The Manhattans - Forever by Your Side 1983

 Forever by Your Side is the 13th studio album of American popular R&B vocal group the Manhattans, originally released in 1983 by Columbia Records. The album was recorded at Celestial Sound Studios (New York, NY), Studio Sound Recorders (North Hollywood), Universal Recording Studio (Chicago, III) and produced by George Tobin Productions Inc, Leo Graham Enterprises, Mighty M. Productions Ltd. This album brought the two singles by The Manhattans of 1983: the song "Crazy" and the title track "Forever by Your Side". The ballad "Crazy" was the big hit of this album, peaked at #4 on the R&B chart. The love song "Forever by Your Side" had moderate success in the United States, peaked at #30 on the R&B chart, but has become a great success and a romantic classic in Brazil two years later, when she was part of the soundtrack of a soap opera in the country in 1985. Another highlight of this album was the song "Just The Lonely Talking Again", which was later re-recorded by Whitney Houston in 1987, on her second studio album Whitney. The original release of "Forever by Your Side" from 1983 in Vinyl LP has only eight tracks. In 2014, the album was remastered on CD with the caption "Expanded Edition" and brought five bonus tracks, totaling 13 tracks. These bonus tracks include the single version of "Crazy", "Just The Lonely Talking Again" and "Love Is Gonna Find You", with shorter durations than the original songs on the album. There is also the instrumental version of great success "Crazy", without the voices of The Manhattans. The final track number 13, "Lovin' You Did not Come Easy", was also recorded by The Manhattans, but, curiously, was never released in any album of the group. The song was released in 2014 remastered as a previously unreleased song, over thirty years after it was recorded. 

 Although this was a nice album, the Manhattans were beginning to encounter problems in the mid-'80s with Columbia. The hits were drying up, and although their harmonies and Alston's soothing leads were still first-rate, they had become a strictly R&B band, and weren't generating any pop attention. They tried being even smoother and more romantic than ever, softening the production and toning down the group interaction. The results were some excellent singles in "Just the Lonely Talking" and "Locked Up in Your Love," but they couldn't move the album or the group ahead.