''Rock Me Tonight'' is the platinum selling 1985 debut album from American 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

Freddie Jackson Frederick Anthony Jackson (born October 2, 1956) is an American singer. Originally from New York, Jackson began his professional music career in the late 1970s with the California funk band Mystic Merlin. Among his well–known R&B/soul hits are ...

. Released on April 28, 1985, the album yielded four top–10 singles on the U.S. R&B chart, with the first two, "You Are My Lady" and "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)", reaching number one. The latter two, "Love Is Just a Touch Away" and "He'll Never Love You", peaked at Nos. 9 and 8, respectively. The album contains a cover of the

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...

classic "

Good Morning Heartache "Good Morning Heartache" is a song written by Irene Higginbotham, Ervin Drake, and Dan Fisher. It was recorded by jazz singer Billie Holiday on January 22, 1946. Bill Stegmeyer and his Orchestra (Decca Session No. 54) New York City, January 22, ...

". The success of ''Rock Me Tonight'' garnered Jackson a

Grammy Award 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 pres ...

nomination in 1986 for

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

, losing out to

Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WAB ...

. ''Rock Me Tonight'' went on to top the R&B Albums chart for 14 nonconsecutive weeks, and peaked inside the Top 10 on the Billboard 200.

Track listing

#"He'll Never Love You (Like I Do)" (Keith Diamond, Barry Eastmond) – 4:43 #"Love Is Just a Touch Away" (Freddie Jackson, Barry Eastmond) – 5:19 #"I Wanna Say I Love You" (Freddie Jackson, Barry Eastmond) – 4:40 #" You Are My Lady" (Barry Eastmond) – 4:44 #" Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)" (Paul Laurence) – 7:12 #"Sing a Song of Love" (Barry Eastmond) – 5:02 #"Calling" (Keith Diamond, Barry Eastmond) – 5:30 #"

" (

Ervin Drake Ervin Drake (born Ervin Maurice Druckman; April 3, 1919 – January 15, 2015) was an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as " I Believe" and "It Was a Very Good Year". He wrote in a variety of styles and his w ...

, Dan Fisher,

Irene Higginbotham Irene Higginbotham (June 11, 1918 – August 27, 1988) was an American songwriter and concert pianist. She is best known for co-writing the Billie Holiday song " Good Morning Heartache" (1946). Biography Higginbotham was born on June 11, 1918, in ...

) – 4:28

Personnel

* Freddie Jackson – lead vocals, backing vocals * Barry Eastmond – keyboards, synthesizers, Roland TR-808 drum programming * Eric Rehl – synthesizers * Paul Laurence – keyboards (5), Kurzweil synthesizer (5),

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980 ...

(4-5), Oberheim DMX drum programming (4-5), backing vocals (5) * Robert Aries – keyboards (8), Kurzweil synthesizer (8), drum programming (8) * Ira Siegel – acoustic guitar, guitar * Fareed Abdul-Haqq – guitar * Clarence Brice – guitar * Mike "Dino" Campbell – guitar * Thomas J. Flammia – guitar * Wayne Brathwaite – bass * Timmy Allen – bass (5) * Bernard Davis – drums * Richard Rodriguez – drums * Joel Rosenblatt – drums *

Terry Silverlight Terry Silverlight is a jazz, pop, rock and R&B drummer, composer, producer, arranger and author. Biography Silverlight was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey. He made his debut as a drummer on Barry Miles' 's ' ...

– drums * Buddy Williams – drums *

Bashiri Johnson Bashiri Johnson (born May 12, 1955) is a New York City-based percussionist, whose work has appeared on many records, as well as in commercials, films, television, videogames, and concert performances. He is known to be one of the most recorded ...

– percussion * Steve Kroon – percussion * V. Jeffrey Smith – saxophone *

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note label from 1960, touched on jazz fusion dur ...

– sax solo (5) * Janice Dempsey – backing vocals * Dolly Eastmond – backing vocals * Danny Madden – backing vocals * Cindy Mizelle – backing vocals *

Melba Moore Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba Smith (sources differ) (born October 29, 1945), known by her stage name Melba Moore, is an American singer and actress. Biography Early life and education Moore was born Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba ...

– backing vocals * B.J. Nelson – backing vocals *

Lillo Thomas Lillo Thomas (born 1961) is an American soul musician. He reached the peak of his success as a recording artist in the 1980s. His most famous songs include "Sexy Girl" and "I'm in Love." Career Early in his life, Thomas was a competitive sprint ...

– backing vocals * Audrey Wheeler – backing vocals * Reggie King – backing vocals (5)

Production

* Producers – Barry Eastmond (Tracks 1-4, 6 & 7); Paul Laurence (Track 5); Robert Aries (Track 8). * Executive Producers – Beau Huggins and Varnell Johnson * Production Coordination – Zack Vaz * Engineers – Ron Banks (Tracks 1-4, 6 & 7); Carl Beatty and Steve Goldman (Track 5); Frank Heller, Peter Robbins and Bob Rose (Track 8). * Second Engineer – Joe Marno (Track 5) * Assistant Engineers – Dean Cochren, Larry DeCarmine, Cathy Goode, Frank Heller and Kurt Upper (Tracks 1-4, 6 & 7); Mike Nicolette (Track 8). * Track 5 mixed by Steve Goldman at

Right Track Recording Sound on Sound Studios, formerly known as MSR Studios (Manhattan Sound Recordings) is a photography and movie producing company recording facility in Montclair, New Jersey. Its forebear, MSR Studios, was located in Manhattan, just outside Times Squ ...

(New York, NY). * Track 8 mixed by Peter Robbins at Unique Recording Studios. * Mastered by Jack Skinner at Sterling Sound (New York, NY) and Eddy Schreyer at Capitol Mastering (Hollywood, CA). * Art Direction – Roy Kohara * Design – Roland Young * Photography – Chris Callis * Administrator – Anne Thomas * Management – Hush Productions

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

References

External links

Rock Me Tonight
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{Authority control 1985 debut albums Albums recorded at Unique Recording Studios Capitol Records albums Freddie Jackson albums