Barry White Sings for Someone You Love

Barry White Sings for Someone You Love is the self-produced seventh album by soul singer Barry White, released in 1977 on the 20th Century label.

Barry White Sings for Someone You Love
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 30, 1977
Recorded1977
GenreSoul, funk
Length40:30
Label20th Century Records
ProducerBarry White
Barry White chronology
Is This Whatcha Wont?
(1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love
(1977)
The Man
(1978)
Singles from Barry White Sings for Someone You Love
  1. "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me"
    Released: August 1977[1]
  2. "Playing Your Game, Baby"
    Released: December 1977
  3. "Oh, What a Night for Dancing"
    Released: March 1978[1]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Record GuideC+[3]

Commercial performance

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The album topped the R&B albums chart, White's first to do so since 1975. It also reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200, his second to reach the top ten. The album was a success, yielding two Billboard R&B Top Ten singles, "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me", which peaked at No. 1,[1] and "Playing Your Game, Baby". "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" was also a hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 4. A third single, "Oh, What a Night for Dancing", reached No. 13 on the R&B chart[1] and No. 24 on the pop chart. The album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD on September 24, 1996, by Mercury Records. The original vinyl album was released with three different covers. In addition to the beige fur with black letters cover shown above, the LP was also issued with dark brown fur and grey fur. Each of these covers had White's name and the album's title in white letters, and are harder to find than the more common light brown fur with black letters cover.

"Playing Your Game, Baby", the first track featured on the album, was remixed by British electronica group Groove Armada for their 2000 album Back to Mine: Groove Armada.[4]

Track listing

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Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Playing Your Game, Baby"Austin Johnson, Smeed Hudman7:12
2."It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me"Nelson Pigford, Ekundayo Paris7:00
3."You're So Good You're Bad"Aaron Schroeder, Jerry Ragovoy6:15
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Never Thought I'd Fall in Love with You"Ronald Edward Coleman4:48
2."You Turned My Whole World Around"Frank Wilson, Danny Pearson7:49
3."Oh, What a Night for Dancing"Barry White, Vance Wilson3:48
4."Of All the Guys in the World"Barry White, Danny Pearson3:50

Personnel

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  • Barry White – lead vocals, arranger
  • John Roberts – orchestration

Technical

  • Frank Kejmar – engineer
  • Grant Edwards – front cover photography

Charts

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Chart performance for Barry White Sings for Someone You Love
Chart (1977) Peak
position
US Billboard Top LPs[5] 8
US Billboard Top Soul LPs[6] 1

Singles

Chart performance for singles for Barry White Sings for Someone You Love
Year Single Peak chart positions
US
[7]
US
R&B

[1]
US
Dan

[8]
UK
[9]
1977 "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" 4 1 5 40
"Playing Your Game, Baby" 101 8
1978 "Oh, What a Night for Dancing" 24 13

Certifications and sales

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Certifications and sales for Barry White Sings for Someone You Love
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[10] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Barry White - Chart history (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs) | Billboard". www.billboard.com. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  2. ^ Elias, Jason. Barry White Sings for Someone You Love > review at AllMusic. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 22, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  4. ^ Dean Carlson (April 4, 2000). "Back to Mine – Groove Armada | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  5. ^ "Barry White - Chart history (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  6. ^ "Barry White - Chart history (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  7. ^ "Barry White - Chart history (The Hot 100) | Billboard". www.billboard.com. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  8. ^ "Barry White - Chart history (Dance Club Songs) | Billboard". www.billboard.com. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  9. ^ "UK Charts > Barry White". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  10. ^ "American album certifications – Barry White – Barry White Sings for Someone You Love". Recording Industry Association of America.
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