"Help Me!" is a song by Marcy Levy (better known now as Marcella Detroit) and Robin Gibb. The song was recorded for the official soundtrack of Times Square, and released as the album's lead single, going on to peak at #50 on the Billboard Top 100. It was also considered as Levy's first single and her only song that was charted in the United States.
| "Help Me!" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Marcy Levy and Robin Gibb | ||||
| from the album Times Square: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
| Released | September 1980 | |||
| Length | 3:26 | |||
| Label | RSO | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Robin Gibb, Blue Weaver | |||
| Producer(s) | Robin Gibb, Blue Weaver | |||
| Marcy Levy singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Robin Gibb singles chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Billboard | (unrated)[1] |
Background
editAfter working on Jimmy Ruffin's Sunrise (including the track "Where Do I Go", a duet by Ruffin and Marcy Levy) Robin Gibb and Bee Gees keyboardist Blue Weaver work together again by supplying tracks for the soundtrack of the film Times Square (an RSO movie). And the result was the song "Help Me!" sung by Levy and Gibb. The song was heard in the film's closing credits.[2]
Related session outtake, "Touch Me", a song also written by Gibb and Levy with lead vocals provided by Levy as a demo for Linda Clifford but was not recorded by Clifford herself. Weaver says he and Levy didn't like its sexually charged lyrics and Gibb had to talk Levy into singing it. The B-side of the single, an instrumental version of "Help Me!" on which they made two instrumental versions of the same track, one with Gary Brown playing a sax solo.[2]
It peaked #50 in the Billboard Hot 100,[3] #65 in Cashbox and #64 in Record World. It was released in September 1980 elsewhere except in Australia when the song was released as a single there in November that same year.[4]
Charts
edit| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[3] | 50 |
| US Cash Box[5] | 65 |
| US Record World[6] | 64 |
Personnel
editAdapted from the Times Square Soundtrack album booklet:[7]
- Robin Gibb — lead and harmony vocal
- Marcy Levy — lead and harmony vocal
- Blue Weaver — keyboards, synthesizer
- Gary Brown — saxophone
- Uncredited — guitar
- Uncredited — bass
- Uncredited — drums
- Uncredited — handclaps
References
edit- ^ "Review: Marcy Levy & Robin Gibb – Help Me" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 85, no. 43. 25 October 1980. p. 85. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 30 May 2020 – via American Radio History.
- ^ a b Brennan, Joseph. "Gibb Songs: 1980". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ a b "Allmusic > Robin Gibb (for 'Help Me!')". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
- ^ "Marcy Levy and Robin Gibb - Help Me!". 45cat. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles". Cashbox. 6 December 1980. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- ^ "Songs Written by the Gibb Family on the International Charts" (PDF). brothersgibb.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- ^ Times Square Soundtrack liner notes