If I Have to Stand Alone is the debut album by American Hi-NRG and house singer Lonnie Gordon, released in 1990 on Supreme Records. It includes Gordon's breakthrough hit "Happenin' All Over Again", which was a top 10 hit in the UK[3] and Ireland.[4] However, the two follow-up singles, "Beyond Your Wildest Dreams" and "If I Have to Stand Alone" did not fare as well. The album was released in parts of continental Europe in late 1990, and Japan and Australia in early 1991, albeit in limited quantity, and was not released in the UK until a Cherry Pop reissue in 2009 — although it was originally planned to be released on February 4, 1991.[5] The album was also released in South Africa in 1990.
Most of the album was produced by British hitmaking team Stock Aitken Waterman or their associates Phil Harding and Ian Curnow. The album also includes Gordon's debut single for the label, "It's Not Over", which was released in September 1989. The album incorporates Stock Aitken Waterman's typical Europop sound, but also adding influences of the Italo house scene that was big in the UK charts in late 1989/1990.
Gordon recorded two more tracks which were not included on the album: "How Could He Do This to Me" (produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, and originally the planned follow-up to "Happenin' All Over Again"), and "Just a Matter of Time" (produced by Harding and Curnow). The former was later issued in the late 1990s on a dance compilation. Both were later released through iTunes in 2009.
Critical reception
In July 2018, Mark Elliot of Classic Pop considered If I Have to Stand Alone as the 12th best album ever produced by Stock Aitken Waterman and lamented the poor chart performances of the last two singles.[6] A review published in 2021 on the Pop Rescue site gave the album three stars out of five, adding that it is curious that "Happenin' All Over Again" was the only hit single from the album, since SAW and their team are highly recognisable in this work which uses "a few drums sequences, synths, samples, or vocal styles, that were incorporated into what became hits for Kylie, Sonia, and Big Fun throughout this album". The review also noted Gordon's powerful vocals which perfectly fit with dance songs, praised many tracks but considered "Best of Friends", "I Need You" and "Right Before My Eyes" as the weakest songs from the album.[7]
In April 2009, UK label Cherry Pop reissued the album, including several bonus tracks, marking the first time the album was available worldwide. The reissue includes "How Could He Do This to Me", a track Gordon recorded for the album but was not originally included, as well as several remixes, some of them previously unreleased.
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