Customer Reviews

Let's Hear It for the Boy

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However, it's not the mega-selling title cut.

"Black Butterfly" has to be one of the most beautiful and inspirational songs ever written. Not only is it a treat for the ears, it possesses a lyric that is so passionate in its praise of the human spirit, regardless of race.

The single LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY was Deniece Williams most pop styled song of her career. From the movie FOOTLOOSE it jumped to the top of every chart there was including, pop, dance and r&b. And here we have her album that carried the song. First, let me say this is another BBR release and they give the listener a true gift here. The cd is beautifully remastered, there are 4 great bonus tracks and there are extensive liner notes. But now to the music. Anyone who expects this to be Deniece William's pop album due to the title pop song will be strongly proved wrong. Niecy puts her magic spin on the music and lets her inbred soul/r&b stylings rule to make this album a classic. The title song is pop done to the nines and she adds a little r@b flair but she takes album standouts PICKING UP THE PIECES, NEXT LOVE and DON'T TELL ME WE HAVE NOTHING and turns them into true soul music jams. BLACK BUTTERFLY is the truest standout here and worthy of the purchase alone. This soaring emotional soul ballad shows Niecy in her prime. It is a musical declaration of pride and her vocals soar with determination and shivers will go up your body. The gospel track WHITER THAN SNOW also shows Niecy at her most inspirational.

Bottom line, what could have been a simple pop cd sliding by on the success of the title track is made instead into a must have album that contains some of the best work of Deniece William's career and due to the royal treatment here by BBR this cd is a must have for Niecy fans or fans of quality soul music. And if you already own it on cd, double dip for you have never heard it sounding this amazing.

I remember being in 6th grade outside jamming "Lets Hear It For The Boy" with all the other students. But I didn't find out until years later that she had other tracks on her cd that were defining moments. Like the self esteemed ballad "Black Butterfly" or the rock and roll tinged ballad "Dont Tell Me We Have Nothing" (which is excellent by the way). Deniece showed that she could still be relevant and produce a fantastic collection of songs.

This beautiful POP release by Christian Vocalist Deniece, is one of the best of her career. The song titles are: Let's Hear it for the Boy, I Want You, Picking Up the Pieces, Black Butterfly, Next Love, Haunting Me, Don't Tell Me We Have Nothing, Blind Dating, Wrapped Up & Whiter than Snow.

In 1984, Deniece Williams had a monster smash, the #1 hit "Let's hear it for the boy" from the movie "Footloose". So unprepared was her record company for this hit that an album was hurriedly recorded to capitalize on that.

The result? The 10 track album "Let's hear it for the boy" which displayed a diverse array of styles from the Pop/Dance Grammy nominated title track, the smooth R&B of "Next love", "Picking up the pieces", and the humorous "Blind dating", the Synth/Rock/Dance (a style very prevalent in the 80s and done by people like Diana Ross, Pointer Sisters and Donna Summer also) "Wrapped up" and "Haunting me" (the latter my absolute favourite - I love that killer Synth and the thundering drums), to the Grammy nominated Gospel organ driven ballad "Whiter than snow" (finding her putting her 4 octave bird-like soprano vocals to outstanding use).

Other standouts are the absolutely brilliant ballad "Black butterfly" (a song about black strength and pride), the delicate piano ballad "I want you" and "Don't tell me we have nothing".

I was so excited when I stumbled upon this album on CD as I used to own it on cassette eons ago. Fantastic!

LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY was an album rushed out to the marketplace to capitalize on the #1 pop and r&b title tune. That smash hit and the beautiful "Black Butterfly" are the only memorable songs on this album. The rest of the material features weak writing ("Next Love"), cliche 80s synth/thudding drum machine fare ("Wrapped Up", "Haunting Me"), up-with-people anthems ("Picking Up The Pieces"), and an organ-driven gospel piece that falls flat despite Niecy's angelic vocals ("Whiter Than Snow").

The material on BOY pales in comparison to the excellent songs on NIECY, MY MELODY, SONGBIRD, THIS IS NIECY and I'M SO PROUD. On these albums, Niecy took her time and came up with material that stayed with you long after the album ended. Even her weakest album until this one, 1979's WHEN LOVE COMES CALLING, had some great moments.

Very Good Album, especially 'Lets hear it from the boy