Straight from the Heart is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Patrice Rushen, released on April 14, 1982, by Elektra Records. It features her most recognizable song, "Forget Me Nots", the oft-sampled "Remind Me" and the popular instrumental workout "Number One". Straight from the Heart scored Rushen her first two nominations at the 1983 Grammy Awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Forget Me Nots" and Best R&B Instrumental Performance for "Number One". The album is Rushen's most successful album to date, peaking inside the top 20 of the Billboard 200 chart at number 14. The success of "Forget Me Nots" is considered the major contributor to the album's popularity at the time of its release.

Critical reception

In contemporary reviews, The Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau gave Straight from the Heart a "C+" and said that he prefers side one's "dancy vamp" over the songwriting on side two by Rushen, whom he called a fashionable "ingenue". Mike Freedberg of The Boston Phoenix said that Rushen "packs only the simplest themes hung on the driest melodies and boniest progressions." In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Andy Kellman called it "an early-'80s jazz-pop-R&B synthesis as durable and pleasing as any other". In 2018, Pitchfork ranked Straight From the Heart #194 on its list of the 200 Greatest Albums of the 1980s.

Track listing

Charts

Personnel

Production