You Should Hear How She Talks About You

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"You Should Hear How She Talks About You"
side-A label by Arista Records
Side A of the U.S. single
Single by Melissa Manchester
from the album Hey Ricky
B-side"Long Goodbyes"
ReleasedMay 1982
Genre
Length4:17
LabelArista
Songwriter(s)Dean Pitchford, Tom Snow
Producer(s)Arif Mardin
Melissa Manchester singles chronology
"Race to the End"
(1981) 		"You Should Hear How She Talks About You"
(1982) 		"Hey Ricky (You're a Low-Down Heel)"
(1982)
Audio
"You Should Hear How She Talks About You" on YouTube

"You Should Hear How She Talks About You" is a song that was first recorded by Charlie Dore for her 1981 Listen! album.[1] "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" was written by Dean Pitchford and Tom Snow.

Background[edit]

According to lyricist Pitchford, the song's lyrical concept was borrowed from "She Loves You" by the Beatles: "the idea of somebody reporting to somebody else on hearing this girl's in love with you, or this boy's in love with you."[2] Pitchford and Snow had had that idea in mind for some time; then when Snow first played for Pitchford a new tune which had come to him, Pitchford felt: "this [could] be the song where we write our modern day 'She Loves You.'"[2] Pitchford came up with the main hook line as "You should hear the way she talks about you" which Snow amended to "You should hear how she talks about you".[2]

Melissa Manchester recording[edit]

In 1982, American singer Melissa Manchester recorded it and included it on her album Hey Ricky.[3]

Arif Mardin who produced Manchester's recording described the track as "a real departure for Melissa because it has a new wave dance quality and she had been known for her ballads", Manchester having reached the top 10 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with the ballads "Midnight Blue" and "Don't Cry Out Loud", as well as the Manchester-Mardin collaboration "Through the Eyes of Love". Mardin continued: "But music is music. You can't turn your back on new formats or styles."[4] A 1985 interview with Manchester would state that the singer "had to be dragged kicking and screaming into [the] studio to record...'You Should Hear How She Talks About You'."[5]

The track would earn Manchester the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the year 1982, besting nominated performances by superstars Linda Ronstadt and Olivia Newton-John as well as Juice Newton and Laura Branigan. Manchester had previously been nominated in that category for her 1979 Top 10 hit "Don't Cry Out Loud."

In a 2012 interview Manchester would say of "You Should Hear How She Talks About You": "What was wonderful was that the song was written by two colleagues of mine, Tom Snow and Dean Pitchford. It's a solid song; but it was not the norm for me because I’m basically a troubadour. But I cut my hair off, lost lots of weight, glammed up, and ran it up the flagpole - and it worked! It worked all the way to a Grammy, which was kind of surprising. It was a lot of fun. I stopped singing it for awhile, because I needed a little perspective on it. But now I sing it again, and it’s kinda fun."[6]

Chart performance[edit]

"You Should Hear How She Talks About You" reached number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in September 1982 to become Manchester's highest-charting record. On the Cash Box chart, it spent six weeks at number four.[7] The success enabled the song to rank at number 18 on the Hot 100's year-end chart for 1982. The song would also prove to be Manchester's last top-40 hit. The song also peaked at number 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart and number eight on the Dance/Disco Top 80 chart.[8][9] "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" was also a worldwide hit in Canada (number five), New Zealand (number 20), and Australia (number four). In Australia, it ranked as the number-25 single of 1982.

Personnel[edit]

Charts[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "www.discogs.com". discogs.com. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Songwriter Interviews - Dean Pitchford". SongFacts.com. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  3. ^ "www.discogs.com". discogs.com. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  4. ^ Billboard (December 18, 1982) vol 94 #50 p.52
  5. ^ Albany Herald May 2, 1985, p.20
  6. ^ "Interview: Melissa Manchester – The Journey of an Artist". BlogCritics.org. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Cashbox Magazine
  8. ^ a b "Adult Contemporary". Billboard. July 17, 1982. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Dance Club Songs". Billboard. October 2, 1982. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 190. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6518." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 6524." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  13. ^ "Melissa Manchester – You Should Hear How She Talks About You". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  14. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. September 18, 1982. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  15. ^ "Kent Music Report No 445 – 3 January 1983 > National Top 100 Singles for 1982". Kent Music Report, via Imgur.com. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  16. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1982/Top 100 Songs of 1982". MusicOutfitters.com. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  17. ^ Cashbox Magazine

External links[edit]

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