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Tuesday, June 25, 2019

"Love Zone" by Billy Ocean

Top 10 Alert!
Song#:  2810
Date:  07/26/1986
Debut:  65
Peak:  10
Weeks:  16
Genre:  R&B, Quiet Storm



Pop Bits:  Ocean's sixth album, Love Zone, had already spawned two hits; the #2 Pop/#6 R&B "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" and the #1 Pop/#1 R&B ballad "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)." His previous album, Suddenly, featured three Top 10 hits, so Ocean hoped that the same thing would happen for his new album. Indeed this title track third single did well enough to just scrape the Pop Top 10. It did even better at R&B where it became his third chart topper. The trio of hits would help make the album a double-platinum seller.

ReduxReview:  I admit that I kind of dismissed this track when it first came out. For some reason I just couldn't get into it and I thought the title was silly. Years later I recognized that it's a pretty slick jam that sets a sensual quiet storm mood. Ocean sells the song well and it's hard to not sit back and sway along with the rolling groove of the tune.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Ocean is not the only major recording star to have been born in Trinidad. Rap sensation Nicki Minaj was born in Trinidad in 1982 - just two years before Ocean's breakthrough #1 hit "Caribbean Queen." Her mom moved to the States and established a home before bringing the rest of the family over. Minaj arrived in Queens, New York, when she was five-years-old. She would later graduate from LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. She originally wanted to act, but ended up in a rap group. That led to her releasing her own mixtapes in 2007 and by 2010 she had released her multi-platinum debut album Pink Friday.

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