Rock Me Tonight Explained

Rock Me Tonight
Type:	studio
Artist:	Freddie Jackson
Cover:	Rock Me Tonight.jpg
Released:	April 28, 1985
Recorded:	January–March 1985 at Digital By Dickinson (Bloomfield, NJ); Celestial Sound Studios and Unique Recording Studios (New York, NY).
Length:	41:26
Label:	Capitol
Next Title:	Just Like the First Time
Next Year:	1986

Rock Me Tonight is the platinum selling 1985 debut album from American R&B/Soul singer Freddie Jackson. 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 classic "Good Morning Heartache". The success of Rock Me Tonight garnered Jackson a Grammy Award nomination in 1986 for Best New Artist, losing out to Sade. 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

1. "He'll Never Love You (Like I Do)" (Keith Diamond, Barry Eastmond) – 4:43
2. "Love Is Just a Touch Away" (Freddie Jackson, Barry Eastmond) – 5:19
3. "I Wanna Say I Love You" (Freddie Jackson, Barry Eastmond) – 4:40
4. "You Are My Lady" (Barry Eastmond) – 4:44
5. "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)" (Paul Laurence) – 7:12
6. "Sing a Song of Love" (Barry Eastmond) – 5:02
7. "Calling" (Keith Diamond, Barry Eastmond) – 5:30
8. "Good Morning Heartache" (Ervin Drake, Dan Fisher, Irene Higginbotham) – 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 (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 – drums
• Buddy Williams – drums
• Bashiri Johnson – percussion
• Steve Kroon – percussion
• V. Jeffrey Smith – saxophone
• Stanley Turrentine – sax solo (5)
• Janice Dempsey – backing vocals
• Dolly Eastmond – backing vocals
• Danny Madden – backing vocals
• Cindy Mizelle – backing vocals
• Melba Moore – backing vocals
• B.J. Nelson – backing vocals
• Lillo Thomas – 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 (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

Year-end charts

Chart (1985)	Position
US Billboard 200^[2]	74
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[3]	6

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions^[4]
		U.S. Billboard Hot 100	US R&B
1985	"Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)"	18	1
	"You Are My Lady"	12	1
	"He'll Never Love You (Like I Do)"	25	8
1986	"Love Is Just A Touch Away"	-	9

See also

• List of number-one R&B albums of 1985 (U.S.)

External links

• Rock Me Tonight at Discogs

Notes and References

1. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 150.
2. Web site: Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1985. Billboard. July 12, 2021.
3. Web site: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1985. Billboard. July 12, 2021.
4. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=-p4571/charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes}} Freddie Jackson US singles chart history]. allmusic.com. 2011-10-03.