"Touch a Four Leaf Clover" by Atlantic Starr

Song#:  1718
Date:  12/10/1983
Debut:  93
Peak:  87
Weeks:  7
Genre:  R&B



Pop Bits:  Atlantic Starr grabbed their first Pop Top 40 hit with "Circles" (#38), the first single from their fourth album Brilliance. The song was a #2 smash at R&B and hit #9 at Dance. The album topped the R&B chart and was their first gold seller. The band then issued their follow-up LP Yours Forever. This song was issued as the first single and it did well at R&B getting to #4. However, this time around the crossover audience was less interested and it could only bubble around the bottom of the Pop chart for a few weeks. The lack of a bigger hit kept the album to a #10 showing at R&B and it would not get to gold level. It was a slight dip in popularity, but they would significantly rebound with their next album.

ReduxReview:   I was a little surprised by the nice, slinky groove of this one. Based on their previous song "Circles" and the four-leaf clover theme, I pegged it for something a bit more upbeat that might have bled into teen synthpop territory. But it's actually more mature than that and I like its silky sound. It fit will with R&B, but I think it was almost too sophisticated and subtle to really hit at Pop during the early 80s. It deserved to do better. Enjoy this last gasp of the ol' Atlantic Starr because their next album would definitely take them down a more pop-oriented road.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Atlantic Starr's Yours Forever and their previous two albums were produced by James Anthony Carmichael. Carmichael began as a successful studio musician before adding arranging to his skills. He soon became a contracted arranger at Motown and worked with artists like Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and Gladys Knight. He began to move over into the producer's chart and soon had an opportunity to work with a group called The Commodores. Carmichael would helm the band's biggest hits and remain with them for eight albums. When Lionel Richie chose to leave the Commodores for a solo career, Carmichael moved on with him and co-produced Richie's first three albums. The pair would win Grammys for Producers of the Year and Album of the Year for Richie's mega-hit album Can't Slow Down. The Yours Forever LP would be Atlantic Starr's last collaboration with Carmichael.

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