Melba Moore - I'm In Love (1988)

Melba's 1988 LP kicks off with Love and Kisses, a mid-tempo track which is only really saved by the sparkly production and Melba's excellent vocals, it's all a bit throwaway for my liking...

I'm In Love is up next, a slow jam duet with Kashif, who also wrote, produced and played all the instruments on this track. It's quite a nice one, the vocals are lovely. I can almost smell the satin sheets and incense sticks, this just reeks of 80's love.

I should say at this point that the artwork for this LP is just lovely from Melba's oversize black jacket with diamante pin-stripes to her pearl accessories, and her fetching gold sequin dress on the inside, perfectly complimented with a single gold ear-thing! Looks like she robbed Lt Uhura's wardrobe for that one.

Love Always Finds A Way To Your Heart is kind of weak, but the chorus is lovely, and again it's really the vocals that make it, from the soft cooing on the verses to her trademark wail, just lovely!

I Can't Complain with Freddie Jackson is next, and however good they sound they can't save this from snoozeville. I'm starting to think someone should've sent Melba to Full Force at this point, this and the following track I Don't Know No One Else To Turn to are both with producer Gene McFadden, I don't like them. I've just noticed that Melba has shoes to match her jacket! I'm not gripped, am I?



Side B starts out with I'll Never Find Another You which is a bit better, some nice piano, but I'm itching for some upbeat stuff now - where's the Love's Comin' At Ya? on this set? There's only so many much well sung filler I can take, am loving the choir on this one though! Sing it, Melba! "I'm never, no never, gonna, ever, gonna, find another man like, you Oooo Ooooh!"

OMG some beats! Oh Yes, Keeps Me Runnin' Back is more like it. Okay, so maybe I'm desperate by this point, but I'm loving this! It's got soul, some good beats, a bit of guitar, a nice percussion section. Everything I love in 80's soul pop. I hope this was a single!

First Love drops the pace, it's tender and sweet, but again average. This Time is better, and Test Of Time closes the album, and while it hardly goes out with a bang, I'm In Love is a reasonable LP, but I couldn't recommend it.

After a decline in in popularity and the demise of her marriage in the 90's, poor Melba went bankrupt and there were rumours that she became homeless, having to be taken in by friends and family. I like to think she maxed out her credit card on fabulous gowns and spangly accessories, but the reality was probably a lot less glamorous. Thankfully Melba has since forged a career as a gospel singer and has even put out a few 12" dance singles. In 2003 she appeared in The Fighting Temptations in a sizeable role alongside Beyonce and Cuba Gooding Jr. I hope she puts out a pop CD again one day with some killer dance mixes.

Let's enjoy one of Melba's biggest UK hits: