''Hey Ricky'' is the title of the tenth album release by

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been carried by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early l ...

. It was issued on

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

in April 1982. During the interim between the release of ''Hey Ricky'' and that of the precedent '' For the Working Girl'' in September 1980 Manchester had attempted to extricate herself from her recording contract, filing suit in May 1981 for contractual release from Arista.''Star News'' 5 August 1981 p. 11 However it was announced that October that the singer and label had reached terms and the track "Race to the End" - a vocal version of the ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, ...

'' theme - was recorded for single release. The producer was

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ...

who had previously collaborated with Manchester in 1979 on " Theme from Ice Castles". Mardin proceeded to collaborate with Manchester on the tracks which would comprise the album ''Hey Ricky'' released in April 1982. The lead single "

You Should Hear How She Talks About You "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" is a song performed by American singer Melissa Manchester from her album ''Hey Ricky''. Overview First recorded by Charlie Dore for her 1981 ''Listen!'' album, "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" ...

," originally recorded by Charlie Dore ("Pilot of the Airwaves"), radically reinvented Manchester as a

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

dance artist and was heavily promoted by the singer who displayed a new image complementing the track. "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" accrued gradual interest entering the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

of the "Billboard" Hot 100 in July 1982 proceeding to the Top Ten that August with a career best peak for Manchester at #5. The single's popularity was reflected in that of its parent album which ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' ranked with a #19 peak. The other cuts on ''Hey Ricky'' included the 1981 "Race to the End" single, a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

with

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (December 11, 1940 – January 5, 2023) was a American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread, which reached the top of the musical charts ...

: "Wish We Were Heroes"; "Your Place or Mine" from the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

of the feature film ''

A Little Sex ''A Little Sex'' is a 1982 American comedy film produced by MTM Enterprises and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Bruce Paltrow and written by Bob DeLaurentis. Plot Young television producer, Michael Donovan, tries to ab ...

'', and a new version of "Come in From the Rain" introduced by Manchester on her 1976 ''Better Days and Happy Endings'' album: the last-named song had been co-written with Manchester's most constant lyricist of the 1970s

Carole Bayer-Sager Carole Bayer Sager (born Carol Bayer on March 8, 1947) is an American lyricist, singer, and songwriter. Early life and career Bayer Sager was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Anita Nathan Bayer and Eli Bayer. Her family was Jewish. She grad ...

who was also represented on ''Hey Ricky'' with a new (and final) songwriting collaboration with Manchester entitled ""Looking for the Perfect Ahh" (co-written by Robbie Buchanan). The title cut "Hey Ricky" was written by Manchester with

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Ta ...

the lyricist for

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

in the first phase of the latter's recording career: "Hey Ricky" was the second (and final) Manchester/ Taupin songwriting collaboration, the pair - after meeting via having the same manager - having collaborated on the title cut of Manchester's 1980 album release ''For the Working Girl''. Issued as the follow-up single to "You Should Hear How She Talks About You", "Hey Ricky" would fail to chart. After a 1983 ''Greatest Hits'' album release Manchester would release only one more album on Arista, then part company with the label, retaining the dance artist focus of her "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" hit for her one album with

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...

Track listing

# "

" (

Dean Pitchford Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951) is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, ei ...

Tom Snow Thomas Righter Snow (born 1947 in Princeton, New Jersey) is an American songwriter. Biography Snow has written songs for Gayle McCormick "(Even a Fool Would Let Go" with Kerry Chater – a song covered by a number of artists including Kenny ...

) - 4:18 # "Slowly" (Ken Bell, Terry Skinner, Gerry L. Wallace) - 3:31 # "Hey Ricky (You're a Low Down Heel)" (Melissa Manchester,

) - 4:15 # "I'll Always Love You" (Tom Snow,

Eric Kaz Eric Justin Kaz (born January 21, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter born in Brooklyn, New York. Besides his solo work, Kaz was a member of Blues Magoos for their fourth and fifth albums, ''Never Goin' Back to Georgia'' and ''Gulf Coast Bound ...

) - 3:32 # "Race to the End" (

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

) - 3:52 # "Wish We Were Heroes" featuring

(Austin Gravelding) - 4:12 # "Come in From the Rain" (Manchester,

) - 4:20 # "Looking for the Perfect Ahh" (Manchester, Carole Bayer-Sager, Robbie Buchanan) - 3:15 # "Your Place or Mine" (Manchester,

Allee Willis Alta Sherral "Allee" Willis (November 10, 1947 – December 24, 2019) was an American songwriter, multi-media artist, collector, and art director. Willis co-wrote hit songs including " September" and " Boogie Wonderland" by Earth, Wind & Fire. S ...

, David Paul Bryant) - 3:50 # " Someone to Watch Over Me" (

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...

) - 3:52 # "Long Goodbyes" (Melissa Manchester) - 4:15 - bonus track on Japan reissue # "My Boyfriend’s Back -Long Version" (Melissa Manchester) - 5:15 - bonus track on Japan reissue

Track-by-track personnel

"You Should Hear How She Talks About You"

– lead vocals * Robbie Buchanan – synthesizers, rhythm arrangements *

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stead ...

– guitars *

Abraham Laboriel Abraham Laboriel López Sr. (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the f ...

– bass guitar *

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on ...

– drums *

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Willia ...

– alto saxophone *

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hooper ...

, Millie Whiteside, Ula Hedwig – backing vocals

"Slowly"

* Melissa Manchester – lead vocals, backing vocals * Robbie Buchanan – keyboards, synthesizers * Steve Lukather,

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitc ...

– guitars *

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 deg ...

– bass guitar * Jeff Porcaro – drums * Millie Whiteside, Ula Hedwig, Will Lee – backing vocals *

– rhythm arrangements * Cengiz Yaltkaya – string arrangements, conductor

"Hey Ricky (You're a Low Down Heel)"

* Melissa Manchester – lead vocals * Robbie Buchanan – electric piano, synthesizers * Larry Williams – alto saxophone, additional synthesizers * Michael Landau – guitars * Abraham Laboriel – bass guitar * Jeff Porcaro – drums *

Robin Beck Robin Beck is an American singer. She topped the singles chart in the United Kingdom in 1988, and Austria, Germany, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland in 1989, with her single " First Time", which had come to the public's attention via its use ...

, Will Lee, Millie Whiteside – backing vocals

"I'll Always Love You"

* Melissa Manchester – lead vocals * Robbie Buchanan – electric piano, synthesizers *

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Ch ...

– acoustic guitar * Abraham Laboriel – bass guitar * Jeff Porcaro – drums *

– backing vocals * Arif Mardin – rhythm arrangements

"Race to The End"

* Melissa Manchester – lead vocals * Robbie Buchanan – keyboards, synthesizers * Dean Parks – guitars * Abraham Laboriel – bass guitar * Jeff Porcaro – drums * Arif Mardin – rhythm arrangements

"Wish We Were Heroes"

* Melissa Manchester – vocals * Robbie Buchanan – electric piano, synthesizers *

– vocals, acoustic guitar *

David Spinozza David Spinozza is an American guitarist and producer. He worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing Taylor's album '' Walki ...

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar *

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally a ...

– acoustic guitar *

Don Brooks Don Frank Brooks (8 March 1947, in Dallas, Texas – 25 October 2000, in Manhattan, New York) was an American blues harmonica performing artist. Career Brooks was a full-time harmonica player with Waylon Jennings and was a prolific session musicia ...

–

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

* Dennis Belfield – bass guitar *

Ed Greene Ed Greene is an American drummer and session musician. In 1971 he recorded with Donald Byrd (''Ethiopian Knights'', 1972), together with Thurman Green, Harold Land, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Sample, Bobbye Porter Hall, David T. Walker, and Wilton ...

– drums * Arif Mardin – rhythm arrangements

"Come in from The Rain"

* Melissa Manchester – lead vocals * Robbie Buchanan – acoustic piano, Prophet-5 synthesizer * Bob Christianson – additional synthesizers * Dean Parks – guitars * Abraham Laboriel – bass guitar * Jeff Porcaro – drums * Arif Mardin – arrangements

"Looking for The Perfect Ahh"

* Melissa Manchester – lead vocals, backing vocals * Robbie Buchanan – keyboards, synthesizers, rhythm arrangements * Dean Parks – guitars * Abraham Laboriel – bass guitar *Jeff Porcaro – drums *

Hamish Stuart James Hamish Stuart (born 8 October 1949) is a British guitarist, bassist, singer, composer and record producer. He was an original member of the Average White Band. Biography Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Stuart attended Queens Park School i ...

, Lani Groves, Robin Beck, Will Lee – backing vocals

"Your Place or Mine"

* Melissa Manchester – lead vocals * Robbie Buchanan – electric piano, synthesizers, rhythm arrangements * Dean Parks – guitars * Abraham Laboriel – bass guitar *

John Robinson John Robinson may refer to: Academics *John Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882), Irish astronomer and physicist *John J. Robinson (1918–1996), historian and author of ''Born in Blood'' *John Talbot Robinson (1923–2001), paleontologist *John ...

– drums *

Sammy Figueroa Sammy Figueroa (born November 16, 1948, The Bronx, New York) is an American percussionist. At 18 he joined the band of bassist Bobby Valentín and also co-led the Brazilian/Latin fusion group Raíces. Selected Discography

* Melissa Manchester – lead vocals * Stuart Elster – acoustic piano * Jim Henken – guitars * Cliff Hugo – bass guitar * Sinclair Lott – drums * David Manchester – bassoon * Steve Cagan – conductor, rhythm arrangements, string arrangements

Production

* Producer – Arif Mardin * Recorded by Jeremy Smith * Additional Recording – Lew Hahn, Jay Messina and Michael O'Reilly. * Assistant Engineers – Terry Christianson, Larold Rebhun and Gray Russell. * Recorded at

Sunset Sound Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spri ...

Westlake Studios Westlake Recording Studios is a music recording studio in West Hollywood, California. History Westlake Recording Studios was founded in the early 1970s by the American audio engineer Tom Hidley under the name Westlake Audio. Hidley was experien ...

and

Cherokee Studios Cherokee Studios is a recording studio facility in Hollywood founded in 1972 by members of 1960s pop band The Robbs. Cherokee has been the location of many notable recordings by such artists as Steely Dan, David Bowie, Journey, The Cars, Fore ...

(Hollywood, CA);

Record Plant The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...

and

Atlantic Studios Atlantic Studios was the recording studio of Atlantic Records. Although this recording studio was located at 1841 Broadway (at the corner of 60th Street), in New York City, Atlantic Recording Studios was initially located at 234 West 56th Street fr ...

(New York, NY). * Remixing – Jeremy Smith, Arif Mardin and Michael O'Reilly * Remix Assistant – Lew Hahn * Mastered by

George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

at Sterling Sound (New York, NY). * Production Coordination – Chrissy Allerdings and Frank DeCaro * Concertmasters –

Gene Orloff Gene Orloff (June 14, 1921 – March 23, 2009) was an American violinist, concertmaster, arranger, contractor and session musician. Background The son of a Russian immigrant violin maker, Orloff would try and get his father's violin down from the ...

and Jean Hugo * Art Direction – Ria Lewerke-Shapiro * Photography –

George Hurrell George Edward Hurrell (June 1, 1904 – May 17, 1992) was a photographer who contributed to the image of glamour presented by Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. Early life Born in the Walnut Hills district of Cincinnati, Ohio, Hurrell ori ...

Charting History

Weekly charts

Year end charts

Charting Singles

References

{{Authority control 1982 albums Melissa Manchester albums Arista Records albums Albums produced by Arif Mardin