Affair

I first purchased this album when it originally came out, in 1988, in the form of a cassette. However, at the time we could not have known that Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis would completely make us forget about it in September, 1989 when Janet Jackson released RHYTHM NATION 1814. Cherrelle's AFFAIR possesses the same fire, the same energy, the same funkiness that RHYTHM NATION did, but it was by no means as huge as that CD was. Was it the fact that because of Janet being a Jackson, her album got more airplay, or because Cherrelle was more popular in the R&B genre, whereas Janet was both a pop AND R&B artist? I believe it was the latter. But make no mistake...in no way, shape or form is AFFAIR inferior to RHYTHM NATION. Like Janet's album, the Jam and Lewis written and produced tracks on AFFAIR have a common theme running throughout it: in this case, a relationship from beginning to end that is kept a secret.It starts out with "Looks Aren't Everything", which is sort of a fiery reprisal of her previous hit, "You Look Good To Me" and each song that follows it shows a different stage in the relationship. After going through being picked up, discreet, satisfaction about what is going on between these two people, recognizing that eventually something that is too good to last eventually ends, the pain that is felt and the unfaithful person comes back "Home". Included is Cherrelle's first #1 R&B solo hit, "Everything I Miss At Home", a R&B/soft jazz cut that was kind of out of the ordinary for the material that Jam and Lewis produced for her. It also features some background assistance from Cherrelle's famous duet partner on the hit "Saturday Love", Alexander O'Neal, who was equally popular during this time with his work with Jam and Lewis. Alexander appears throughout this CD, most notably the sampling of his vocals from one of his songs from his CD HEARSAY on "Discreet" and the duet which scored another hit single, "Keep It Inside". The remaining tracks ("Foolin' Around", "My Friend", "Crazy", "Lucky") were co-written by Cherrelle and slightly differs from the sound that she had perfected with Jam and Lewis, but they are sweet and romantic ballads that are enjoyable to listen to.I recently purchased AFFAIR again on CD after hearing "Everything I Miss At Home" on the radio and remembered just how good it was. If you have never brought any of Cherrelle's material and are a fan of Jam and Lewis' sound, then this is an absolute must to get! Listen and enjoy.

Don't get me wrong!I love Cherrelle! I was and still am a big fan from back in the early 1980's! I always thought that she was really attractive and could totally really sing her butt off!However, for a guy listening to this CD, a lot of Cherrelle's material on this album seems to be aimed more at the women in her audience than the men. Hey, there ain't nothing wrong with that!Yet , I simply bought this album just to complete my collection of Cherrelle's albums and was just going to pull it out every once in awhile or whenever I wanted to hear some late '80's R&B records. I really didn't plan on listening to it every single day.That was until I heard the legendary ALEXANDER O'NEAL rasp-ily crooning alongside Cherrelle on track #10....KEEP IT INSIDE! An amazing and soulfully toe-tapping track about hiding all the heartache and painful tears of a breakup while failing miserably at it! I had never ever heard this fantastic song before! It should have been a huge radio-friendly hit single for the top 100 charts back in the day!The song, KEEP IT INSIDE, ironically keeps this album closer to the front of my music collection.I also really liked Cherrelle's other cuts on this outing like DISCREET and PICK ME UP.But, I'm not gonna lie. At first, I was kind of lukewarm about this album, but after hearing this CD over and over a few times....I'm feeling this one now, for sure."NOW, CHERRELLE, LET'S SING IT TOGETHER!"......LOL...LOL...

This is a classic album by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. This album in fact is better than the material they did for Janet Jackson at around the same time. Cherelle was ahead of her time as far as R&B divas go but I wonder why this album did not get the recognition that Janet Jackson album received. Don't get me wrong Rhythm Nation was a excellent album but it sold much more copies than Cherelle's Affair simply because Janet was a superstar in the making and Cherelle was not.

By the time this album came out, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis had struck gold with Janet Jackson's "Control," and it's surprising that this album didn't catch the momentum and produce more hits. "Everything I Miss at Home" shot to #1 on the R&B charts, but "Discreet," the title track and the intensely funky "What More Can I Do for You" are as catchy as they are danceable and should have been big hits as well. There's another great duet with Alexander O'Neal ("Keep it Inside") and the ballad "Crazy (for Loving You)" features one of the best vocal performances she's ever recorded. An absolute gem.

I bought this album on CD back in '88 when it came out. I have to say this is one of the few albums I can play start to finish and never get tired of! To this day, I still put it on and enjoy every single track! Love me some Jam & Lewis and Cherrelle! Of course that has to include just about ANYTHING Jam & Lewis were doing back then!

I heard this song, back in the late 80s. Loved it, but never really knew the exact artist, but kept searching and finally found Cherrelle. If you don't move to Cherrelle's "Affair", you must have passed on. I rock out in my Corvette, listening to this tune. What a beat!AND, if you take a moment, Google Cherrelle's Affair video! The dancing and movements of the dancers is off the hook. Whenever I am having a down day, I pull up the video and let me tell ya, my day always gets better. Enjoy!Thanks for carrying it. Rock on!

This album set the groundwork for the new Janet Jackson sound. Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam were honing there skills. This album came out when the market was full of good music. Rap was starting to hit it's stride. Other than the song Affair, the album received very little notice.

Are a melodics moments , when i listen is top álbum to Cherrelle , with her fine voice stay with surprised and allure!!!!!!!! ENJOYABLE!!!! (SINCERELLY)

Love collecting tabu extended editions albums. Brilliant

Great album and fantastic service

This is cherrelle the best of best album. This is No1 R&B album which I heard in my life.

I love all the Cherrelle albums, but this one, her third, is just exceptional! Full of classic Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis tracks, the title track is one of the funkiest grooves ever from the late 80's! This album is kind of a build-up to what would become arguably Jam & Lewis' ALBUM OF THE CENTURY, which was of course Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814.As for the mastering on this release. All the recent re-issues except "Hearsay" seem to have caused uproar among audiophiles recently. Some comments I agree with regarding the vinyl rips used, other comments I find wayyy too picky. The bonus tracks on here I believe are from Vinyl and in some ways I agree with the reviewer DJ Ritchie about the usage of vinyl rips when the single releases from this album (1988-1990) would obviously have been released on CD singles. The CD versions could have been used here instead of using audio from the 12" vinyl. But, for me, the sound quality is pretty awesome whatever the source used. For Cherrelle fans like me that do not own the 12" mixes on CD, this 'Deluxe Edition' of the album is a very welcome addition to my 80's soul collection. I've never been able to track down a copy of "Affair" (Liaison Dangereuse Dub)- it's fantastic!!! As for the Timmy Regisford mixes of "What More Can I Do...", not only have I never heard them, I doubt very much they were released commercially on a CD single, only as a promo CD single in the U.S which can be pretty difficult to track down.Overall, fantastic album, much wanted bonus tracks and to my ears a very good sounding quality.If I already owned this album on CD as well as the CD Single releases, then I wouldn't have paid out extra money on this release. But I haven't, and therefore I am extremely happy with this re-issue. Thank you Tabu/Demon Music.

album is fine mastered from cd , but no different to original cd sound wise, which is not a bad thing considering all the bonus tracks on here are vinyl rips , damn tabu/demon sort it out these are on cds you know? i have the cd singles to prove it!