Lisa Stansfield had me at hello.

More accurately, she had me at “I don’t know where my baby is, but I’ll find him, somewhere, somehow. I’ve got to let him know how much I care. I’ll never give up looking for my baby,” the spoken-word introduction to the British blue-eyed soulster’s debut single, “All Around The World.” The judicious use of strings and the song’s so-very Soul II Soul beat also made it love at first sound.

“All Around The World,” from Stansfield’s first album Affection, hit #1 in the UK in late 1989. Released the following spring in the U.S., the single reached a #3 peak on the Billboard Hot 100 22 years ago this week, remaining in that spot for three weeks. While the song was locked out of traveling further by Taylor Dayne, Tommy Page, Jane Child, and Sinead O’Connor, Stansfield made history as only the third white female to score a #1 on the R&B chart with the gone-gold “All Around The World.”

I remember taping “All Around The World” off the radio before the single was out, and getting a clean-enough edit to play at a school dance I DJ’d. My love for it was probably not equaled by my peers at that point. So ahead of the curve!

“All Around The World” is a gorgeous production from start to finish — literally. One of my favorite bits begins at 4:11, mere seconds before the fade-out, Stansfield’s extended “Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-baby.”

“All Around The World” was nominated for a 1991 Grammy award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, as was Stansfield for Best New Artist, though she won neither.

Stansfield did find her baby, but she didn’t have to travel all around the world to do so. She married her longtime co-writer and producer, Ian Devaney (who was also in her first band, Blue Zone).

Stansfield’s most recent album is 2004’s The Moment. Focusing primarily on her acting career — she’s slated to star in a film about Northern Soul — the once spit-curled singer, who turns 46 next week, did perform a song in honor of BBC Radio 6’s 10th birthday last month. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’ll never give up looking for new music from Stansfield. She’s long overdue for a proper comeback.

Purchase Lisa Stansfield – “All Around The World” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.