''Rock Me Tonight'' is the platinum-selling 1985 debut album from American R&B/

Soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer

Freddie Jackson Frederick Anthony Jackson (born October 2, 1956) is an American R&B 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 ...

. 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 made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

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. Personnel Bill Stegmeyer and his Orchestra (Decca Session No. 54) New York City, Ja ...

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

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination in 1986 for

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1960 (except in 1967) "for a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that ar ...

, losing out to

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

. ''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 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 ...

'' 200.

Track listing

#"He'll Never Love You (Like I Do)" (Keith Diamond,

Barry Eastmond Barry James Eastmond (born January 11, 1959) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and record producer. Eastmond is an adjunct professor at New York University Steinhardt Performing Arts Department in songwriting and is part of the NYU ...

) – 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 ...

, 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). Early life Higginbotham was born on June 11, 1918, i ...

) – 4:28

Personnel

* Freddie Jackson – lead vocals, backing vocals * Barry Eastmond – keyboards, synthesizers,

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patterns. ...

drum programming * Eric Rehl – synthesizers * Paul Laurence –

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by 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 1980s, th ...

(4, 5),

Oberheim DMX The DMX is a programmable Digital data, digital drum machine manufactured by Oberheim Electronics, Oberheim. It was introduced in 1980 at a list price of and remained in the company's product line until the mid-1980s. The Oberheim DMX was the se ...

drum programming (4, 5), keyboards (5), Kurzweil synthesizer (5), backing vocals (5) * Robert Aries – keyboards (8), Kurzweil synthesizer (8), drum programming (8) * Ira Siegel – acoustic guitar, guitars * Fareed Abdul-Haqq – guitars * Clarence Brice – guitars * Mike "Dino" Campbell – guitars * Thomas J. Flammia – guitars * 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 an American percussionist, whose work has appeared on many records, as well as in commercials, films, television, video games, and concert performances. He is known to be one of the most recorded percussio ...

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

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist and record producer. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note Reco ...

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

Melba Moore Beatrice Melba Smith (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 Smith on October 29, 1945, in New York City to Gertrude Melba ...

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

Lillo Thomas Lillo Thomas (born 1961) is an American sprint runner and 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 c ...

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

Production

* Executive Producers – Beau Huggins and Varnell Johnson * Producers – Barry Eastmond (Tracks 1-4, 6 & 7); Paul Laurence (Track 5); Robert Aries (Track 8). * 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 studio, recording facility in Montclair, New Jersey. Its forebear, MSR Studios, was located in Manhattan, j ...

(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). * Production Coordination – Zack Vaz * 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. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

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