Right from the Heart
| Right from the Heart | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Mathis-Right.jpg | ||||
| Studio album by Johnny Mathis | ||||
| Released | 1985 | |||
| Recorded | 1985 at The Complex, Los Angeles, California, Conway Studios , Hollywood, California, Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, California[1] |
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| Genre | Vocal[2] Pop/Rock R&B |
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| Length | 36:37 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Denny Diante[1] | |||
| Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| People | (mixed)[3] |
Right from the Heart is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 1985 by Columbia Records and has been his only album to have no songs that were previously recorded by other artists. Even though the title track was featured on the ABC soap opera Ryan's Hope,[4] the album did not make it onto Billboard magazine's Top Pop Albums chart, but the song "Right from the Heart" did reach number 38 during its two weeks on the magazine's list of the 40 Hot Adult Contemporary songs of the week in the US in May of that year.[5]
The title track is one of the album's four ballads that, along with four of the remaining six up-tempo tracks, delve into the subject of relationships, but it's the synth-driven "Step by Step" and the anthemic "Hold On" on which Mathis takes a break from the usual focus on love songs. The former offers the hope that can be found in change that comes gradually until "I can see the way free from yesterday to a new beginning."[1] The latter stresses the importance of being oneself: "Life is a party. Why don't you come the way you are?"[1]
Ryan's Hope cameos
In 1985 Mathis guest starred on the daytime drama Ryan's Hope in the April 9 and May 1 episodes,[6] the latter of which included a performance of the song "Right from the Heart".[7] In the plot of the show, Dave Greenberg (Scott Holmes) has written the song, and Katie Ryan Thompson (Julia Campbell) "takes the song to Mathis in the hope he'll record it."[4] Mathis lip syncs to his recording of the song as he pretends to be cutting the song in a studio while the characters look on from the next room.[8]
Reception
People magazine gave the album a mixed review, noting the up-tempo songs, "such as "Touch by Touch", on which Mathis forces it a little."[3] Lamenting the lack of duets, the reviewer writes, "he has had such success doing them",[3] and this is his first studio album since 1977 that hasn't included one. The reviewer does praise the title track as "vintage Mathis"[3] and assert that "there's still nobody better when it comes to creating a warm, relaxed, mellow mood."[3]
Track listing[1]
- 1. "Touch by Touch" (Brent Mason, Keith Stegall) – 4:21
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- 2. "Love Shock" (Michel Colombier, Denny Diante, Kathy Wakefield) – 4:19
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- 3. "Just One Touch" (Robbie Buchanan, Diane Warren) – 4:02
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- 4. "Hooked on Goodbye" (Michel Colombier, Denny Diante, Kathy Wakefield) – 4:02
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- 5. "I Need You (The Journey)" (Michel Colombier, Kathy Wakefield) – 5:09
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- 6. "Step by Step" (Brian Fairweather, Kathy Wakefield) – 4:34
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- 7. "Right from the Heart" (Earl Rose, Kathy Wakefield) – 4:25
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- 8. "Falling in Love" (Douglas Getschal, John Robinson) – 4:28
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- 9. "Here We Go Again" (Dave DeLuca, Marvin Morrow) – 4:04
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- 10. "Hold On" (Michel Colombier, Denny Diante, Kathy Wakefield) – 4:31
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Personnel[1]
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Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 (1985) Right from the Heart by Johnny Mathis [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records FC 39601.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Peterson 1985, p. B10.
- ↑ Whitburn 2007, p. 179.
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References
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