“You Should Hear How She Talks About You” (Melissa Manchester)

Today’s classic song of the day comes to us from the summer of 1982. It’s “You Should Hear How She Talks About You,” that synth-infused dance hit by singer Melissa Manchester. Released in May of 1982, this track hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, #4 on the Cash Box Top 100, #10 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, and #8 on Billboard’s Disco/Dance chart.

“You Should Hear How She Talks About You” was written by Dean Pitchford and Tom Snow. Pitchford had written several tracks for the movie Fame (including the title song), as well as songs for Kim Carnes and Dolly Parton. Snow wrote or co-wrote songs for Olivia Newton-John, Cher, Rita Coolidge, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Amy Grant, and the Pointer Sisters (including “He’s So Shy,” with lyricist Cynthia Weil). Together, Pitchford and Snow also wrote “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” for Deniece Williams, from the movie Footloose.

Pitchford and Snow first gave “You Should Hear…” to Canadian singer Charlie Dore, who’d had a previous hit with 1980’s “Pilot of the Airwaves;” Ms. Dore included it on her 1981 album, Listen! Melissa Manchester heard the song and recorded it for her 1982 album, Hey Ricky, then released it as a single.

“You Should Hear…” is a much different tune than Ms. Manchester was used to singing. Previously known for her big ballads, such as “Midnight Blue” and “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” the singer was looking to record something a little more upbeat. As Ms. Manchester later recalled:

“What was wonderful was that the song was written by two colleagues of mine, Tom Snow and Dean Pitchford. It’s a solid song; but it was not the norm for me because I’m basically a troubadour. But I cut my hair off, lost lots of weight, glammed up, and ran it up the flagpole—and it worked! It worked all the way to a Grammy, which was kind of surprising. It was a lot of fun. I stopped singing it for awhile, because I needed a little perspective on it. But now I sing it again, and it’s kinda fun.”

That Grammy she mentioned was the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, which she won. Her competitors that year included Laura Brannigan (“Gloria”), Juice Newton (“Love’s Been a Little Bit Hard on Me”), Olivia Newton-John (“Heart Attack”), and Linda Ronstadt (the album Get Closer).

So here’s your daily bonus video of the day. It’s Melissa Manchester lip synching “You Should Hear How She Talks About You” on the January 1, 1982, episode of the Dutch television show, TopPop. Very early ’80s, that.