
6. Web site: End of Year Charts 1983 . Recorded Music New Zealand . 10 February 2018 .
7. Web site: Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1984 . Hitparade.ch . 10 February 2018 . de.
8. Web site: Jahrescharts – 1984 . Offiziellecharts.de . GfK Entertainment Charts . https://web.archive.org/web/20150509000536/https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/single-jahr/for-date-1984 . 9 May 2015 . de.
9. Web site: Chartifacts: Week Ending September 23 1990 Issue No. 37 . . . 24 August 2016 .
10. Web site: charts.nz – Real Life – Send Me An Angel '89 . charts.nz. Hung Medien . 17 June 2013 .
11. CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JULY 22, 1989 . . 7 October 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121007094452/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/80s_files/19890722.html.
12. Web site: Netzwerk – Send Me an Angel . . 29 September 2013 .
13. Web site: Send Me An Angel by Pobi. Discogs. 26 July 2024.
14. Web site: Atrocity – Werk 80 Festival Edition . AllMusic . 24 July 2013 .
15. Web site: Jason . Anderson . Zeromancer – Eurotrash . AllMusic . 24 July 2013 .
16. Web site: Johnny . Loftus . Thrice – If We Could Only See Us Now . AllMusic . 24 July 2013 .
17. Web site: Deadstar Assembly – Deadstar Assembly . AllMusic . 24 July 2013 .
18. Web site: The Struggle by XO Stereo (Another Century Records) . HighWire Daze . 12 September 2015 . 8 February 2017 .
19. Web site: Chad . Childers . Highly Suspect, 'The Boy Who Died Wolf' – Album Review . . 18 November 2016 . 28 December 2016 .
20. Web site: Send Me An Angel by GUNSHIP. GUNSHIP. 27 October 2023.