Song#: 2581
Date: 01/11/1986
Debut: 87
Peak: 86
Weeks: 4
Genre: R&B
Pop Bits: King's 1982 album Get Loose was a double-platinum seller thanks to the crossover hit "Love Come Down" (#1 R&B, #17 Pop), but her two follow-up LPs couldn't capture the same magic as that breakthrough. Her third attempt, A Long Time Coming (A Change Is Gonna Come), featured this first single which got her back into the R&B Top 10 for the first time since '82. It would also give her a hit at Dance where the tune got to #5. Yet the song's crossover appeal seemed to be limited and it could only spend a month near the bottom of the Pop chart. It would be King's final song to reach the Pop chart. The results led to King leaving her home label RCA and signing on with EMI/Manhattan. Her first album for them, Flirt, did fairly well sporting two R&B Top 10 hits and getting to #20 on the R&B album chart, but a second album fared poorly and that ended King's major label days.
ReduxReview: This is a good jam and King really gave it her all to sell the darn thing, yet it just wasn't enough to catch on at Pop. Yeah, it's not quite as special or arranged as well as "Love Come Down," but it had a nice hook and deserved to do a bit better on the Pop chart. Sadly, King just never got great material after Get Loose. She tried to keep up with trends, but without having a killer crossover tune it didn't make any difference and King kind of got left in the dust. Yet she had a great run with seven R&B Top 10's including two #1's and the classics "Shame" (1977, #9 Pop, #7 R&B) and "Love Come Down."
ReduxRating: 6/10
Trivia: The CD reissue of A Long Time Coming featured the bonus track "Give It Up." It was a track that King recorded for the soundtrack to the 1985 horror flick Fright Night. A few singles were issued from the soundtrack LP including the J. Geils Band's title theme and this song from King. Unfortunately, King's single didn't get any attention and it failed to chart. Also included on the soundtrack was the April Wine track "Rock Myself to Sleep." It would serve as a single from the soundtrack and as the lead single from their 1985 album Walking Through Fire, however it did not chart either. The song, which was written by Kimberly Rew and Vince De la Cruz of Katrina & the Waves, actually got more attention when it was picked up by Starship. They recorded it for their platinum album Knee Deep in the Hoopla. It was not issued as a single. Katrina & the Waves would do their own version of the song for their 1989 album Break of Hearts.
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