"(You're Puttin') A Rush on Me" by Stephanie Mills

Song#:  3292
Date:  10/10/1987
Debut:  85
Peak:  85
Weeks:  2
Genre:  R&B



Pop Bits:  Mills scored three consecutive gold albums between 1979 and 1981 thanks to three R&B Top 10s along with the #6 Grammy-winning gold Pop hit "Never Knew Love Like This Before" (#12 R&B/#5 Dance). As the 80s wore on, her fortunes dimmed a bit. A couple of label changes didn't help and only one of her singles make the R&B Top 10. Things began to turn around for her when she signed up with MCA Records. Her self-titled 1985 LP generated her first R&B #1 hit with "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love." She then completed her comeback with her next album, If I Were Your Woman. The LP's first single, "Feel Good All Over," topped the R&B chart. The tune failed to make the Pop chart, but this follow-up single did, if only for a couple of weeks. It would be another winner for Mills at R&B getting to #1 while also reaching #23 Dance. The pair of #1s helped the album become Mills' first and only to reach #1 at R&B (#30 Pop).  It would also return Mills to gold level sales. Unfortunately, this would be her last single to make the Pop chart.

ReduxReview:  This silky mid-tempo jam was a nice vehicle for Mills. It was obvious that her voice was better than the song, but she kept her big pipes in check and it worked perfectly for the tune. The track may have been a bit too subtle for pop radio, but it really should have done much better on the pop chart.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Although Mills would never visit the Pop chart again, her winning streak continued at R&B with her next album, 1989's Home. It would featured two more #1 R&B hits including "Something in the Way (You Make Me Feel)" and the title track, which was a new version of the song Mills originally sang in the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz. The new version featured background vocals by the gospel a cappella sextet Take 6. That group had released their self-titled debut album in 1988. It would go platinum and earn Take 6 three Grammy awards.

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