Music from the Warner Bros. Picture "Sparkle" is a soundtrack album and twenty-fourth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, written and produced by Curtis Mayfield. Released on May 27, 1976, the disc is the soundtrack album for the 1976 Warner Bros. motion picture Sparkle, starring Irene Cara. The songs on the soundtrack feature the instrumental tracks and backing vocals from the film versions, with Franklin's voice taking the place of the original lead vocalists.

Music from the Warner Bros. Picture "Sparkle"
Soundtrack album by
ReleasedMay 27, 1976
RecordedApril–May 1976
StudioCurtom Studios
(Chicago, Illinois)
Genre
LabelAtlantic
ProducerCurtis Mayfield
Aretha Franklin chronology
You
(1975)
Music from the Warner Bros. Picture "Sparkle"
(1976)
Sweet Passion
(1977)
Curtis Mayfield chronology
Let's Do It Again
(1975)
Sparkle
(1976)
Give, Get, Take and Have
(1976)

This album returned Aretha to Gold status after two low-selling albums. The first single release, "Something He Can Feel", was a No. 1 R&B hit for her and reached No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it was Aretha's only Pop Top 40 hit during the second half of the 1970s. "Something He Can Feel" was nominated for the Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female Grammy at the 1977 Grammy Awards. The album itself reached the Top 20 of Billboard's main album chart and was certified Gold for US sales of over 500,000 copies. In 2009, it was reissued on Rhino Records' budget Flashback Records label. The songs "Something He Can Feel" and "Hooked on Your Love" were covered by En Vogue on their 1992 multi-platinum hit album Funky Divas.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB[2]
Rolling Stone(not rated)[3]

Original LP release

edit

All tracks are written by Curtis Mayfield

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Sparkle"4:13
2."Something He Can Feel"6:21
3."Hooked on Your Love"5:00
4."Look into Your Heart"4:04
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."I Get High"4:11
6."Jump"2:19
7."Loving You Baby"3:48
8."Rock with Me"3:11

Charts

edit
Chart (1976) Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200 18
U.S. Billboard Top R&B Albums 1

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1976 "Something He Can Feel" Billboard Hot 100 28
Hot Soul Singles 1

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Sparkle at AllMusiic.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: F". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 24, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. ^ Palmer, Robert (12 August 1976). "Sparkle". rollingstone.com.