Tender Lover
| Tender Lover | ||||
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Vinyl edition
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| Studio album by Babyface | ||||
| Released | July 23, 1989 | |||
| Recorded | 1988–1989 | |||
| Studio | Elumba Recording Studios Galaxy Sound Studios M'Bila Studios (Hollywood, California) |
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| Genre | R&B, quiet storm, new jack swing | |||
| Length | 48:51 | |||
| Label | SOLAR, Epic | |||
| Producer | L.A. Reid & Babyface | |||
| Babyface chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Lovers | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | B |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  |
Tender Lover is the second studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter and musician Babyface. It is the follow-up to his debut Lovers (1986). It was his first album with SOLAR (Sound of Los Angeles Records) after the label entered into a distribution deal with Epic Records. In some regions of Europe, Tender Lover was released with a different cover picture and simply titled Babyface.
Babyface and fellow songwriter/producer Daryl Simmons first met each other as teenagers in Indianapolis, Indiana. The two played in a couple of bands together and later joined the funk outfit Manchild. The band recorded two albums before disbanding in the late 1970s. Cincinnati based band Midnight Star came to perform in Indianapolis, which became good friends with Babyface and Simmons. Babyface then left Indianapolis for Cincinnati to write songs with Midnight Star - one of which became the song "Slow Jam" from their 1983 album No Parking on the Dance Floor as well as a couple of songs produced by Midnight Star founding member Reggie Calloway on The Whispers' 1984 album So Good. Around that same time, Calloway was producing the debut album for the band The Deele, who had just gotten signed to SOLAR Records. Group members L.A. Reid and Darnell Bristol asked Babyface to join, which led him to ask Simmons to help with songwriting and touring duties.
After joining The Deele, Babyface and Simmons tried getting songs to other acts on SOLAR such as Shalamar, Dynasty and Lakeside, but all of the acts turned them down. Although they were signed to a label, Reid, Babyface and Simmons kept paying dues on the production side in order to make something happen for them. They spent three years in Los Angeles working with The Deele and writing songs, as Babyface and Simmons were determined not to go back to Indianapolis. After a few years trying hard to get noticed, the team finally secured a production placement by writing and producing the song "Rock Steady" for the Whispers from their 1987 album Just Gets Better with Time. Simmons went back to Cincinnati, which caused Reid and Babyface to call him for more collaborations, as their production career started taking off.
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Wikipedia