Body Talk is the debut album by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

/dance

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 group Imagination

Imagination (band)

Imagination were a three piece British soul and funk band, who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They had chart hits in 28 countries, earning four platinum discs, nine gold discs and more than a dozen silver discs around the world between 1981 and 1983....

, produced by Steve Jolley and Tony Swain

Jolley & Swain

Steve Jolley and Tony Swain were a successful pop musician, songwriting and record production duo in the United Kingdom in the early to mid-1980s, producing some of the top artists and songs of the era....

 and released in 1981 . It is one of the earliest albums of its genre to have a distinctive 'British' sound as opposed to being an attempt to recreate contemporary American styles.

The title track was an immediate hit, reaching #4 on the UK singles chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

. Two further singles, "In and Out of Love" and "Flashback", also reached the top 20. The album itself peaked at #20.

Body Talk proved to be an enduring album, with the tracks "So Good, So Right" and "Burnin' Up" being cited as influential and ahead of their time (the latter has been acknowledged by Frankie Knuckles

Frankie Knuckles

Frankie Knuckles is an American DJ, record producer and remix artist. He played an important role in developing house music as a Chicago DJ in the 1980s and he helped to popularize house music in the 1990s, with his work as a producer and remixer...

 as a key track in the development of house music

House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

).

Track listing

All tracks composed by Steve Jolley, Tony Swain, Leee John

Leee John

Leee John of St Lucian descent, is a British musician and actor. He was educated in New York, later studying drama at the Anna Scher Theatre School.-Career:...

, Ashley Ingram and Errol Kennedy

1. "Body Talk" 6:01
2. "So Good, So Right" 6:58
3. "Burnin' Up" 4:45
4. "Tell Me Do You Want My Love" 5:27
5. "Flashback" 4:30
6. "I'll Always Love You (But Don't Look Back)" 3:54
7. "In and Out of Love" 5:31