"This Time Baby" is a song written by the songwriting team

Bell and James Bell and James were an United States, American soul music, soul musical ensemble, group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania formed by LeRoy Bell (drums, guitar) and Casey James (guitar, bass guitar, bass, keyboard instrument, keyboards). Career Both ...

which, after being introduced by

the O'Jays The O'Jays are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appea ...

in 1978, became a 1979

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

hit for Jackie Moore.

O'Jays version

The O'Jays The O'Jays are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appea ...

1978 album release ''

So Full of Love ''So Full of Love'' is the twelfth album by the O'Jays, released in 1978 by Philadelphia International. The album contains the No. 1 R&B hit "Use ta Be My Girl", and was awarded RIAA platinum certification for sales of 1,000,000 copies. The singl ...

'' introduced the song "This Time Baby", the track - featuring

Eddie Levert Edward Willis Levert (born June 16, 1942) is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist of The O'Jays. He is the father of sons Gerald (1966–2006) and Sean Levert (1968–2008) and daughter Ryan Levert (2002–2024) and Maria Bi ...

on lead - being one of two album cuts produced by

Thom Bell Thomas Randolph Bell (January 26, 1943 – December 22, 2022) was an American record producer, arranger, and songwriter known as one of the creators of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s. Hailed as one of the most prolific R&B songwriters and prod ...

at his studio in the Kaye-Smith Studios in Seattle. "This Time Baby" would serve as

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

for the album's lead single: the million-seller "

Use Ta Be My Girl "Use ta Be My Girl" is a song by R&B vocal group The O'Jays. Released from their hit 1978 album, '' So Full of Love'', it became a crossover hit. The song spent five weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart. It also peaked at number four on th ...

" (the second Thom Bell production on ''So Full of Love'': "Brandy", would be the album's second single.)

Jackie Moore version

Jackie Moore recorded "This Time Baby" in the November 1978 Sigma Sound sessions for her debut

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

album release ''I'm on My Way'', Moore recording "This Time Baby" at the suggestion of her husband (then her fiancé) Calvin Hopkins who had heard the track on the O'Jays' album ''So Full of Love''.

Philly soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The g ...

virtuoso

Bobby Eli Bobby Eli (born Eli Tatarsky; March 2, 1946 – August 17, 2023) was an American musician, arranger, composer and record producer from Philadelphia. He was a founding member and lead guitarist of Philadelphia studio band MFSB. Overview Bobby ...

, who oversaw Moore's sessions, was also producing the

Atlantic Starr Atlantic Starr is an American R&B band based in White Plains, New York. They are best known for the hits " Always", " Secret Lovers", "Circles", " Silver Shadow", and "Masterpiece". History Atlantic Starr began in Greenburgh, New York, with tr ...

album '' Straight to the Point'' at Sigma Sound, and Atlantic Starr members Clifford Archer (bass), Porter Carroll (drums), David Lewis (guitar), Wayne Lewis (percussion), and Joseph Phillips (keyboards) played on "This Time Baby" plus four other tracks on the ''I'm On My Way'' album. Issued as the album's lead single in May 1979, "This Time Baby" reached number one on the disco chart in ''

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 ...

'' magazine for one week in August 1979, crossing over to the ''Billboard''

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

to spend seven weeks in that chart's top 40 with a peak of number 24. "This Time Baby" was afforded higher chart peaks on the R&B hit rankings in ''Billboards rival "music trades": '' Cashbox'' and ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'', reaching number 18 on both magazine's R&B charts: also "This Time Baby" reached the lower end of the top 100 singles ranking in ''Record World'' peaking at number 94.''Record World'' "Record World Singles" Vol 36 #167 (8 September 1979) p.33

Freemasons version

In 2005, "This Time Baby" was used for the dance radio and

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

hit, "Love on My Mind", by the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

featuring

Amanda Wilson Amanda Leigh Wilson (born 13 April 1980) is an English Platinum selling singer/song writer. She is a member of house music act Freemasons. As part of the act she has scored two major UK hit singles, one of which went on to success in several Eu ...

References

{{reflist 1978 songs 1979 singles The O'Jays songs Jackie Moore songs American disco songs Songs written by LeRoy Bell