(Debuted July 25, 1981, Peaked #40, 14 Weeks on the Chart)
Evelyn "Champagne" King was still in her teens when she had her first hit, the Top 10 "Shame" in 1978. Though it would be the Philadelphian's biggest pop hit, she went on to score several hits on other charts throughout the 1980s. While "I'm in Love" briefly returned her to the pop Top 40 in 1981, it would be her first #1 hit on both the R&B and Dance charts.
During "Shame"'s chart run, Casey Kasem told the story on American Top 40 about how King worked with her mother, cleaning the studios at Philadelphia International Records. He said she was singing along with one of the songs there and caught the ear of a producer, which led to her getting a deal. I'm not sure how much of that is chart legend (apparently, Casey tossed out quite a few; blame his staffers who wrote his scripts), but it's a neat little story about how even the girl who empties the trash cans can get a hit single.
The YouTube video below features an early promotional video. That's what they called them in the pre-MTV days. Actually, MTV itself debuted a week after "I'm in Love" first appeared on the Billboard Hot 100. Unfortunately, King's music wasn't the kind that got played very often during MTV's early days.
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