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| Melissa Manchester | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1979 | |||
| Recorded | August–September 1979 | |||
| Studio | Web IV (Atlanta) | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Label | Arista | |||
| Producer | Steve Buckingham | |||
| Melissa Manchester chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Pretty Girls | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C− [2] |
Melissa Manchester is the eighth album by singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester, released in October 1979 on Arista Records.
Although it was reported in August 1979 that Manchester was recording a followup to her 1978 release Don't Cry Out Loud with the title cut's producer Harry Maslin at Cherokee Studios, the tracks on the Melissa Manchester album were all recorded at Web IV Studios in Atlanta in September 1979 with local producer Steve Buckingham, who had had massive success with the first single he'd produced: "I Love the Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges. Buckingham recalls that when the success of the Bridges single failed to secure him offers for further production work, he began cold calling record companies, and that Arista Records was the second label he called. As a result, Buckingham met with Arista president Clive Davis in New York City. After four hours of appraising tracks Davis played for him, Buckingham was told, "If you have a hit song, call us." After Buckingham sent Davis the demo for the song "Fire in the Morning", Davis assigned Buckingham to produce Manchester's eighth album. [3]
Following Manchester's 1977 cover album, Singin'... , and the 1978 album, Don't Cry Out Loud, which was mostly original material (despite the Top Ten hit title cut not being written by Manchester), the Melissa Manchester album featured five Manchester originals and five tracks of outside material. The songs written by Manchester included two collaborations with Carole Bayer Sager, who had been Manchester's regular lyricist for over five years: the tracks "It's All in the Sky Above" and "How Does It Feel Right Now". "I Know Your Love Won't Let Me Down" reunited Manchester with lyricist Adrienne Anderson, a regular collaborator in the first phase of Manchester's recording career, while "Lights of Dawn" - written by solely by Manchester - featured a newly written lyric to the tune of a song written and set aside five years before. The Melissa Manchester album also featured Manchester's own version of the Kenny Loggins hit she'd co-written: "Whenever I Call You Friend", which Manchester recorded as a duet with Arnold McCuller.
Despite the favorable impression the track had made on Davis, "Fire in the Morning" was passed over for lead single with "Pretty Girls" being released three weeks prior in advance of the album. "Pretty Girls" was the first upbeat single to preview a Melissa Manchester album and besides its standard 7-inch 45 issue, the track served as Manchester's extended dance single debut. Although Manchester would have her biggest hit with the dance track "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" in 1982, her first foray into disco music with "Pretty Girls" barely translated into Top 40 success, as the single peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Fire in the Morning" was released as the second single and fared well in the easy listening market which had been the mainstay of Manchester's support. The track - featuring Paul Davis on harmony vocals - reached #8 on the A/C without significantly boosting Manchester's Top 40 profile, as its Hot 100 peak was #32.
Without producing a Top 30 single, the Melissa Manchester album evidenced a drop in the singer's popularity from the precedent Don't Cry Out Loud album, with Melissa Manchester peaking at #63 as opposed to #33. However Manchester would re-team with producer Steve Buckingham for the subsequent For the Working Girl album (1980) before scoring a 1982 comeback with the Hey Ricky album and the #5 single "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" produced by Arif Mardin. Neither of the singles from the Melissa Manchester album was featured on Manchester's 1983 Greatest Hits album, although it did feature the Melissa Manchester track "Whenever I Call You Friend".
The album was one of her most commercial efforts to date, with tracks all designed for radio play. Between the singles Pretty Girls and Fire In The Morning, some FM radio stations picked out other tracks like When We Loved, Don’t Want A Heartache and I Know Your Love Won’t Let Me Down while the beautiful Lights Of Dawn became a favorite of her fans.
The 2007 reissue of the Melissa Manchester album by Wounded Bird Records augmented the original track listing with three bonus tracks: the single mix of "O Heaven (How You've Changed Me)" (which was later re-recorded in a different style for the singer's 1974 album Bright Eyes), "We Had This Time" which was the B-side of the "Don't Cry Out Loud" single, and "Nice Girls" a Steve Buckingham composition introduced on Manchester's 1983 Greatest Hits album ("Nice Girls" had charted at #41).
2007 CD re-issue bonus tracks
| Chart (1979/80) | Position |
|---|---|
| United States (Billboard 200) | 63 |
| Australia (Kent Music Report) [4] | 93 |
Girl You Know It's True is a 1989 album that served as the North American debut of German R&B duo Milli Vanilli. It is a reconfigured and repackaged version of the group's first album All or Nothing for the North American market. The album was a major success in the US, producing five singles that entered the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100, three of which reached the top position.
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Melissa is the third album by Melissa Manchester, released on the Arista Records label in 1975. It reached #12 on the Billboard Albums chart on the strength of her first U.S. Top Ten hit "Midnight Blue" (#6). In 2001, the album was re-released.
Love All the Hurt Away is the twenty-seventh studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was released on August 20, 1981. This album is the singer's second release under the Arista Records label. The Arif Mardin-produced disc reached fourth place on Billboard's R&B albums chart and number 36 on the main Billboard album chart, selling roughly 250,000 copies in the US.
Hey Ricky is the title of the tenth album release by Melissa Manchester. It was issued on Arista Records in April 1982.
For the Working Girl is the title of the ninth album release by singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester released by Arista Records.
Don't Cry Out Loud is the title of the seventh album by Melissa Manchester. It was released by Arista Records in October 1978.
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Back to the Grindstone is the twentieth studio album by American country music artist Ronnie Milsap, released on March 12, 1991. The album produced four singles, three of which reached the top ten on the Billboard country singles chart, including "Are You Lovin' Me Like I'm Lovin' You," "Since I Don't Have You," a cover of The Skyliners' 1958 standard and "Turn That Radio On." The fourth single, "All Is Fair in Love and War" peaked at number 11. Milsap produced the album with Rob Galbraith, with further assistance from Richard Landis on "Since I Don't Have You".
Pleasure Train is the first album by singer, songwriter, producer and composer Teri DeSario, released in 1978 by Casablanca.
Precious Moments is the eleventh studio album, and second on Arista Records, from Jermaine Jackson. Released in 1986, the album includes the pop and R&B top-20 hit, "I Think It's Love" along with the Top 40 US R&B hit "Do You Remember Me?", and Top 40 Belgian hits "Lonely Won't Leave Me Alone" and "Words Into Action".
"Don't Cry Out Loud" is a song written in 1976 by Peter Allen with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager that is best known as a hit single for Melissa Manchester in the US and for Elkie Brooks in the UK.
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Jennifer Warnes is the fourth album by American singer/songwriter Jennifer Warnes, released in late 1976 as her inaugural Arista Records album. It was her first album where she was credited by her full name, after being credited as simply "Jennifer" on her first three albums. The disc generated Warnes' first Billboard Hot 100 single "Right Time of the Night" which also ranked on the Billboard hit listings of C&W and Easy Listening tracks, with "Right Time..." reaching No. 1 on the latter. The second single, "I'm Dreaming" also reached the Easy Listening top ten.
"Through the Eyes of Love ", is an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award-nominated ballad performed by American singer Melissa Manchester, from the soundtrack of the 1978 film Ice Castles.
Mathematics is the twelfth studio album by singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester, issued in April 1985.
