''Love Language'' is the eighth album by R&B/

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

. It was his first record for

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/As ...

after being a longtime artist on

Philadelphia International Records Philadelphia International Records (PIR) was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff along with their longtime collaborator Thom Bell. ...

. It did much better on the ''Billboard'' 200 than his last two records, peaking at number 38. He had not reached the top 40 on the album charts since 1981's '' It's Time for Love''. The album was composed and produced by

Michael Masser Michael William Masser (March 24, 1941 – July 9, 2015) was an American songwriter, composer and producer of popular music. Early life Born to a Jewish family in Chicago to Ester Huff and William Masser, he attended the University of Illinois ...

, with the exception of the track ''You're My Choice Tonight (Choose Me)'' (#15 R&B chart, November 3, 1984), which was produced by

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

and featured

Cissy Houston Emily "Cissy" Houston ( ''née'' Drinkard; born September 30, 1933) is an American soul and gospel singer. After a successful career singing backup for such artists as Roy Hamilton, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, Houston embar ...

on background vocals and as "Solo Female Voice". ''Hold Me'' (#46 Hot 100, July 28, 1984; #6 Adult Contemporary Chart) written by Masser and

Linda Creed Linda Diane Creed (December 6, 1948 – April 10, 1986), also known by her married name Linda Epstein, was an American songwriter and lyricist who teamed up with Thom Bell to produce some of the most successful Philadelphia soul groups of the 19 ...

was a duet with

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

(it later turned up on Houston's debut album). As a result of having recorded this duet in 1984, Houston was disqualified from consideration as

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

Best New Artist of 1985. The track "In My Time" reached number 11 on the South African charts, spending seven weeks in the top 20. Songs from the album were used on the soundtrack to

Alan Rudolph Alan Steven Rudolph (born December 18, 1943) is an American film director and screenwriter. Early life Rudolph was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Oscar Rudolph (1911–1991), a television director and actor, and his wife. He be ...

's 1984 film ''

Choose Me ''Choose Me'' is a 1984 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Alan Rudolph, starring Geneviève Bujold, Keith Carradine, and Lesley Ann Warren. The film is a look at sex and love in 1980s Los Angeles centered around a dive ...

''. In her review of the film, critic

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...

stated: "The songs are performed by Teddy Pendergrass and he's just right. The entire movie has a lilting, loose, choreographic flow to it." Also in 1984, the ''Love Language'' song, "Stay with Me", was included in Miami Vice's season 1 episode, "No Exit" (episode 8).

Track listing

#"In My Time" (

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Life and career Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...

) – 3:48 #"So Sad The Song" (

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the List of Billboard number-one ...

, Masser) – 3:23 #"Hot Love" (

, Masser,

Ray Parker Jr. Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song to the 1984 film '' Ghostbusters''. Previously, Parker achieved a US top-10 h ...

) – 4:43 #"Stay With Me" (Goffin, Masser) – 4:19 #" Hold Me" (Duet with

) (Creed, Masser) – 5:59 #"You're My Choice Tonight (Choose Me)" (

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

) – 4:48 #"Love" (

Randy Goodrum Charles Randolph Goodrum (born July 7, 1947) is an American songwriter, pianist, and producer. Goodrum has written number one songs in each of the four decades since his first number one hit, 1978's "You Needed Me". Goodrum's songs have appeare ...

, Masser) – 4:28 #"This Time is Ours" (Goffin, Masser) – 3:22

Personnel and production

*Tracks 1–5, 7 and 8 arranged and produced by Michael Masser for Prince Street Productions, Inc. *Track 6 arranged and produced by Luther Vandross for Vandross Ltd. *Strings and horns arranged by

Gene Page Eugene Edgar Page Jr. (September 13, 1939 – August 24, 1998) was an American conductor, composer, arranger and record producer, most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. His sound can be heard in the arrangements he did for Jeffer ...

*Recording engineers: Michael Mancini, Dean Burt, Guy Charbonneau, Cliff Bonnell *Mixed by Guy Charbonneau *Remix by

Bill Schnee William S. Schnee (born July 4, 1947) is an American musician, music producer, and audio engineer. Schnee has been nominated 11 times for the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Grammy Award and worked on a multitude of other Grammy nominated an ...

*Mastering engineer:

Doug Sax Doug Lionel Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three of The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six of Pink Floyd's albums, including ''The Wall''; Ray Charles ...

*Drums: Carlos Vega *Bass:

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degr ...

*Keyboards:

Randy Kerber Randy Kerber (born September 25, 1958) is an American composer, orchestrator and keyboard player, who has had a prolific career in the world of cinema.SeRandy Kerberat the IMDb Kerber was born in Encino, California. He began his first national t ...

, Michael Masser,

(also played guitars on "Hot Love") *Guitars: Paul Jackson Jr. *Rhythm arrangements:

*Strings and horns arranged by

Nat Adderley Jr. Nathaniel Adderley Jr. (born May 23, 1955) is an American pop and rhythm and blues music arranger and pianist who spent much of his music career arranging as music director for Luther Vandross tours and contributed as co-songwriter on most of ...

*Recording engineers: Ray Bardani,

Michael Barbiero Michael Francis Barbiero (born June 25, 1949)Infidel Biography
. Infidel Records. Retri ...

, Doug Epstein, Michael Brauer, Guy Charbonneau *Drums:

Yogi Horton A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297-299, 331 Th ...

*Percussion: Steve Kroon, Errol "Crusher" Bennett *Bass/Synthesizer: Marcus Miller *Keyboards: Nat Adderley Jr. *Guitars:

Doc Powell Doc Powell is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was born and raised in Spring Valley, New York. He attended college at University of Charleston. Career He has worked with Wilson Pickett, who chose him to be his musical director. He ha ...

*Background vocals:

Charts

References

1984 albums Teddy Pendergrass albums Asylum Records albums Albums arranged by Gene Page Albums produced by Michael Masser {{1980s-R&B-album-stub