Straight from the Heart (Patrice Rushen album)


Straight from the Heart is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Patrice Rushen, released on April 14, 1982, by Elektra Records. It features her most recognizable song, "Forget Me Nots", the oft-sampled "Remind Me" and the popular instrumental workout "Number One". Straight from the Heart scored Rushen her first two nominations at the 1983 Grammy Awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Forget Me Nots" and Best R&B Instrumental Performance for "Number One".
The album is Rushen's most successful album to date, peaking inside the top 20 of the Billboard 200 chart at number 14. The success of "Forget Me Nots" is perhaps considered the major contributor to the album's popularity at the time of its release.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau gave Straight from the Heart a "C+" and said that he prefers side one's "dancy vamp" over the songwriting on side two by Rushen, whom he called a fashionable "". In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Andy Kellman gave it four and a half out of five stars and called it "an early-'80s jazz-pop-R&B synthesis as durable and pleasing as any other".
In 2018, Pitchfork ranked Straight From the Heart #194 on its list of the 200 Greatest Albums of the 1980s.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians