Hey Ricky

Nearing the end of her troubled tenure at Arista, Melissa Manchester settled for cheesy but cheerful, synth-drenched dance-pop. Extraordinarily, it was this fluff that won her first Grammy, in the form of “You Should Hear How She Talks About You.” But apart from a baffling re-recording of “Come in from the Rain,” there are guilty pleasures to be found on Hey Ricky, not least its sassy title track. It’s just that it’s a world away from the unaffected, compelling artist Manchester had set out to be ten years before. – Charles Donovan