Everlasting and Good To Be Back released with long-out-of-print mixes, B-sides and edits
A pair of deluxe digital edition reissues celebrating Natalie Cole’s legacy to be released.
1987’s Everlasting (featuring Pink Cadillac, Jump Start, and I Live For Your Love) and 1989’s Good To Be Back, which features Miss You Like Crazy, Starting Over Again, and I Do with Freddie Jackson are released in celebration of what would have been the singer’s 75th birthday year.
In addition to their original tracklists, both albums offer a selection of long-out-of-print mixes, B-sides, and edits – each making its digital debut. Among the highlights is I Wanna Be That Woman (off the Pink Cadillac single), an alternate mix of The Urge To Merge (Everlasting), and a rare edit of Rest Of The Night (Good To Be Back).
Everlasting
Released in 1987, Everlasting reignited Cole’s star power and featured some of her strongest material to date – beginning with its funky lead single, Jump Start. Written and produced by Reggie and Vincent Calloway of Midnight Star, the high-energy, synth-fueled track found Cole moving in a radically new direction – but her fanbase wholeheartedly approved, as the song skyrocketed to No.2 on Billboard’s R&B chart and No.13 on the Hot 100.
That momentum continued with the power ballad I Live For Your Love, (a Top 5 hit across the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts), while a sassy cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Pink Cadillac became a global sensation, breaking the Top 5 in the US, UK, Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand, and West Germany, among other territories. A remix by David Cole and Robert Clivillés (of C+C Music Factory) also topped Billboard’s Dance chart.
Other highlights include the Burt Bacharach/Carole Bayer Sager original, Split Decision, as well as Cole’s soulful rendition of When I Fall In Love – a tribute to her father, who famously recorded the Edward Heyman/Victor Young ballad in 1956. The sultry track features an instrumental solo by star saxophonist Kenny G, while the samba-flavoured More Than The Stars includes a cameo by José Feliciano on guitar.
Everlasting was a huge commercial success, earning a Gold record and peaking at No.8 on the R&B chart – marking Cole’s highest chart position since 1979. Cole also found herself back in the Billboard 200’s Top 50 (No.42) for the first time in eight years.
Good To Be Back
Continuing in the same stylistic vein, Cole’s 12th studio album blended funky, pop-forward songs with lushly arranged power ballads. Among the latter was the soaring lead single, Miss You Like Crazy, co-written and produced by Michael Masser. The song topped Billboard’s R&B and Adult Contemporary charts, while it peaked at No.7 on the Hot 100. Across the pond, it was Cole’s biggest UK hit (at No.2) and broke the European Top 10. Today, Miss You Like Crazy, endures as one of her most memorable hits.
Slow-jam Starting Over Again (originally penned for Dionne Warwick by Masser and Gerry Goffin) was a Top 5 hit on the Adult Contemporary charts, while I Do, a rousing duet with Freddie Jackson, hit No.7 on the R&B charts. The album also features a selection of up-tempo pop delicacies, including The Rest Of The Night, written by Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, Annie Lennox, Wilson Phillips) and Randy Goodrum (Steve Perry, Kenny Rogers, Toto); the swinging As A Matter Of Fact; and the irresistible title track. While Good To Be Back saw considerable sales in the US (peaking in the R&B Top 20), the title proved to be enormously successful in the UK, where it was her first Top 10 best-seller and was certified Gold by the BPI.
Everlasting (Deluxe Edition) Tracklist:
Everlasting
Jump Start (Extended Vocal Version)
The Urge To Merge
Split Decision
When I Fall In Love
Pink Cadillac (LP Version)
I Live For Your Love
In My Reality
I’m The One
More Than The Stars
What I Must Do
Jump Start (Dance Mix)*
I Wanna Be That Woman (12″ Version)*
The Urge To Merge (Remix)*
Pink Cadillac (Club Vocal)*
*Digital Bonus Track
Good To Be Back (Deluxe Edition) Tracklist:
Safe
As A Matter Of Fact
Rest Of The Night
Miss You Like Crazy
I Do
Good To Be Back
Gonna Make You Mine
Starting Over Again
Don’t Mention My Heartache
I Can’t Cry
Someone’s Rockin’ My Dreamboat
Rest Of The Night (Edit)*
As A Matter Of Fact (Urban Radio Mix)*
As A Matter Of Fact (Power Radio Mix)*
*Digital Bonus Track
Both albums can be pre-saved here.
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