Fire It Up is the third studio album by American musician Rick James. It was released on October 16, 1979, on the Motown sub-label Gordy Records. The first single was "Love Gun". The album has sold under a million copies, according to Rolling Stone.

Critical reception

The Bay State Banner wrote that "James' vocal style remains functional, and the punk-funk horn section average... His strength is in his torrid compositions and captivating presentation." The San Bernardino County Sun noted that James relishes "loud, rowdy hand-clapping funk straight from the street." Newsday determined that "when James sticks with unadulterated hard stuff ... he is among the most crackerjack practitioners of funk rock."

The Rolling Stone Album Guide deemed the album "secondhand Bootsy Collins."

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="40"| US

! width="40"| US<br>R&B

|-

| rowspan="1"| 1979

| align="left"| Fire It Up

| 34

| 5

|-

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Single

! colspan="3"| Chart positions

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="40"| US

! width="40"| US<br>R&B

! width="40"| US<br>Dance

|-

| rowspan="1"|1979

| align="left"| "Love Gun"

| —

| 13

| —

|-

| rowspan="1"|1980

| align="left"| "Love Gun"

| —

| —

| 32

|-

|}

References

  • Rick James-Fire It Up at Discogs