Soul, jazz and disco star Patrice Rushen will collect her most memorable recordings from her days on Elektra in a new compilation, Remind Me: The Classic Elektra Recordings 1978 – 1984, out July 19th via Strut Records.
The 15-track project will feature all of Rushen’s chart singles from that era, including R&B and dance hits like “Haven’t You Heard,” “Feels So Real” and “Forget Me Nots” (the latter was her highest Billboard Hot 100 hit, peaking at Number 23; it later served as the foundation for Will Smith’s “Men in Black” theme). The compilation will also include the 12-inch single versions of several tracks, as well as other cuts that later provided classic samples, like “Remind Me” (used on Mary J. Blige’s “You Remind Me”) and “Where There Is Love” (used on Mobb Deep’s “Temperature’s Rising”).
Rushen got her start in the early Seventies, releasing her first three albums on the jazz label Prestige, before jumping to Elektra/Asylum and joining its new pop and jazz division, which was being led by Donald Byrd and Grover Washington, Jr. Working with top musicians like Gerald Albright, Leon “Ndugu” Chancler and Freddie Washington, Rushen crafted songs that mixed her classical and jazz background with contemporary disco and R&B.
“The idea was to create music that was good for commercial radio/R&B,” Rushen said in a statement. “We were all making sophisticated dance music, essentially.” She added of her collaborators, “L.A. musicians were not so locked into tradition. None of us were accustomed to limitation and the record label left us to take our own direction.”
Rushen released five albums with Elektra, starting with 1978’s Patrice and ending with 1984’s Now. Her most successful project was 1982’s Straight From the Heart, which earned Rushen two Grammy nods, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “Forget Me Nots” and Best R&B Instrumental Performance for “Number One.”
Remind Me is available to pre-order and will be available as a triple LP vinyl set and a single CD set, as well as digitally. The album was remastered at the Carvery and the physical versions will include a new interview with Rushen as well as rare photos.
Remind Me CD/Digital Track List (vinyl version features same songs in different sequence)
1. “Music of the Earth”
2. “Let’s Sing a Song of Love”
3. “Haven’t You Heard” (12-inch Version)
4. “Patrice Rushen” (feat. D.J. Rogers) (LP Version)
5. “When I Found You”
6. “Forget Me Nots” (12-inch Version)
7. “Look Up!” (Long Version)
8. “Number One” (12-inch Version)
9. “Where There Is Love”
10. “Never Gonna Give You Up (Won’t Let You Be)”
11. “All We Need”
12. “Remind Me” (LP Version)
13. “Settle for My Love”
14. “Feels So Real (Won’t Let Go)” (12-inch Version)
15. “To Each His Own”