"I Specialize in Love" is a song written by

Lotti Golden Lotti Golden (born November 27, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, poet and artist. Golden is best known for her 1969 debut album '' Motor-Cycle'', on Atlantic Records. Winner of the ASCAP Pop Award for songwriting and RI ...

and Richard Scher. Mixed by

Tee Scott Marc Allen Scott (September 17, 1948 – December 12, 1995), also known as Toraino Scott or Tee Scott, was an American DJ and remixer in the disco era working in New York city. He was born in the Bronx. Biography Tee's remixes includes First Choi ...

, the song was a club hit in the early 1980s when recorded by American singer Sharon Brown, the niece of songwriter

Phil Medley Philip Medley (April 9, 1916 – October 3, 1997) was an American songwriter, notable for his composition "Twist and Shout", which he wrote along with Bert Russell. The song was made famous by both The Isley Brothers and The Beatles. Medley also ...

. Released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in March 1982, by

Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label. ...

, it spent three weeks at number two on the US

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart, her only song to reach this survey. The single also charted on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming an international club hit. A

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed version of the song was released in 1994, entering the UK Singles Chart for a second time. Brian Chin of ''Billboard'' called "I Specialize in Love" a "very skillful pastiche of a whole passel of recent street and fusion sounds, along with a simple rap."

Exposé version

Ten years later, the American

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

Exposé Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website Film and TV Film * ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film * ''Exposed'' (1932 ...

included a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song on its 1992 self-titled studio album. This version featured lead vocals by

Ann Curless Ann Curless (born Ann Katherine Curless; October 7, 1963, in Albany, New York) is an American popular music singer, most notable as part of Exposé. Education Curless was raised in Miami Beach, Florida and attended school there. During her ye ...

Jeanette Jurado Jeanette Livier Jurado (born November 14, 1965, East Los Angeles, California) is a member and a lead vocalist of the popular American girl group, Exposé, along with Ann Curless, Gioia Bruno and, in the group's later years, Kelly Moneymaker. She ...

and

Kelly Moneymaker Kelly Susan Moneymaker (born June 4, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer. She was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska. Early career As a teenager, Moneymaker moved to Seattle to co-found the band BoyToy with Michele Rundgren ...

. It was produced by DNA (musicians Nick Batt and Neal Slateford), which had scored a hit in 1990 for themselves and

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered the ...

when the group

ed Vega's song "

Tom's Diner "Tom's Diner" is a song written in 1982 by American singer and songwriter Suzanne Vega. It was first released as a track on the January 1984 issue of '' Fast Folk Musical Magazine''. Originally featured on her second studio album, '' Solitude S ...

." Although this version of "I Specialize in Love" was not formally released as a

from the album ''Exposé'', it was issued as a promotional 12" single to dance clubs in 1995 when various remixes of the song by Darrin Friedman were included on the CD Maxi-single release of "I'll Say Good-bye for the Two of Us." This latter song was taken from the soundtrack of the 1995 film ''

Free Willy 2 ''Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home'' (also known as ''Free Willy 2'') is a 1995 American family adventure drama film directed by Dwight Little from a screenplay by Karen Janszen, Corey Blechman and John Mattson. It is the sequel to the 1993 film '' ...

'', and although both songs failed to reach the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, "I Specialize in Love" became a top-ten single on the ''Billboard'' Club Play chart again, peaking at #6. It also reached the top twenty on the ''Billboard''

Hot Dance Singles Sales In the issue dated March 16, 1985, '' Billboard'' magazine debuted its first chart devoted exclusively to 12-inch Singles Sales. The 50-position weekly ranking joined ''Billboard''s established Club Songs chart, reduced to the same 50 positions, ...

chart in December of that year.Exposé 12" Sales Chart info
Billboard.com. Retrieved 26 May 2009.

Track listing

Sharon Brown version

;12" promo *US: Profile, UK: Virgin / 1982 #A - "I Specialize In Love" (7:16) #B - "I Specialize In Love" (instrumental) (6:00)

Exposé version

;12" promo *US: Arista / 1995 #A1 - "I Specialize in Love" Spike Club Mix I (7:16) #A2 - "I Specialize in Love" Spike Dub (6:45) #B1 - "I Specialize in Love" Spike Club Mix II (8:02) #B2 - "I Specialize in Love" Spike Classic Mix (6:13)

Charts

;Sharon Brown version ;Exposé version

References

External links

1982 Sharon Brown 12" single
discogs.com
1995 Exposé 12" single
discogs.com {{authority control 1982 songs 1982 singles 1995 singles Exposé (group) songs Songs written by Lotti Golden Arista Records singles Profile Records singles