Burning The Ground Exclusive 1984
“You Used to Hold Me So Tight” is a song written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for American singer Thelma Houston’s 1984 album Qualifying Heat. Released as a single in mid-1984, “You Used to Hold Me So Tight” became a success on the U.S. charts, peaking at number seven on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. Although it missed the Billboard Hot 100, the song peaked at number thirteen on the Hot Black Singles chart.
The single has been sampled in seven songs, notably among them “Ancodia” by 808 State from their 1989 album Ninety.
SIDE A:
You Used To Hold Me So Tight (12″ Version) 5:37
SIDE B:
You Used To Hold Me So Tight (Dub Version) 6:36
You Used To Hold Me So Tight (LP Version) 5:43
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | You Used To Hold Me So Tight | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music / Club Play | #7 |
| 1984 | You Used To Hold Me So Tight | U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles | #13 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: MCA Records – MCA-23520
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Pinckneyville
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul
Style: Electro, Boogie
CREDITS:
- Art Direction, Design – Kathe Schreyer
- Backing Vocals – Gwendolyn Traylor, Jimmy Jam, Lucia Newell, Monte Moir, Terry Lewis
- Engineer – Steve Hodge, Steve Wiese
- Engineer [Assistent] – Brad Coker, Fred Howard
- Management [& Direction] – Barry Gross*, Dana Miller
- Musician [Additional Musician], Guitar – Thomas Organ
- Musician [Additional Musician], Saxophone – David Eiland
- Musician, Bass Guitar, Guitar, Percussion, Synthesizer, Drum Programming – Terry Lewis
- Musician, Synthesizer, Synthesizer [Programming], Piano [Acoustic], Drum Programming, Percussion – Jimmy Jam
- Musician, Synthesizer, Synthesizer [Programming], Piano [Acoustic], Drum Programming, Percussion, Guitar – Monte Moir
- Photography By – Aaron Rapoport
- Producer – Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis
- Written-By – J. Harris III-T. Lewis* (tracks: A), J. Harris III – T. Lewis* (tracks: B1, B2)
NOTES:
From the MCA LP, MCA-5527 “Qualifying Heat”
Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!
Password: burningtheground
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Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ve been looking for this song a lot, heard it on Paradise FM GTA Vice City Stories radio. Awesome.
Thanks Paul !
OH MY GOD I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS SONG FOR LONG !
HAD NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS
Naja geht so 😒
One of my favourite Thelma Houston singles. It gives me goosebumps actually.
Thanks Paul 🙂
Wow thanks a ton I didn’t know of this or that she ever worked with Jam & Lewis! Now I’ll be digging out my 808 State CD as well! 🤯😎
You’re welcome. ING 🙂
Fantastic record! Thank you
You’re welcome, Jacob 🙂
Thanks for this. It was years before I knew what 808 State was sampling. 🙂
You’re welcome, David 🙂
Great Thelma song that charted on urban radio when it came out despite the cringe sax solo. Thanks for sharing. There are two other fairly obscure excellent 12″s from the same album with excellent extended mixes and dubs, “Fantasy And Heartbreak” and “I’d Rather Spend The Bad Times With You”. Simply love it when the Flyte Tyme guys did not hold back on those long crazy mixes like they previously did with Cherrelle and the SOS Band.
You’re welcome, Johnny I will have to look for those singles. 🙂
I absolutely love seeing artists from the 60s and 70s make it big in the 80s! Just team them up with the hot producers of the day, in this case Jam & Lewis, and you’ve got a hit factory! Supposedly older legacy artists, especially rock acts, had trouble adapting to the 80s scene and technology, but the charts don’t reflect this. In fact, many embraced the new technology and saw great success. Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues said the 80s were his favorite decade as a musician. This Thelma Houston single is new to me as far as I… Read more »
You’re welcome, Retro Hound I hope that you like this one 🙂
What a gem, Paul. And that´s so funny – I love this underrated song and just a couple of weeks ago DJ Sven van Veen (yes, the DJ Sven from “Holiday Rap”!) played the 12inch in his radio show “Sven´s ClassiX” on Dutch radio station “radio10”. I´ve been a fan of his show for years. Sven always plays a Ben Liebrand minimix (usually a re-work or a mash-up) and a 30-minute Ben Liebrand “In The Mix”, both intruduced via telephone by Master Ben himself. To cut a long story short – thank you so much, Paul. Can´t wait to listen… Read more »
You’re welcome, Song and Dance. miss radio shows like that we don’t have them anymore except for on Sattelite radio like Sirius XM.
many thanks!
You’re welcome 🙂
I love me some “Mondays” because that means we can start the week with DjPaulT’s music rips! He keeps the weekend vibe all week long and for that I’m so appreciative. I had almost forgotten about this song, but as soon as the wonderful Soul Train video played, it all came back to me. Ms. Houston is such a Diva. Who can forget her classic, “Don’t Leave Me This Way” from the Looking for Mr. Goodbar soundtrack? Such a fabulous Disco song that still creates pandemonium on the dance floor. Teaming up with Jam & Lewis was a winning combination… Read more »
You’re welcome, Jeff. This track is an overlooked jam too bad there wasn’t a proper music video.
I missed this completely when it first came out, but explored Thelma Houston’s music after the fabulous Communards cover of “Don’t Leave Me This Way”. She has such a powerful voice!
Thank you for another fantastic 12″ Classic!!!