L Is for Lover is a studio album by Al Jarreau, released in September 1986 on Warner Bros. Records. It reached #30 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart, #9 on the Traditional Jazz Albums chart, and #17 on the Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
Nile Rodgers, the album’s producer, called it “the best thing I ever made that didn’t sell” in the July 27, 2015, issue of New York magazine. “The theme from Moonlighting was on it, but Al and I thought it wasn’t cool enough. So we took it off the album. That becomes a hit, and the album sank. Shows what I know.” The single version of the Moonlighting theme, originally included on the show’s 1987 soundtrack album, was added to Friday Music’s 2011 reissue of L Is for Lover along with a remix of the album’s title track and the 12-inch extended mix of “Tell Me What I Gotta Do.” The Rodgers-produced version of Moonlighting’s theme song was used in the opening and closing credits of each episode of the show’s fourth (’87-’88) and fifth (’88-’89) seasons.
Tracks
1 Tell Me What I Gotta Do (Jay Graydon; Mike Himmelstein; Tom Keane) 04:01
2 L Is For Lover (David Gamson; Green Gartside) 05:24
3 Says (Al Jarreau; Philippe Saisse) 03:51
4 Pleasure (Robert Brookins; Tony Haynes) 04:00
5 Golden Girl (Jim Foelber) 05:51
6 Across The Midnight Sky (Al Jarreau; Jay Graydon; Richard Page) 05:35
7 (We Got) Telepathy (Ian Prince; Paul Bliss) 04:26
8 Give A Little More Lovin’ (Jonathan Butler; Simon May) 05:12
9 No Ordinary Romance (Michael Gregory) 03:33
10 Real Tight (Brock Walsh; John van Tongeren; Mark Muller; Robbie Nevil) 03:11
Musicians
1 Tell Me What I Gotta Do
Bass (Keyboard) | Nile Rodgers |
Drums | Jimmy Bralower |
Guitar | Nile Rodgers |
Keyboards | Philippe Saisse |
Brass | Mac Gollehon |
Reeds | Robert Aaron |
Percussion | Jimmy Bralower |
Percussion | Leonard Gibbs |
Vocals | Al Jarreau |
2 L Is For Lover
Bass (Keyboards) | Nile Rodgers |
Drums | Jimmy Bralower |
2nd HiHAt | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Nile Rodgers |
Keyboards | Philippe Saisse |
Keyboards | Nile Rodgers |
Percussion | Jimmy Bralower |
Background Vocals | Brenda White |
Background Vocals | Curtis King Jr |
Background Vocals | Diane Garisto |
Background Vocals | Lisa Fischer |
Background Vocals | Nile Rodgers |
Background Vocals | Tawatha Agee |
Background Vocals | Terri Gonzalez |
Vocals | Al Jarreau |
3 Says
Bass (Keyboards) | Philippe Saisse |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Nile Rodgers |
Keyboards | Philippe Saisse |
Percussion | Leonard Gibbs |
Background Vocals | Curtis King Jr |
Background Vocals | Fonzi Thornton |
Background Vocals | Michelle Cobbs |
Background Vocals | Tawatha Agee |
Vocals | Al Jarreau |
4 Pleasure
Bass (Keyboards) | Philippe Saisse |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Hiram Bullock |
Guitar | Nile Rodgers |
Keyboards | Philippe Saisse |
Background Vocals | Brenda White |
Background Vocals | Cindy Mizelle |
Background Vocals | Curtis King Jr |
Background Vocals | Michelle Cobbs |
Background Vocals | Nile Rodgers |
Vocals | Al Jarreau |
5 Golden Girl
Bass (Keyboards) | Peter Scherer |
Guitar | Nile Rodgers |
Keyboards | Philippe Saisse |
Piano | Philippe Saisse |
Percussion | Leonard Gibbs |
Background Vocals | Brenda White |
Background Vocals | Cindy Mizelle |
Background Vocals | Curtis King Jr |
Background Vocals | Michelle Cobbs |
Background Vocals | Nile Rodgers |
Vocals | Al Jarreau |
6 Across The Midnight Sky
Bass | Anthony Jackson |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Nile Rodgers |
Keyboards | Philippe Saisse |
Percussion | Leonard Gibbs |
Background Vocals | Curtis King Jr |
Background Vocals | Fonzi Thornton |
Background Vocals | Michelle Cobbs |
Background Vocals | Tawatha Agee |
Vocals | Al Jarreau |
7 (We Got) Telepathy
Bass (Keyboards) | Philippe Saisse |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Keyboards | Philippe Saisse |
Percussion | Leonard Gibbs |
Background Vocals | Brenda White |
Background Vocals | Curtis King Jr |
Background Vocals | Diane Garisto |
Background Vocals | Lisa Fischer |
Background Vocals | Nile Rodgers |
Background Vocals | Tawatha Agee |
Vocals | Al Jarreau |
8 Give A Little More Lovin’
Bass | Anthony Jackson |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar (solo) | Hiram Bullock |
Guitar | Nile Rodgers |
Keyboards | Philippe Saisse |
Percussion | Leonard Gibbs |
Background Vocals | Brenda White |
Background Vocals | Cindy Mizelle |
Background Vocals | Curtis King Jr |
Background Vocals | Michelle Cobbs |
Background Vocals | Nile Rodgers |
Background Vocals | Terri Gonzalez |
Vocals | Al Jarreau |
9 No Ordinary Romance
Bass (Keyboards) | Philippe Saisse |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Keyboards | Peter Scherer |
Keyboards | Philippe Saisse |
Brass | Mac Gollehon |
Reeds | Robert Aaron |
Percussion | Leonard Gibbs |
Vocals | Al Jarreau |
10 Real Tight
Bass (Keyboards) | Peter Scherer |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Nile Rodgers |
Vocoder | Nile Rodgers |
Vocoder | Al Jarreau |
Keyboards | Peter Scherer |
Keyboards | Philippe Saisse |
Synthesizer | Philippe Saisse |
Percussion | Leonard Gibbs |
Background Vocals | Brenda White |
Background Vocals | Curtis King Jr |
Background Vocals | Diane Garisto |
Background Vocals | Lisa Fischer |
Background Vocals | Nile Rodgers |
Background Vocals | Tawatha Agee |
Vocals | Al Jarreau |
Liner Notes
Producer – Nile Rodgers
Coordinator – Shirley Klein
Edited By – Barry Diament
Engineer (Second) – Scott Ansell
Engineer (Second Additional) – Tom Durack
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Mixed By – James Farber
Production Manager – Budd Tunick, Kevin Jones
Programming – Kevin Jones
Recorded By – James Farber
Art Direction – Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Michael Hodgson
Design – Michael Hodgson
Photography – Paul Jasmin
Mastered At Masterdisk
Mixed At Skyline Studios
Recorded At Skyline Studios
Phonographic Copyright Warner Bros. Records Inc
Copyright Warner Bros. Records Inc