"Forget Me Nots" by Patrice Rushen

Song#:  1007
Date:  05/01/1982
Debut:  90
Peak:  23
Weeks:  16
Genre:  R&B, Dance



Pop Bits:  Rushen moved even further away from her jazz roots with her LP "Straight from the Heart." Mainly featuring slick dance and R&B tunes tinged with jazz-pop, it became her most successful album thanks to this lead-off track. Although it only made the pop Top 30, it reached #4 at R&B and was a significant hit on the dance chart going to #2. The song got Rushen a Grammy nod for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female, while an instrumental track from the album, "Number One," received a nomination for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. This song would be her biggest hit on the pop chart.

ReduxReview:  Here is a song that has really outlived its initial chart showing. I've always been surprised that this did not go Top 10. It's a terrific track with a very memorable chorus and some really tasty bass work courtesy the song's co-writer, Freddie Washington. I also think this song still works. Although there are some 80s sounds to it, it doesn't fully sound stuck in the decade.

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) The sax solo was done by Gerald Albright. The jazz musician would strike out on his own later in the 80s and release a string of successful jazz LPs.  2) This song has been sampled many times and was part of two significant hits in the 90s. The song can be heard in the 1996 George Michael single "Fastlove" (#8), but it was more prominently used the following year in Will Smith's #1 "Men in Black" soundtrack single. Another track on Rushen's LP, "Remind Me," was not selected as a single, but it has also been sampled by many artists including Faith Evans ("Fallin' in Love," 1995) and Notorious B.I.G. ("Unbelievable," 1994).

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