"Help Me!" is a song by

Marcy Levy Marcella Levy (born June 21, 1952), known professionally as Marcy Levy and (later in her career) Marcella Detroit, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-wrote the 1977 Eric Clapton hit "Lay Down Sally" and released her debut al ...

(better known now as Marcella Detroit) and

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...

. The song was recorded for the official soundtrack of '' Times Square'', and released as the album's lead single, going on to peak at #50 on the Billboard Top 100. It was also considered as Levy's first single and her only song that was charted in the United States.

Background

After working on Jimmy Ruffin's '' Sunrise'' (including the track "Where Do I Go", a duet by Ruffin and Marcy Levy) Robin Gibb and

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

keyboardist Blue Weaver work together again by supplying tracks for the soundtrack of the film '' Times Square'' (an RSO movie). And the result was the song "Help Me!" sung by Levy and Gibb. The song was heard in the film's closing credits. Related session outtake, "Touch Me", a song also written by Gibb and Levy with lead vocals provided by Levy as a demo for

Linda Clifford Linda Clifford (born 1944) is an American R&B, disco and house music singer who scored hits from the 1970s to the 1980s, most notably "If My Friends Could See Me Now", " Bridge over Troubled Water", " Runaway Love" and " Red Light". Career ...

but was not recorded by Clifford herself. Weaver says he and Levy didn't like its sexually charged lyrics and Gibb had to talk Levy into singing it. The B-side of the single, an instrumental version of "Help Me!" on which they made two instrumental versions of the same track, one with Gary Brown playing a sax solo. It peaked #50 in the Billboard Hot 100, #65 in ''Cashbox'' and #64 in ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

''. It was released in September 1980 elsewhere except in Australia when the song was released as a single there in November that same year.

Charts

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Times Square Soundtrack'' album booklet:'' Times Square Soundtrack'' liner notes *

— lead and harmony vocal *

— lead and harmony vocal * Blue Weaver —

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

* Gary Brown — sax * Uncredited —

handclaps A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), b ...

References

{{authority control 1980 debut singles 1980 songs Robin Gibb songs Marcella Detroit songs Songs written by Robin Gibb Songs written by Blue Weaver Song recordings produced by Robin Gibb RSO Records singles