The album was first released on CD in 1997 and reissued on July 1,2003,with four additional songs by the duo,including a previously unreleased version of "Without Us",the theme from the television series Family Ties.[7]
Singles
Following quickly on the heels of the June 3,1978,issue of Billboard in which "Too Much,Too Little,Too Late" enjoyed its week at number one on the magazine's Hot 100,this album's opener,a cover of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "You're All I Need To Get By",was released on June 15[1] and had a July 8 debut on the magazine's list of the 100 most popular R&B singles in the US,where it peaked at number 10 over the course of 12 weeks.[8] The July 8 issue also marked its first appearance on the magazine's list of the 50 most popular Easy Listening records in the US,where it spent 11 weeks and got as high as number 16.[9] The July 29 issue included the debut of the song on the Hot 100,where it stayed for eight weeks and reached number 47.[10] The duet also became a new entry on the July 29 UK singles chart,where it made it to number 45 during a six-week run.[4]
The title song from the album (not to be confused with the Bacharach/Sager composition later popularized by Dionne Warwick) was released as a single in the fall of 1978[11] but did not have any chart appearances.
Billboard remarked,"For the most part this is a set of slick,pretty R&B pop duets,marked by Mathis' best,most uninhibited singing to date,and the equally important participation of Williams."[16]
Paul Sexton of Record Mirror commented that "their coupling is quite satisfactory from an artistic point of view."[14] Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times said that "Mathis' duets with Williams have rescued him from the MOR graveyard and given him new life in the pop/R&B market. This album,far superior to the last featuring this pair,brims with romantic material. To make sure no one mistakes these songs for MOR,producer Jack Gold has tacked on sprightly rhythm tracks which turn some of them into gentle rockers."[17]
Ron Wynn of AllMusic stated:"Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams made a fine team on this collection of sentimental love songs and light pop ballads."[12]
As with "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late", "Emotion" was also recorded for the You Light Up My Life album. "Love Won't Let Me Wait" was recorded in 1983 for Mathis's 1984 album A Special Part of Me.
"Comme ci, comme ça" and "So Deep in Love" had not been available before. The former was recorded during the sessions for this album, the latter at the same session as the theme song for the series.
Recording dates
From the liner notes for the 2003 CD release:
April 20, 1978 – "You're a Special Part of My Life", "Ready or Not", "Me for You, You for Me", "I Just Can't Get Over You"
April 26, 1978 – "That's What Friends Are For"
April 28, 1978 – "Heaven Must Have Sent You"
May 5, 1978 – "You're All I Need to Get By", "Just the Way You Are", "Touching Me with Love"
May 12, 1978 – "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)"
Bonus tracks
From the liner notes for The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection:[18]
December 20, 1977 – "Emotion"
December 21, 1977 – "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late"
April 26, 1978 – "Comme ci, comme ça"
October 21, 1982 – "So Deep in Love", "Without Us"
1 2 3 That's What Friends Are For. Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams. Columbia Records. July 1978.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
