Much Love is the debut album by British singer Shola Ama. It was released by Freakstreet and WEA on 1 September 1997 in the United Kingdom. Ama worked with songwriting collective D'Influence on the majority of the album, with Shaun LaBelle, Livio Harris, and Paul Waller providing additional production. Much Love was preceded by two top ten hit singles: a cover of "You Might Need Somebody", originally made famous by Randy Crawford, and follow-up "You're the One I Love". "Who's Loving My Baby" and "Much Love" were also released as singles, both reaching the UK top twenty.
The album reached the top ten of the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number six, and entered the top twenty in Germany and the top thirty in France, and the Netherlands. In the United Kingdom, it was eventually certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), indicating sales in excess of 100,000 copies. Following the success of the album, Ama won a Brit Award for Best British Female and two MOBO Awards for Best Newcomer and Best R&B Act.
Track listing
Sample credits "I Love Your Ways" contains a replayed element of "Give Me the Sunshine" by Leo's Sunshipp.
Personnel Adapted from AllMusic.
San Acharya – A&R Shola Ama – primary artist, vocals, background vocals Ed Baden-Powell – bass, drum programming, guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, keyboards, string arrangements Toby Baker – bass, keyboards David Barry – guitar Carlton Batts – mastering Joe Belmaati – keyboards, programming Melvin Britt – background vocals Sue Ann Carwell – vocal arrangement, background vocals Rob Chiarelli – mixing Jorge Corante – drum programming, keyboards, piano Cutfather – producer, remixing D'Influence – arranger, mixing, producer Michael "Mickey D" Davis – A&R, executive producer Terry Dexter – background vocals Marcella Ffrench – background vocals Mark Franks – engineer Guido Zen – engineer Livio Harris – arranger, producer, background vocals Stephen Hussey – strings Anthony Jeffries – engineer Kwame Kwaten – bass, executive producer, keyboards, moog bass Shaun LaBelle – arranger, bass, drum programming, producer, synthesizer Ed Lover – engineer Steve Marston – horn Patrick McMahon – engineer Yan Memmi – engineer, mixing Rod Michaels – engineer Randee Saint Nicholas – photography Dik Shopteau – engineer Paul Waller – arranger, drum programming, keyboards, mixing, producer
Charts
Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for Much Love Chart (1997) Peakposition scope="row" European Albums (Top 100)16 scope="row" scope="row" Italian Albums (FIMI)13 scope="row" scope="row" scope="row" scope="row"
Year-end charts + Year-end chart performance for Much Love Chart (1997) PeakpositionItalian Albums (Musica e dischi)99UK Albums (OCC)88
Certifications
References
External links Much Love at Discogs