Friends | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | January 29, 1982 | |||
Recorded | 1981 | |||
Studio | Studio Masters Larrabee Sound The Record Plant Kendun Recorders (Los Angeles) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 44:55 | |||
Label | SOLAR | |||
Producer | Leon Sylvers III | |||
Shalamar chronology | ||||
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Friends is the sixth album by American R&B group Shalamar, released in 1982 on the SOLAR label. The album, which features the 'classic' Shalamar line-up (Jeffrey Daniel, Howard Hewett and Jody Watley), topped the R&B chart and peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard chart. It has been certified Gold in the United States for sales over 500,000. It would eventually go Platinum. In the United Kingdom Friends gained impetus from a demonstration of body-popping by Daniel during a performance of "A Night to Remember" on the BBC programme Top of the Pops . It reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and produced four top 20 singles.
In 2002, Friends was re-released by Sanctuary Records in the United Kingdom in a double-CD package with Shalamar's previous album Go for It .
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
BBC | favorable [2] |
Robert Christgau | B− [3] |
In The Boston Phoenix , Mike Freedberg wrote that the album "presents [Howard] Hewitt again and again overmatched by roseate fugues, overmatching lyrics so glib they vanish. He doesn't know whether to drive ahead or scat back--but neither would a Shalamar fan. Hewitt's stabs at sincerity fit into the I-can't-manage atmosphere that has all but replaced the buoyant bravado of soul, funk, and disco from today's black-teen music." [4]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "A Night to Remember" | Dana Meyers, Charmaine Sylvers, Nidra Beard | 5:08 |
2. | "Don't Try to Change Me" | William Bryant, Tina Scott, Roberta Stiger | 4:10 |
3. | "Help Me" | Joey Gallo, Leon Sylvers III, Jody Watley, Nidra Beard | 5:10 |
4. | "On Top of the World" | Dana Meyers, Richard Randolph | 4:06 |
5. | "I Don't Wanna Be the Last to Know" | Kevin Spencer, William Shelby, Linda Carriere, Nidra Beard | 4:02 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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6. | "Friends" | William Shelby, Glen Barbee, Nidra Beard | 5:00 |
7. | "Playing to Win" | Jody Watley, Ralph E. Clayborne, Charmaine Sylvers | 4:24 |
8. | "I Just Stopped By Because I Had To" | Stephen Shockley, Joey Gallo, Leon Sylvers III, Nidra Beard | 4:08 |
9. | "There It Is" | Nidra Beard, Dana Meyers, Charmaine Sylvers | 4:27 |
10. | "I Can Make You Feel Good" | William Shelby, Howard Hewett, Renwick Jackson | 4:20 |
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
| Singles
Certifications
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