"Fire In the Morning" by Melissa Manchester

Song#:  0067
Date:  02/23/1980
Debut:  81
Peak:  32
Weeks:  13
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  Manchester had just come off of a Top 10 hit ("Don't Cry Out Loud") so expectations were fairly high for her next album. "Melissa Manchester" came out late 1979 and the lead track was her minor foray into disco territory with "Pretty Girls." It peaked at a disappointing #39, so the obvious thing to do was to go back to the silky smooth, big ballads that Manchester was becoming known for. "Fire In the Morning" did only slightly better on the chart but it did become a lasting standard in her catalog.

ReduxReview:  This is pretty basic schmalzy pop but what makes it outshine others is the solid arrangement and Manchester's voice. It's a nice entry and probably should have done a bit better on the chart. I always found it strange that she is such a good songwriter but a lot of her chart hits (like this one) were written by others. I don't think she ever got enough credit as a songwriter.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Okay, hang in there with me on this one: This song debuted one spot higher than another "fire" debut song, Kenny Loggins' "Keep the Fire" (see previous post) and they both stayed on the chart for 13 weeks and peaked within four spots of each other. Now, Loggins and Manchester co-wrote the song "Whenever I Call You Friend," which was a hit for Loggins the previous year. Manchester did her own version of the song and put it on the "Melissa Manchester" album which featured "Fire In the Morning." Phew! Not really great trivia, but kind of interesting.

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