| Niecy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 19, 1982 | |||
| Recorded | 1981 | |||
| Studio | Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||
| Genre | R&B, soul | |||
| Label | ARC/Columbia | |||
| Producer | Thom Bell, Deniece Williams | |||
| Deniece Williams chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Niecy | ||||
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Niecy is an album by American singer Deniece Williams which was released in 1982 on ARC/Columbia Records. [1] The album reached No. 5 on the Top Soul Albums chart and No. 20 on the Billboard 200.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Robert Christgau | B+ [3] |
With a B+, Robert Christgau found "Williams's exquisite clarity and thrilling range have always slotted her among the perfect angels for me, but there's a lot more to her work with Thom Bell, who finally challenges Burt Bacharach on his own turf, applying strings and woodwinds and amplifiers with a deft economy that textures rather than sweetens. And Williams's lyrics, while never startling, become increasingly personal as her professional confidence grows--she's wrinkling her brow more and her nose less." [3] People described the album as "upbeat, soulful and polished." [4]
Justin Kantor of AllMusic wrote that "Williams enlisted Philly soulmeister Thom Bell as her co-producer (and primary co-writer) a second time on this mellow 1982 release. Building upon the lush balladry of 1981's My Melody , this set inevitably bears a few similarities to its predecessor, but manages a more diverse soundscape." [2] J.D. Considine of Musician wrote: "Williams like the Spinners' Philippe Wynne has the uncanny ability to pull the most out of a tune while maintaining a distinctive vocal personality. Philly Soul lives." [5] Crispin Cioe of High Fidelity found "as a writer, Williams deals in the unabashedly romantic; as a singer she lends her lines an emotionalism that rings true. In Bell's sympathetically rich arranging/production context small sentiments take on grand proportions, and therein lies the album's charm." [6]
A cover of The Royalettes' "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" was released as a single. The song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, No. 6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles chart and No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Waiting by the Hotline" | Deniece Williams, Thom Bell | 3:40 |
| 2. | "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" | Teddy Randazzo, Bob Weinstein, Lou Stallman | 4:10 |
| 3. | "Love Notes" | Deniece Williams, Skip Scarborough | 4:22 |
| 4. | "I Believe in Miracles" | Deniece Williams, Bill Neale | 2:52 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "How Does It Feel" | Deniece Williams, Thom Bell | 5:50 |
| 6. | "Waiting" | Deniece Williams, Thom Bell | 4:32 |
| 7. | "Now is The Time for Love" | Deniece Williams, Thom Bell | 4:09 |
| 8. | "A Part of Love" | Deniece Williams, Kevin Bassinson | 3:39 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 10 |
| US Billboard R&B Singles | 1 | ||
| US Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles | 6 | ||
| "Waiting by the Hotline" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 103 | |
| US Billboard R&B Singles | 29 | ||
| "Waiting" | 72 |
June Deniece Williams is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC.
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Round 2 is the second studio album recorded by American R&B group The Stylistics, released in October 1972 on the Avco label. It was produced by Thom Bell and recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia.
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Track of the Cat is a studio album by the American singer Dionne Warwick. It was released by Warner Bros. Records in 1975 in the United States. Her second album to be released that year, it peaked at number 137 on the US Top LPs & Tape chart.
"Waiting by the Hotline" is a song written by Thom Bell and Deniece Williams and recorded by Williams for her 1982 album Niecy. Produced by Bell, it was released as a single in 1982 by ARC/Columbia Records, reaching number 29 on the US Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.
