Introducing the Hardline According to… |
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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.
Total Running Time: 47:11 |
Rating: 4.170 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings)
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
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The BeginningThe 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.” DMHe 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 ReceptionIntroducing 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 ImpactD’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.” AZThe SongsHere’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs. |
If You All Get to HeavenTerence 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 |
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If You Let Me StayTerence 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.
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Wishing WellTerence 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).
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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 |
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Dance Little SisterTerence 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.
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Seven More DaysTerence 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 ForwardTerence 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 |
RainTerence 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 |
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Sign Your NameTerence 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).
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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
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As Yet UntitledTerence 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).
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About the Song:The singer “demonstrates remarkable vocal strength on the a cappella ‘As Yet Untitled.’” RD |
Who’s Lovin’ YouTerence 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:
Related DMDB Pages:
First posted 3/4/2008; last updated 7/18/2026. |
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