Rough with the Smooth

"Rough with the Smooth" is a song by British singer-songwriter Shara Nelson, released in September 1995 by Cooltempo as the first single from her second solo album, Friendly Fire (1995). The song was written by Nelson with Ashley Beedle and Marc Woolford, and produced by Michael Peden. It peaked at number 30 on the UK Singles Chart and number 21 on the European Dance Radio Chart.

"Rough with the Smooth"
Single by Shara Nelson
from the album Friendly Fire
Released	4 September 1995 (1995-09-04)[1]
Length	5:58
Label	Cooltempo
Songwriter(s)	Ashley Beedle, Shara Nelson, Marc Woolford
Producer(s)	Michael Peden
Shara Nelson singles chronology
"Inside Out" / "Down That Road" (1994) "Rough with the Smooth" (1995) "I Fell (So You Could Catch Me)" (1996)
Audio sample
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Critical reception

David Hemingway from Melody Maker commented, "'Rough with the Smooth' starts with the flourish of strings that we've come to expect. Thirty seconds in and I had great plans for Single of the Week — a minute later it's become, bizarrely, 'The Kids from Fame'."^[2] Pan-European magazine Music & Media named the song Single of the Week, writing, "Many so-called "dance divas" pretend they can sing; Shara is for real. Mixing her smooth vocals with the fairly rough backing, composition and arrangement are almost restyled Bacharach/David."^[3] Johnny Cigarettes from NME said, "'Rough with the Smooth' is a swaying, swinging gospel-inflected love song that's not quite in the same league as such epic spine-tinglers as 'One Goodbye in Ten' or 'Inside Out', but will still make your coffee table move its feet. Which is quite an achievement, when you think about it."^[4]

Track listing

• UK CD single (7243 8 82424 2 4)

1. "Rough with the Smooth" (7-inch edit) – 3:51
2. "Rough with the Smooth" (Street Level mix) – 4:48
3. "Rough with the Smooth" (extended album mix) – 5:26
4. "Rough with the Smooth" (Long Island Expressway mix) – 8:22
5. "Rough with the Smooth" (Franktified dub) – 7:54
6. "Rough with the Smooth" (Saturday Night at the Glasshouse mix) – 4:56

Charts

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Europe (European Dance Radio)[5]	21
Scotland (OCC)[6]	43
UK Singles (OCC)[7]	30

References

1. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 2 September 1995. p. 31.
2. Hemingway, David (16 September 1995). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 32. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
3. "New Releases: Singles - Single of the Week" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 40. 7 October 1995. p. 14. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
4. Cigarettes, Johnny (9 September 1995). "Singles". NME. p. 44. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
5. "European Dance Radio Top 25" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 42. 21 October 1995. p. 26. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
6. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100 10 September 1995 – 16 September 1995". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
7. "Official Charts > Shara Nelson". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 17 February 2016.

External links

• Shara Nelson at AllMusic