Terence Trent D’Arby’s debut released

Introducing the Hardline According to… Terence Trent D’Arby

Released: July 13, 1987 Peak: 4 US, 13 RB, 19 UK, -- CN, 15 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 1.72 UK, 12.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: R&B/pop

Tracks: Click on a song titled for more details. If You All Get to Heaven [5:17] If You Let Me Stay [3:14] Wishing Well [3:30] I’ll Never Turn My Back on You (Father’s Words) [3:37] Dance Little Sister [3:55] Seven More Days [4:34] Let’s Go Forward [5:32] Rain [2:58] Sign Your Name [4:37] As Yet Untitled [5:33] Who’s Lovin’ You [4:24] Total Running Time: 47:11

Rating: 4.170 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

The Beginning The Manhattan-born Terence Trent Howard was “reared in a Pentecostal family in Florida, a product of integrated Southern high schools.” DM After serving in the U.S. Army, he “moved to London, England, where his demo tape caught the attention of CBS record executives.” TB “He became the first black American expatriate pop star of any consequence since Jimi Hendrix.” DM He was given an unusual amount of creative freedom when it came to recording his debut album, which he wrote and produced himself and on which he played a variety of instruments, from piano and drums to clarinet and saxophone.” TB Reception Introducing the Hardline has been called “one of the best debuts ever.” AZ The album debuted atop the UK album chart and sold a million copies within its first three days of release. WK Three singles from the album reached the top 10 in the UK. However, it wasn’t until Wishing Well, the album’s second single, that the album took off in the U.S. It peaked at #4 the same week that “Wishing Well” reached #1. In an all-time hype-worthy move, the “young, cocky black…singer” AM “claimed that this was the most important album since the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper.” He later said, “A lot of it is what I truly believed, but a lot of it was exaggerated to make a point. You have to hit people over the head to make them notice.” FB There were critics who went so far as to call him “the one artist who was capable of rivaling the rhythm empire of Michael Jackson.” RY AM Introducing the Hardline… certainly isn’t that essential, but it is still “a stunning, soulful approach to merging old influences and new realities.” AZ The BBC called the album “a soundtrack to the turning point when the ‘80s turned from austerity to prosperity. It’s…central to that decade…It remains one big, infectiously glorious record.” WK Influences “D’Arby’s music is classic black pop in a tradition that owes a lot to gospel and Motown, but also, like any post-disco pop music, pays close attention to current dance fashion.” DM He is “a singer/songwriter as well as a stylized vocalist” RD who “makes a solid case for both aspects of his artistry here.” RD His “maverick spirit drew comparisons with Prince, whose genre-bending artistic leaps had clearly inspired D’Arby’s attempts at assimilating elements of rock, pop, funk, and soul.” TB “Although the production is quite modern, D’Arby shows his roots in the work of older artists, borrowing a page or two from Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, while James Brown appears to have had the strongest influence on D’Arby’s stage presence.” AM Impact D’Arby “filled the R&B/soul auteur gap between Prince’s mainstream success of the mid-1980s and the neo-soul movement that developed more than a decade later.” RD Without D’Arby, ““it’s hard to fathom Maxwell, Tony Toni Tone, or any other neo-soul boys.” AZ The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

If You All Get to Heaven Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Terence Trent D’Arby Released: Introducing the Hardline (1987) Peak: 17 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.14 streaming About the Song: “The album still holds up well today, despite the trademark Eighties studio production sounds – such as the echoey drumbeat and period keyboards sounds on ‘If You All Get to Heaven,’ the album’s opening track.” RD

If You Let Me Stay Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Terence Trent D’Arby Released: 2/16/87 (single), Introducing the Hardline (1987) B Side: “Wonderful World” Peak: 68 BB, 77 CB, 19 RB, 7 UK, 36 AU, 2 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.4 video, 17.21 streaming About the Song: The lead single from Introducing the Hardline was a top-10 hit in the UK but was criminally overlooked in the U.S. It should have been re-released after “Wishing Well” and “Sign Your Name” were top 10 hits in the U.S., but alas, it never got its due.

Wishing Well Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Terence Trent D’Arby, Sean Oliver (see lyrics here) Released: 6/8/87 (single), Introducing the Hardline (1987) B Side: “Elevators & Hearts” First Charted: June 20, 1987 Peak: 11 BB, 11 CB, 4 GR, 3 RR, 44 AC, 11 RB, 1 CO, 4 UK, 12 CN, 9 AU, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 33.8 video, 83.03 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “D’Arby was an old-school ’60s-style soul rasper…[who] drew on gospel and on the soul singers – Al Green, Sam Cooke, James Brown – who had drawn on gospel in earlier decades.” SG “His voice is capable of all the smoke and honey textures of Sam Cooke while capturing the punchy muscle of Otis Redding.” RY The video for “Wishing Well” “makes it clear: D’Arby was a rare and special talent. He could sing. He could move. He could dress. “ SG He was a star. “The song is both playful and portentous, and it’s got an extremely catchy whistled hook that’ll bounce around the inside of your skull. D’Arby sings the absolute hell out of it, screaming and grunting and hitting heavenly falsetto runs.” SG “The powerful rhythm is uncompromisingly solid and driving” RY with its “big drum sound.” SG The “sparkly bluesy guitars” SG are “as relaxed as a funk guitar can possibly be.” RY “It’s the keyboard riff that sets the whole thing ablaze, though. With three syncopated notes, it elevates the rhythm to perfection.” RY The “catchy synthesizer hook amply proved that he was an ambassador to all things soulful.” RD “Lyrically, ‘Wishing Well’ is basically a love song, though its lyrics are flowery romantic-poet gibberish…D’Arby sings of a wishing well that’s full of both butterfly tears and crocodile cheers, which doesn’t make any sense.” SG He said, it “was written when I was in a half-asleep, half-awake state of mind. I like the feel of the words on that song. Actually, most of my lyrics are written in about 10 minutes.” FB D’Arby was embraced much quicker in the UK where “Wishing Well” charted nearly a year before it topped the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, when “Wishing Well” debuted on the chart in January 1988, D’Arby was already working on his third top-10 hit in the UK. By the time he reached #1 four months later, D’Arby had been nominated for Best New Artist and performed the song at the Grammys.

I’ll Never Turn My Back on You (Father’s Words) Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Terence Trent D’Arby Released: Introducing the Hardline (1987) Peak: 12 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.41 streaming

Dance Little Sister Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Terence Trent D’Arby Released: 9/28/87 (single), Introducing the Hardline (1987) Peak: 30 BB, 28 CB, 28 RR, 9 RB, 6 CO, 20 UK, 41 AU, 4 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.8 video, 21.0 streaming About the Song: “The sassy ‘Dance Little Sister’ is delivered, as the sportscasters would say, with authority.” RD This song is so packed with soul you can practically hear D’Arby doing his best James Brown shimmy on stage.

Seven More Days Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Terence Trent D’Arby Released: Introducing the Hardline (1987) Peak: 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.53 streaming

Let’s Go Forward Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Terence Trent D’Arby Released: Introducing the Hardline (1987) Peak: 13 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.18 streaming

Rain Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Terence Trent D’Arby Released: April 1988 (single), Introducing the Hardline (1987) Peak: 7 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.58 streaming

Sign Your Name Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Terence Trent D’Arby Released: 12/28/87 (single), Introducing the Hardline (1987) B Side: “Greasy Chicken” Peak: 4 BB, 3 CB, 3 RR, 13 AC, 2 RB, 3 CO, 2 UK, 3 AU, 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 30.0 video, 109.76 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “The sultry ‘Sign Your Name’ – a real showcase for the D’Arby pipes – sounds current regardless of when it is played.” RD it “was the deepest soul track on D’Arby’s brash debut LP.” DM “‘Sign your name across my heart’ serves as both invitation and warning; like Roy Orbison, D’Arby knows love hurts but refuses to flinch.” DM It “becomes a line that cuts through every listener’s defenses. The line might have been written as nothing more than a cute devotional metaphor, but in D’Arby’s mouth it was transformed. And that’s the job.” DM

As Yet Untitled Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Terence Trent D’Arby Released: Introducing the Hardline (1987) Peak: 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.0 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The singer “demonstrates remarkable vocal strength on the a cappella ‘As Yet Untitled.’” RD

Who’s Lovin’ You Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Smokey Robinson Released: Introducing the Hardline (1987) Peak: 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 7.73 streaming About the Song: “His cover of Smokey Robinson’s ‘Who’s Lovin’ You’ predates the so-called smooth R&B movement that emerged in the 1990s.” RD

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Rob Bowman AZ Amazon.com review by Amy Linden FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 697. RD Robert Dimery (2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Quintet Publishing Limited: New York, NY. Page 584. DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Pages 480-2. RY Thomas Ryan (1996). American Hit Radio: A History of Popular Singles From 1955 to the Present. Prima Publishing: Rocklin, CA. Pages 568-70. SG Stereogum (4/30/2021). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Page 237. WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/4/2008; last updated 7/18/2026.

Marillion “Tux On” released as B-side to “Sugar Mice”

Tux On Marillion

Writer(s): Fish (lyrics), Mark Kelly, Ian Mosley, Steve Rothery, Pete Trewavas (music) (see lyrics here) Released: July 13, 1987 First Charted: -- Peak: 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.25 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Marillion only released four studio albums with Fish on vocals. However, those four albums cemented the band as my favorite of all time. Thankfully, there were also enough B-sides from singles released from 1982 to 1987 to warrant the release of the B’Sides Themselves compilation in January 1988. The release of the double live album The Thieving Magpie in November of that year would then serve as the finale to the Fish era. As big as Marillion had become for me, the B’Sides Themselves collection introduced me to “new” Marillion songs. I already knew some of the material. “Market Square Heroes” and “Cinderella Search” were featured on the 1984 live album Real to Reel. “Lady Nina” and “Freaks” had been released on the 1986 EP Brief Encounter. The song that most captured my attention from the collection was “Tux On.” The song was initially released as the B-side of “Sugar Mice,” the second single from 1987’s Clutching at Straws album. The song uses the tuxedo as “the uniform that symbolizes the comfortable life,” taking the listener through various scenarios in which a man might wear a tuxedo, including him lying in state in a coffin. “’Tux On’ points the way towards the sort of music the band would be producing a couple of albums down the line and dispenses with the neo-prog sensibilities to embrace the poppier side of the band’s psyche. It is a catchy little number nonetheless and shows that Marillion had ambitions beyond their cult status which were finally realised when Misplaced Childhood broke them into the mainstream.” SM Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Marillion DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fish DMDB page for “Sugar Mice” SM SputnikMusic.com review of B-Sides Themselves Related Links: First posted 7/3/2022; last updated 10/28/2022.

Marillion “Sugar Mice” released

Sugar Mice Marillion

Writer(s): Fish (lyrics), Mark Kelly, Ian Mosley, Steve Rothery, Pete Trewavas (music) (see lyrics here) Released: July 13, 1987 First Charted: July 25, 1987 Peak: 22 UK, 13 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.735 video, 3.34 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: By the time Marillion released their fourth album, Clutching at Straws, they had risen to become one of my favorite bands of all time. Since then, they’ve been anointed as my favorite band of all time. This album cemented that legacy. I discovered the group in late 1985 because of the single “Kayleigh” and over the next year consumed everything the band had released. It set up monstrous expectations for the Clutching at Straws album. The lead single, “Incommunicado,” debuted at #1 on my charts and by the time it was dethroned five weeks later, Marillion had locked down the entire top 10. In that time, the slower tempo “Sugar Mice” was released as the second single from the album. It would reach #1 on my personal chart, but not quite yet. In between “Incommunicado” and “Sugar Mice,” the song “Warm Wet Circle” (which was eventually released as the third single) would reach the pinnacle for four weeks. All told, the three songs collectively logged twelve consecutive weeks at the top of my personal chart. The concept album dealt with a narrator named Torch struggling with alcohol. “Sugar Mice” “directly addresses the devastating effect unemployment can have on personal relationships.” WK The song captures the achingly painful moment when the main character talks to his kids on the phone and tries to explain why he left. Lead singer Fish said the song grew out of “a bad phone call home to a very upset girlfriend.” JC He was in a Holiday Inn and feeling down. After the call to his girlfriend, he ended up feeling even more depressed. WK The term “sugar mice” is a reference to a sugar candy popular in the United Kingdom, especially at Christmas time. The phrase “sugar mice in the rain” thus becomes an analogy for the fragility people have in their lives as sugar mice would disintegrate in the rain. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Marillion DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fish DMDB page for “Warm Wet Circles” JC Jon Collins (2003). Separated Out. Helter Skelter Publishing: London, England. Page 74. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/3/2022; last updated 10/28/2022.

On This Day (1837): Benny Goodman recorded “Sing Sing Sing”

Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing) Benny Goodman

Writer(s): Louis Prima, Leon Berry (see lyrics here) Recorded: July 6, 1937 First Charted: April 9, 1938 Peak: 7 US, 12 GA (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 70.63 video, 45.61 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: By the start of the Swing era in 1936, Benny Goodman was its king. He started playing clarinet professionally at the age of 16 and formed his own permanent band by the time he was 25. “Sing, Sing, Sing” was the band’s most renowned performance with solos by Benny as well as drummer Gene Krupa (on his last hit before leaving the band) and trumpeter Harry James. This instrumental includes interpolation of “Christopher Columbus,” PM a Chu Berry song which was written for Fletcher Henderson. SS “Sing, Sing, Sing,” which Goodman called a “killer diller,” NPR’99 was the closer at the bandleader’s legendary Carnegie Hall concert on January 16, 1938. It was the first time jazz comprised a full concert instead of being part of a larger show SS and marked the birthplace of the legitimacy of the genre. NPR’99 “Sing, Sing, Sing” was written by Louis Prima in 1936, but was dramatically reworked as an instrumental by Goodman to become what Steve Sullivan called “the all-time house rocker of the swing era” in his book Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings. SS He credited the song with exemplifying “the sky-high excitement of Big Band jazz at its greatest.” SS Helen Ward, who was initially slated to sing on the track, noted that Gene Krupa was supposed to stop drumming at the end of the third chorus, but when he kept going, Goodman chimed in with his clarinet. The reslt was an eight-minute cut which took up both sides of a 12-inch 78 rpm record, a break from the traditional three-minute recordings which could fit on a 10-inch 78. WK The recording was immediately well-received: Down Beat magazine’s Tom Collins said the performance “will make record history.” SS Resources: NPR’99 National Public Radio (1999). “The Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century” SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 42-45. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 179. WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 9/5/2023.