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Thursday, February 9, 2023

"(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" by Paula Abdul

Top 10 Alert!
Song#:  4049
Date:  09/23/1989
Debut: 64
Peak:  3
Weeks:  20
Genre:  Dance-Pop


Pop Bits:  After three consecutive #1 singles, Paula Abdul's debut album Forever Your Girl was still going strong. Five singles had already been release from the LP, but it seems that after the fifth one, "Cold Hearted," reached #1, the demand was still high for something else from Abdul. Instead of selecting another track from the album to push out as a single, Abdul's label, Virgin Records, decided to revisit one of the earlier singles. Initially released in the fall of '88, the LP's second single "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" did well at R&B getting to #10, but failed to make an impression on the Pop chart halting at a minor #88. Feeling confident that it should have been a hit the first time around, Virgin decided to follow up "Cold Hearted" with a reissue of "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me." The ploy worked with the song making its way up the chart and into the Pop Top 10.

ReduxReview:  This song got its delayed due with this reissue. It really should have been a hit the first time around and kicked off Abdul's streak of hits. Yet for some reason it went nowhere on initial release on the Pop chart. With her major burst of popularity, this song got a rare second chance and it paid off. In the long run, was it one of her most memorable hits? No. But it was worthy of a Top 10 placement.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  This hit helped to finally propel Abdul's debut album to #1. It would reach that spot the week of October 7, 1989. At the time the LP set a record for the longest time it took for an album to reach the #1 spot. It got there in its 64th week on the chart. It is a record that still stands today. While the album would only spend one week at the top when it first got there, it would return to #1 in February of '90 and spend an additional nine consecutive weeks at that spot.

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