SEAN-O-VISTA

“Smooth Operator” is a song by English band Sade from their debut studio album Diamond Life (1984). It was released as the third single from Diamond Life in the United Kingdom as a 7-inch single with “Spirit” as its B-side, and as a 12-inch maxi single with “Smooth Operator” and “Red Eye” on side A and “Spirit” on side B. The song is also more or less the album’s title track as the title comes from the first sung line in the song following a spoken introduction.

“Smooth Operator” became Sade’s first Top Ten hit in the US, peaking at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks in May 1985. The song spent 13 weeks in the Top 40, and also topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for two weeks. Although “Your Love Is King” remains Sade’s biggest hit in the UK to date, “Smooth Operator” is the band’s breakthrough hit on the US charts, and their most successful single internationally.