Don’t Walk Away – Jade | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#4) & R&B (#2); 1993
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
The men behind the women of Jade were Vassal Benford and Ronald Spearman, two multi tasking talented individuals who’d penned Good Love (#4 R&B) for Klymaxx – another female group – in 1990. 1992 found them working with Tonya Kelly and Joi Marshall, from Chicago, and Diana Reed, from
Houston, collectively known as Jade. Tonya was into the classic jazz stylings of Sarah Vaughn and Nat “King” Cole, Joi was infatuated with Motown music (especially that of Diana Ross), and Diana loved gospel.
Besides acting as producers, arrangers, and programmers for Jade’s recording sessions, Benford and Spearman also wrote five of the 11 tracks on the trio’s Jade To The Maxx album, three of which were crossover hits.
I Wanna Love You, from the movie Class Act, was released first and reached #7 R&B and #16 pop. Don’t Walk Away surpassed those peaks, climbing to #2 R&B and #4 pop. Woman rounded out the B&S efforts, rising to #16 R&B and #22 pop.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Vassal Benford III
- Ronald Spearman
Lyrics Written by:
- Vassal Benford III
- Ronald Spearman
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).