Rachel Sweet And Then He Kissed Me / Blame It On Love

'Blame It On Love' features some of Rachel's best songwriting to date. The title track was definitely a 'should have been a hit' cut. "Voo-Doo" which opens that album was released and peaked at #72 in 1982. I think my favorite cut from "Blame It On Love" would be Rachel's power ballad "Baby Blue" - that is still one of my favorite Sweet tracks. I think of the two albums, "Blame It On Love" is my favorite - I love "Sticks and Stones" (sassy!) though each of the albums have some pretty dated tracks ("Two Hearts Full of Love" and "Party Girl" could have been in a 1980's teen film along the lines of Rock and Roll High School. "Cruisin' Love" from "Blame It On Love" is definitely a product of its time) Though, even the dated tunes are very listenable. Rachel's best work was with Stiff Records - yet, these albums show a growth that could have sprung into a full music career if the audience had been matured enough at the time to realize the potential superstar on their radios. It's too bad that commercial success alluded Rachel - she definitely hit home with her fans - and we all miss her music and love the legacy she left behind. Some of Rachel's other work includes writing and producing (Dharma & Greg) acting (Sing, Gypsy) and soundtrack work (Hairspray, Cry-Baby, Hot Shots) - in 1990 she appeared in her own comedy series "The Sweet Life" on The Comedy Channel (now known as Comedy Central) Rachel will always be known by her fans as the singer from Akron, Ohio that broke onto the scene in 1978 with her first single for Stiff "B-A-B-Y" the cover of Carla Thomas' 1960's hit. Eventually someone will realize how important Rachel's music is to her fans and issue a remastered and extensively researched product for each of her albums. Until then - I have to say thank you to Rhino and to Collectables for giving us what we haven't had for so long.

It's about time Rachel's last two full-length albums were released on CD. What makes me a bit sad about the packaging is the lack of liner notes, careful remastering or photos. Rhino records was the first to treat us to Rachel's UK version of her first album for Stiff records "Fool Around" with a few added bonuses on their 1992 release, "Fool Around: The Best of Rachel Sweet" and then it took until 2002 for the UK release of "B.A.B.Y." another best of release compiling songs from her first two albums for stiff records (Fool Around, Protect The Innocent) As a huge Rachel Sweet fan - I would really love to see the release of her albums with extensive liner notes and bonus tracks! Especially bonus tracks! I wrote a note fifteen years ago to Columbia records asking them to make Rachel's catalog available again...maybe they finally opened the letter :) At any rate - as far as the CD goes, musically - Rachel's last two albums seemed to be aimed at the Pat Benetar fans (apparent in two cuts from "...And Then He Kissed Me") 'Two Hearts Full of Love' is an obvious rip-off of 'Hit me with your best shot'...but, Rachel's delivery of this one makes that fact seem trite. 'Shadows of the Night' was actually released by Benetar - yet, in my opinion Rachel's rewrite of the lyric and her take on it is far superior to that of Pat's. The highlights of "...And Then He Kissed Me" are Rachel's own "Billy and the Gun" "Fool's Story" another Self-penned tune, "Then He Kissed Me/Be My Baby" and "Little Darlin'"