"I Want You" by Shana

Song#:  4059

Date:  10/07/1989

Debut:  96

Peak:  40

Weeks:  23

Genre:  Dance-Pop, Freestyle

Pop Bits:  Shana Petrone grew up in the Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale area of Florida and began to sing with her family's church band at a young age. As she got older it seemed she got the itch to pursue a career in music and somehow got involved in Miami's freestyle scene. Still in her teens, she got hooked up with songwriter/producer Steve Gordon and recorded his track "I Want You." Put out on the indie Miami freestyle label Vision Records, the song caught on locally and then started to expand to other markets. The attention it got allowed the single to reach the Pop chart. Since the tune had a slow roll out causing it to catch on in different markets at different times, the single spent a lengthy time on the chart and would only be able to just make the Top 40. With the success of the song, an album was quickly recorded. Along with tracks by Gordon, Shana would get to record a couple songs with Exposé Svengali Lewis A Martineé. Once the album was ready, a second single "You Can't Get Away" was pushed out. It would not fare as well only getting to #82. However, thanks to "I Want You" Shana's debut album of the same name was able to scrape the chart at #165.

ReduxReview:  This is definitely some cheezy indie freestyle. The production sounds like it is from 1982 and the lyrics are so basic and bland. Shana can carry a tune and her voice sounds fairly strong, but she also sounds like a teen singer and the way she was recorded made her voice nearly piercing. Still, something about it grabbed some folk's attention and the tune somehow found its way to cracking the Pop Top 40. Unfortunately, nothing about this is music to my ears. When Shana switched to country late in the 90s (see below) the fit was much better. Her voice matured and the material she was doing was far, far better. It's too bad her country career didn't fully take flight. As for her freestyle era...yeesh...

ReduxRating:  2/10

Trivia:  It seems that after the modest success of her debut album, Shana did begin work on a second effort. Yet according to some sites and an interview, Shana wasn't really into the freestyle music she was tapped into doing and decided to withdraw from the scene. Apparently, country music was her first love and so over the next few years she started to work on rebranding her career. Eventually, she was able to grab a deal with Epic Nashville. In 1998, she would release her first single "Heaven Bound." It would get to #60 on the Country chart. A follow up, "This Time," would do a little better making it to #45. It seems that was enough for Epic to flip for a full album that was to be called Something Real. However, after the title track single stalled at #66, Epic decided to pull back their commitment and shelved the album. After her major label days ended, Shana moved to Chicago and started seeking work as a model and actress (she appeared in a national ad for Head & Shoulders). She also continued to write and perform music.

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