After working with producer
T. Life on her first three albums (1977's Smooth Talk, 1979's
Music Box, and 1980's
Call on Me),
Evelyn "Champagne" King changed producers for her fourth album,
I'm in Love, a generally excellent release that found the singer being commercially and creatively revitalized. Half of the songs were produced by
Kashif associate Morrie Brown (with
Kashif and Lawrence Jones serving as associate producers), while the other half were produced by Willie Lester and Rodney Brown. Either way,
I'm in Love is
King's most rewarding and commercially successful effort since Smooth Talk, and she is undeniably inspired on gems that range from the funky title song (a major hit that
Kashif wrote) and the assertive "If You Want My Lovin'" to the ballads "Don't Hide Our Love" and "The Best Is Yet to Come." An interesting tidbit: with
I'm in Love,
King temporarily dropped the "Champagne" from her name and simply went by
Evelyn King; however, she went back to calling herself
Evelyn "Champagne" King with 1983's
Face to Face. If you only have a few
King albums in your collection,
I'm in Love should be among them. [BBR's reissue, released in 2011, adds five bonus tracks, including the 12" dance mix of "I'm in Love."] ~ Alex Henderson