Never underestimate the particularly potent power of alliteration.

Billy Ocean was born in Trinidad and Tobago and moved to England at the age of ten. He sang in nightclubs and played in bands in the late 60s and early 70s, but all of his musical endeavors were short lived. (He had previously earned a living as a tailor on Savile Row, so at least he had a pretty decent fallback.)

Things began to look up when Billy signed with GTO Records and his 1976 debut album spawned a #2 hit in the UK (#22 in the US) called “Love Really Hurts Without You.” He followed that in 1977 with another UK #2, “Red Light Spells Danger,” although this time he didn’t hit in the US.

Lean years followed. Single after single failed to crack the Top 40 and soon his songs didn’t make the charts at all. It began to look like Billy Ocean might end up as a one-hit wonder in the US, and a two-hit wonder in his adopted UK homeland, an artifact of 70s Britain — like a Teasmade, or a Ford Cortina.

Then, in 1983, Ocean began to work with a writer/producer named Keith Diamond (also born in Trinidad). They wrote an album’s worth of material together and Diamond helped to update Billy’s sound. The first fruit of their labor was a song called “European Queen (No More Love On The Run).” Released as a single in the UK and the rest of Europe in the spring of 1984, the single continued the disappointing trend of failure.

In the meantime, a couple of extra tracks were needed for the extended 12″ LP, and Billy’s manager suggested recording a version called “Caribbean Queen,” a nod to Ocean’s birthplace. It was the exact same song — Billy simply sang the new title over the existing track.

When it came time to release a single in the US, the record company was hesitant to send out “European Queen” — after all, it had already failed in Europe, the market they had aimed for — so instead they chose to release the amended title in the summer of 1984. The Caribbean conjured images of sunshine, beaches, and clear blue waters, and the thinking was that perhaps it might appeal more to an American audience.

Appeal it did.

“Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)” hit #1 in the US in November and even made the Top 10 back in the UK, thus sparking a streak of huge hits for Ocean over the rest of the decade, including more #1s. It just goes to show that one word can make all the difference.

So share the same dream… with Billy Ocean.