Song#: 3232
Date: 08/22/1987
Debut: 97
Peak: 97
Weeks: 1
Genre: Dance-Pop
Pop Bits: This Brooklyn-born teen singer scored a #1 Dance hit in 1985 with "Baby Talk," which crossed over and peaked at #68 on the Pop chart. The tune was from her self-titled debut album put out on Vanguard Records. While the LP didn't chart, it did contain two other Dance Top 10s and that along with a push from her producer Mark Berry got her signed to RCA Records. Work began on Alisha's second album, Nightwalkin', and by '87 it was ready for release. This first single was pushed out and it became Alisah's fourth Top 10 at Dance getting to #9. The tune would make it onto the Pop chart, but it was just a blip at the bottom for one week. A second single, "Let Your Heart Make Up Your Mind," got to #23 Dance, but couldn't get on the Pop chart. The album didn't sell and it failed to crack the chart. The results then left Alisha off of the RCA roster.
ReduxReview: This track wasn't all that different from "Baby Talk." It was still a Madonna-ish dance-pop track with a smidgen of freestyle tossed in. The production is better thanks to what I would assume was a higher budget from RCA along with access to a better studio. Overall, this was a stronger effort than "Baby Talk," but for some reason it didn't fare as well on the Pop chart. My guess is that it just didn't stand out among the other freestyle songs crowding the chart and it still had that wannabe Madonna-ish vibe. Still, it was a step in the right direction for the singer even though in the long run it didn't really lead to bigger and better things.
ReduxRating: 6/10
Trivia: Double Shot! 1) After her RCA album didn't get her anywhere, Alisha then moved over to MCA. For her third album, 1990's Bounce Back, Alisha worked with producer Michael Jay instead of Berry, who basically discovered the singer and produced her first two albums. The change proved somewhat successful with the title track single becoming Alisha's fifth Dance Top 10 (#10) and her biggest hit on the Pop chart getting to #54. The album also became her first to chart, although at a very low #166. But then further singles failed to chart and an unimpressed MCA decided to drop the singer. She would record a few songs over the years including the 1999 track "You Wanna Be a Star (Superstar)," which served as the theme song to the Molly Shannon comedy Superstar. The film was based on Shannon's SNL skit character Mary Katherine Gallagher. Critics hated the movie, but it did fairly well at the box office. Alisha's song, which was written by Michael and Lesley Gore and produced by Jellybean Benitez (with Soul Solution), was released as a single, but it failed to chart. 2) Alisha was not the first to record and release the song "Bounce Back." The duo known as Fire on Blonde recorded it in 1987. It was released as their second single and it got to #15 on the Dance chart in April of '88. The song was written by Michael Jay and Greg Smith and produced by Jay. Also in 1987, a young singer named Martika recorded the song. Jay produced it for her as well. A video for the song was made and released, but the song was not officially put out as a single. Although that song wouldn't work out, Martika and Jay would work together on her 1988 debut album, which featured a #1 song the pair co-wrote titled "Toy Soldiers." According to some stories, Martika and Alisha had become friends and Martika thought "Bounce Back" would be a good song for Alisha, which eventually led to Jay working on Alisha's third album. Also on that album was another song Jay had written and recorded with Fire on Blonde called "Wrong Number." It was their third single and it failed to chart. Alisha's version was also released as a single and it couldn't chart either.
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