Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)

Van Morrison wrote this song and released the original version on his 1972 album Saint Dominic's Preview. It's a tribute to Jackie Wilson, a soul singer from Detroit famous for hit songs like "Lonely Teardrops" and "Reet Petite." Wilson died in 1984 at age 49.

In what seems to have been a practical joke on the part of the props men, on the famous British Pop show Top of the Pops in 1982, the band were performing this in front of a huge picture of portly Scottish (now sadly departed) darts player Jocky Wilson.

Too-Rye-Ay was the band's second album, and at first, lead singer Kevin Rowland refused to do interviews to promote it as the music press had left him jaded. When the first four singles from the album underperformed, he once again granted interviews, and the fifth single, "Come On Eileen," became the #1 UK hit of 1982. "Jackie Wilson Said" was the next single issued, which left Rowland to comment on the song and his Soul music influences. "I'm really pissed off with all these Van Morrison comparisons," he told The Face. "I am part Irish but it isn't real Celtic music and it's definitely not folk... we still use a brass section you know! We've just mixed a lot of different influences, including jazz and blues, to create an original sound. It was a very gradual process,I didn't suddenly start listening to Irish records like I did the soul ones before... and there's nothing Irish about our dungarees."