Fall in Love with Me (song)

"Fall in Love with Me" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1982 upon Columbia Records^[1] as the first single from their twelfth album, Powerlight (1983). It rose to No. 4 on the US Billboard R&B Singles chart, No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 14 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart.^[2][3][4] "Fall In Love With Me" was Grammy nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.^[5]

"Fall In Love With Me"
Single by Earth, Wind & Fire
from the album Powerlight
B-side	"Lady Sun"
Released	November 1982[1]
Recorded	1982
Genre	Electro post-disco boogie R&B
Length	3:54 (single version) 5:54 (album version)
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Wayne Vaughn Wanda Vaughn Maurice White
Producer(s)	Maurice White
Earth, Wind & Fire singles chronology
"I've Had Enough" (1982) "Fall In Love With Me" (1982) "Side by Side" (1983)
Music video
"Fall in Love with Me" on YouTube

Overview

"Fall in Love with Me" was produced by Maurice White and composed by White, Wayne Vaughn, and Wanda Vaughn of The Emotions. As well the song came upon EWF's 1983 studio album Powerlight.

The single's b-side was a song called Lady Sun from EWF's 1981 studio album Raise!.^[1]

A music video was also released in 1983 to accompany the single.^[6]

Critical reception

Dave Marsh of the Philadelphia Daily News exclaimed "Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton should get a hold of the solo Roland Bautista plays on Fall in Love with Me, which simply rips the song's already skyrocketing energy level to another dimension."^[7] Charles McCollum of the Hartford Courant found that "Fall in Love with Me -the set's new single - is particularly striking with a fine, quasi-scat vocal from (Maurice) White."^[8] Vanity Fair wrote "Fall in Love With Me, the single, is a classic disco throbber, with Maurice White inviting listeners to help yourself to all of me".^[9]

Connie Johnson of the Los Angeles Times noted that "Fall in Love with Me and The Speed of Love allow for scatty rude-boy vocals from (Maurice) White. They're also packed with the chiming, multilayered backup vocals and complex melodic development that are quintessential EWF."^[10][11] Christopher Connelly of Rolling Stone exclaimed "A bit of the grit that surfaced on Raise! gives 'Fall in Love with Me' a needed push".^[12] Chip Stern of Musician wrote "Fall in Love With Me featur(es) White's gruff but kindly midrange".^[13] Craig Lytle of AllMusic proclaimed that the song has "a festive rhythm and sauntering vocals".^[14]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1983)[2][3] Peak position Belgium (Ultratop)[15] 18 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[4] 14 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[16] 4 France (IFOP)[17] 22 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[18] 11 Netherlands (Dutch Single Top 100)[19] 21 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 11 US Billboard Hot 100 17 US Hot Black Singles (Billboard) 4 US Hot Dance/Disco (Billboard) 31

Year-end charts Year-end chart (1983) Rank US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[21] 100

References

1. Earth, Wind & Fire: Fall In Love With Me. Columbia Records. November 1982.
2. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Fall in Love with Me (R&B Singles)". Billboard.com.
3. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Fall in Love with Me (Hot 100)". Billboard.com.
4. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Fall in Love with Me (Canadian Pop Singles)". Baclac.gc.ca. RPM. July 17, 2013.
5. "Earth, Wind & Fire". grammy.com. The Recording Academy. November 23, 2020.
6. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Fall In Love With Me". imdb.com.
7. Marsh, Dave (April 30, 1983). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Powerlight". newspapers.com. Philadelphia Daily News. p. 16.
8. McCollum, Charles (March 20, 1983). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Powerlight". Hartford Courant. p. 105 – via newspapers.com.
9. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Powerlight". Vanity Fair. Vol. 46. April 1983. p. 31 & 32.
10. Johnson, Connie (February 27, 1983). "EWF Formula Still Intact". Newspapers.com. Los Angeles Times. p. 303. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
11. Johnson, Connie (February 27, 1983). "EWF Formula Still Intact". newspapers.com. Los Angeles Times. p. 304.
12. Connelly, Christopher (March 17, 1983). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Powerlight". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone.
13. Stern, Chip (April 1, 1983). "Earth, Wind & Fire - Powerlight" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. Musician. p. 93.
14. Lytle, Craig. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Powerlight". allmusic.com. AllMusic.
15. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Fall in Love With Me". ultratop.be. Ultratop.
16. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Earth, Wind & Fire". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 69. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
17. "Toutes les Chansons N° 1 des Années 70" (in French). InfoDisc. February 5, 1983. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
18. "Earth Wind & Fire – Fall In Love With Me". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
19. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Fall in Love With Me". dutchcharts.nl. Dutch Charts.
20. "Earth, Wind & Fire". sverigetopplistan.se. Sverigetopplistan.
21. "Talent Almanac 1984: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 95, no. 52. December 24, 1983. p. TA-18.