"Scientific Love" by Midnight Star

Song#:  2232
Date:  03/02/1985
Debut:  93
Peak:  80
Weeks:  7
Genre:  R&B, Dance



Pop Bits:  Midnight Star grabbed their biggest overall hit with the #1 R&B/#18 Pop track "Operator." It was taken from their fifth album Planetary Invasion as was this follow-up single. Unfortunately, it didn't have the same appeal as the previous hit and it missed the Top 10 at R&B getting to #16 while hanging out near the bottom of the Pop chart for a few weeks. It also got to #19 on the Dance chart. A third single, "Body Snatchers," would later get to #31 at R&B. The album would be a gold seller, but it was quite a drop from their previous album, No Parking on the Dance Floor, which sold over two million copies.

ReduxReview:  This is not a bad jam, but it lacks the hook quality of "Operator" and therefore couldn't attract the same audience. I expected something a bit quirkier due to the title, but that didn't happen. It's just a basic 80s R&B tune with some solid vocal work from singer Belinda Lipscomb. "Body Snatchers" was more fun, but I think it was a bit too similar to their previous hits like "Freak-a-Zoid" and they were trying not to rely on that sound for hits. Maybe they should have.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  Band member Reggie Calloway would go on to write and produce songs for other artists including Levert, Teddy Pendergrass, Natalie Cole and his own group Calloway. One of his compositions earned the song's performer a Grammy. In 1987, Gladys Knight & the Pips had a #1 R&B hit (#13 Pop) with the Calloway composition "Love Overboard." The song would earn Knight & the Pips a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group. Around the same time, Calloway's song that he wrote and produced for the group Levert, "Casanova" (1987, #1 R&B/#5 Pop), would get Calloway a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song.

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