"Saturday Love" by Cherrelle with Alexander O'Neal

Song#:  2622
Date:  02/15/1986
Debut:  95
Peak:  26
Weeks:  17
Genre:  R&B



Pop Bits:  Cherrelle's debut album, Fragile, was her first to employ the services of the writing/production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It resulted in her first hit, the #8 R&B single "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" (#79 Pop). For her second LP, she stayed with Jam and Lewis and came up with High Priority. The album's first single, "You Look Good to Me," was a bit of a letdown only getting to #26 at R&B. However, she rebounded in a big way with this second single. The duet with R&B star Alexander O'Neal caught on and went to #2 at R&B. It then found a crossover audience and was able to get inside the Pop Top 30. It also made it to #13 at Dance. It would end up being Cherrelle's biggest hit on the Pop chart. Thanks to the hit, the album would reach #9 R&B/#36 Pop and would eventually go gold.

ReduxReview:  While the single version of this song is more concise and gets to the point, the longer album version is kind of fun with its extended bar scene opening. Whatever version you hear, the song is another winner from the Jam/Lewis team. The repetitive days of the week line is a cool hook and both Cherrelle and O'Neal put their all into the vocals. It's an excellent track and I'm glad that it got some action at Pop. It nearly makes up for the fact that Cherrelle's lovely 1988 #1 R&B hit "Everything I Miss at Home" inexplicably missed the Pop chart (but not quite...)

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  This song was later covered by R&B singer Keke Wyatt for her 2011 album Unbelievable. She sang it as a duet with American Idol winner Ruben Studdard. The song was released as a single and it got to #31 on the Adult R&B Songs chart. Wyatt's biggest hit was the #4 R&B/#27 Pop "Nothing in This World" in 2001. That song featured R&B star Avant. Wyatt would later become a reality TV star being featured in three seasons of TV One's R&B Divas. She would also appear in a season of Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars.

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