“Temptation” by Joan Armatrading

"Temptation" was the opening shot from Secret Secrets, Joan Armatrading's ninth studio album, landing on A&M on 18 February 1985. She wrote and arranged it herself, singing and playing acoustic guitar, and with Mike Howlett producing, a sharp band crowds in around her: Pino Palladino on bass, Mel Gaynor on drums, David Rhodes on guitar, and horns from David Bitelli, Steve Sidwell, Paul Spong and Rick Taylor.

The singles reviewers liked what they heard, a bouncy, catchy tune with a lighter arrangement than some of her earlier singles and plenty of room for that voice to stretch out, and one of them put her in the company of Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian and Carole King. The charts were less kind, stopping it at number 65 in the UK, and MTV gave the video only light rotation in America.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.