Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree of it in which James Earl Jones played the role of the returning ex-con. According to L. Russell Brown, he read Hamill's story in the "Reader's Digest", and suggested to his songwriting partner Irwin Levine that they write a song based on it. Levine and Brown then registered for copyright the song which they called "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree". At the time, the writers said they heard the story while serving in the military. Pete Hamill was not convinced and filed suit for infringement. Hamill dropped his suit after folklorists working for Levine and Brown
Colour by Numbers Top 20 hit in several markets. "Victims" was released in Europe and Oceania and was a Top 5 hit in the UK and Australia, but was not released as a single in the US. "Mister Man" was also released as a single in South Africa. The album was certified triple Platinum in the UK, Diamond in Canada, and 4x Platinum in the United States where it peaked at #2 for six consecutive weeks behind Michael Jackson's "Thriller". In 1989, "Colour by Numbers" was ranked #96 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s. The album