| I Feel for You | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1, 1984 | |||
| Length | 46:51 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Chaka Khan chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from I Feel for You | ||||
| ||||
I Feel for You is the fifth solo studio album by AmericanR&B/funk singerChaka Khan, released on theWarner Bros. Records label in 1984.[1]
After having balanced her two simultaneous careers as a member of the bandRufus and a solo performer during the years 1978 to 1983, which culminated with the release of the finalRufus & Chaka Khan albumStompin' at the Savoy – Live, after which the band dissolved, Khan recorded the album that was to make her a pop star with mainstream chart success: 1984'sI Feel for You.[1]
The title track, "I Feel for You", was a cover of a 1979Prince track, featuringGrandmaster Melle Mel on the classic "Ch-ch-ch-chaka-chaka-chaka Khan" rap intro andStevie Wonder onchromatic harmonica (and also a sample from one of his first hits, "Fingertips"). The song saw Khan embracing high-tech funk, rap and hip hop, and stands as one of her best known songs and her biggest commercial hit,[1] reaching number 3 on theBillboard chart in the US (and becoming the number 5 best-selling song of the year in 1985) and topping the US R&B, Dance, and UK Singles Chart. The song earned her a secondGrammy Award in 1985 forBest R&B Vocal Performance, Female.[2]
Additional hit singles were "This Is My Night" (US No. 60, R&B No. 11, Dance No. 1, UK No. 14), "Eye to Eye" (UK No. 16) and the ballad "Through the Fire", which crossed over to the adult contemporary chart (No. 16) and charted at No. 77 in the UK. The album's second ballad, "Stronger Than Before", co-written byBurt Bacharach, Bruce Roberts andCarole Bayer Sager, was released as the fifth single in certain markets.
"I Feel for You", "This Is My Night" and "Eye to Eye" were released as extended 12" remixes in 1984, and other mixes were created for the 1989 remix compilationLife Is a Dance: The Remix Project. The 1984 mixes byArif Mardin andRuss Titelman remain unreleased on CD.
1985 saw two other songs by Khan released on other albums: "(Krush Groove) Can't Stop the Street" from theKrush Groove soundtrack (US R&B No. 18, UK No. 80), and "Own the Night", from theMiami Vice soundtrack (US Pop No. 57, US R&B No. 66).
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [4] |
| Slant Magazine | [5] |
| The Village Voice | C+[6] |
In a review ofI Feel for You,Billboard deemed it a "fine new work" from Khan, finding her at "the peak of her powers" while covering "sharptechno-pop" and "a gutsy kind ofadult contemporary."[7] Don Snowden fromThe Boston Phoenix wrote that the singer had become "entranced with herelectro-boogie wonderland" and even embraced "the latest street beats". He credited producer Arif Mardin for unifying the album with "a glistening metallic edifice of sound, true metal-machine music for life and love in highrise apartments where silk sheets and polished chrome dominate the décor", although he felt the drawback of such densely melodic arrangements was the constraint they placed on Khan's singing, likening the effect to "the desperate air of someone trapped in a penthouse prison of her own device".[8]
People said apart from the title track's inventive music, the record had a "nondescript nature"; apart from Khan's modicum of feeling on "Through the Fire", "one can listen to this album for a long time and still not feel she is making any impact."[9]Slant Magazine's Eric Henderson consideredI Feel for You a landmarkpop andpost-disco release, as well as Khan's "most grandly sustained moment of pop craft".[5] According toAllMusic's Alex Henderson, it found Khan successfully adapting to the stylistic changesR&B had undergone since her 1970s music withRufus, as "horn-powered funk bands, strings-ladenPhiladelphia soul, and orchestral disco were out of vogue, and the urban contemporary audiences of 1984 were into a more high-tech, heavily electronic style of R&B." Henderson called the record "excellent from start to finish" and exemplary of "the urban contemporary scene of 1984".[3]Robert Christgau was more critical inThe Village Voice, accusing Khan of "coasting" on her "splendid" voice while singling out the title track and John Robie's contribution on "My Love Is Alive" for possessing the majority ofI Feel for You's "musical interest (as opposed to attraction)".[6]
I Feel for You debuted at number 163 on the USBillboard 200 in the week of October 20, 1984 and eventually peaked at number 14 in the week ending December 1, 1984.[10] It became Khan's highest-charting album sinceChaka (1978) as well as her biggest-selling album yet.[10] On December 13, 1984,I Feel for You was certified Gold by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[11] It reached Platinum status five days later.[11]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "This Is My Night" | Arif Mardin | 4:38 | |
| 2. | "Stronger Than Before" |
| 4:21 | |
| 3. | "My Love Is Alive" | Gary Wright |
| 4:42 |
| 4. | "Eye to Eye" |
| Russ Titelman | 4:38 |
| 5. | "La Flamme" |
| A. Mardin | 4:27 |
| 6. | "I Feel for You" | Prince | A. Mardin | 5:44 |
| 7. | "Hold Her" |
| 5:14 | |
| 8. | "Through the Fire" |
| Foster | 4:47 |
| 9. | "Caught in the Act" |
|
| 3:45 |
| 10. | "Chinatown" |
| A. Mardin | 4:37 |
| Total length: | 46:51 | |||
Performers and musicians
Technical
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Japan (RIAJ)[24] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[25] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[11] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
