About “Baby Talk”
“Baby Talk” was the third single off Alisha’s self-titled album. Starting off in a rock/dance group called The Babysitters in the early 80s, the Brooklyn-native singer became a soloist when Vanguard Records sent a track with her vocals to producer Mark S. Berry, who was looking for a vocalist. She released her first single in 1984 entitled “All Night Passion”, which was a club hit as it reached Number 4 on the U.S. Dance charts. Her one-hit wonder was “Baby Talk”, released one year later, became a number one hit on the same dance charts. The only other hit Alisha had was “Bounce Back”, released in 1990.
Alisha’s “Baby Talk” is actually a cover. The original was released in 1984 by American funk and soul artist Gregg Brown, who shares writing credits for Alisha’s version. The other writer is Logankoya. There is not much information about the artists, it seems the only song that Brown and Logankoya ever worked on was “Baby Talk”. However, the song was mixed by Shep Pettibone who is famous for creating memorable remixes for artists like , Belinda Carlisle, Pet Shop Boys.
My Opinion
Why do I love Alisha’s “Baby Talk”? There are many reasons! One of the reasons is the dreamy synthesizers mixed with a heavy dance beat featured in a mixture of a deep electronic drum sound and bass. Just listen to that intro, it is so gorgeous!
The other reason that “Baby Talk” is a pretty solid freestyle/dance-pop song. I am a big fan of both freestyle and 80s dance-pop as songs released in these genres were filled with delectable electronic melodies, had a strong dance beat, featured a strong syncopation in the bassline, and usually written in a minor key (I am a sucker for this). Because of these factors, “Baby Talk” is a wonderful textbook example of these genres and I love it!
