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''In a Special Way'' is the third studio album by American R&B recording group DeBarge. Produced, by El DeBarge and the writing credits varying from El, Marty, James and Bunny, the album reached gold after the releases of the following singles "Time Will Reveal" and "Love Me in a Special Way" (which features fellow Motown artist Stevie Wonder on harmonica), which hit number one on the ''Billboard'' R&B and adult contemporary singles chart respectively. The album is most memorable for not only its singles but album tracks such as "Stay with Me" (led by El) and "A Dream" (sung and penned by sister Bunny) largely due to subsequent sampling in modern Hip-Hop and R&B tracks. The album has been regarded by some critics as a "classic" in the family group's catalog. ==Background and recording== Group member Bunny DeBarge revealed the group were given complete creative control because Motown Records founder Berry Gordy liked their sound.〔 Gordy also liked the sound of their brothers' band Switch - who were also signed to Motown - which prompted him to sign DeBarge as well.〔 Originally performing as a gospel group, the siblings changed to performing secular music after gospel music labels didn't know how to market them.〔 After making the move to Los Angeles, DeBarge signed with a small label Source Records- much to Bunny's chagrin.〔 She asked the record company CEO to let them out of their contract, to which he obliged.〔 Their older brother Bobby DeBarge set up a meeting with Jermaine Jackson and Hazel Gordy to sign with Motown〔 as Jermaine and Hazel were also responsible for bringing Switch to the label. Due to them still being contractually obligated to another label at the time, they couldn't speak to the group, as it would have been seen as a breach of contract.〔 After waiting out the label release, the group met with Jackson and were signed to Motown.〔 The group recorded their 1981 debut ''The DeBarges'' which failed to chart due to lack of promotion. Things changed for them with the release of their second album ''All This Love'' due to the success of the singles "I Like It" and the album's title track. They went back in the studio in 1983 to record the follow up ''In a Special Way''. The DeBarge siblings recorded the album with the promise that each member got a song to sing by themselves.〔 In the end, it was determined that each sibling would be given two songs to do for the album.〔 According to Bunny, ''In a Special Way'' took a few months to record. The reason for it was to give the group time to work out the songs before the recording process to know where they were going with the material.〔 Mark DeBarge was initially scheduled to sing lead on "Stay With Me", although no one could locate his whereabouts.〔 At the time, the song was unfinished and the group was hoping to get Mark's input.〔 In the end, Bunny and El were forced to complete the song, with El having to perform lead vocals at the last minute.〔 Bunny also liked the song "Need Somebody", but felt it sounded better before it was mixed.〔 As the track was sent to be mixed, she felt "Need Somebody" lost a lot during the mixing process - feeling it sounded watered down.〔 Bunny also revealed that "Love Me In a Special Way" was originally conceived as a gospel song.〔 The group also wanted to revisit the material from their debut album ''The DeBarges'', for which they felt was mishandled.〔 They decided to use two songs from the album: "Queen Of My Heart", which was included on ''In a Special Way'',〔 while "Share My World" would be included on their next album ''Rhythm of the Night''. The song "I Give Up On You" was written by James DeBarge with their labelmate Billy Preston and later recorded the song at Preston's house.〔 Recording engineer Barney Perkins was particularly fond of the album's closing track "A Dream" and played it every time the group came to the studio to record.〔 As they were close to finishing the project, Berry Gordy imposed a deadline for them to complete the album.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「In a Special Way」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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