MELANIE WIEGMANN & CARL CARLTON

The new single “Love Potion Number 9” (release date: January 9, 2026) is a true musical aphrodisiac.

There are songs that spread good cheer and make you want to press the repeat button with a smile on your face. Carl Carlton & Melanie Wiegmann have included just such a song on their upcoming album “Miles of Time” (release date: January 23, 2026), creating a swirling and upbeat Latino rhythm & blues track. Carl’s compact, groovy acoustic guitars, à la Bill Withers, are accompanied by Martin Huch, who masterfully took over the lap/steel part, and Yoyo Röhm, who played the double bass in traditional New Orleans style. Added to this are Brian Mitchell’s virtuoso Hammond organ, Wayne P. Sheehy’s drums, and the horn arrangements by Steven Bernstein and Erik Lawrence. Rounded off with Melanie’s expressive voice and background vocals by Cindy Wasserman and Jenna Nicholls, the result is a thoroughly aphrodisiac mix!

It’s obvious that everyone involved had a lot of fun with this interpretation, but the story of the song is also too beautiful not to make you grin from ear to ear. A man seeks help from Madame Ruth because he is simply a flop with girls. After looking into the palm of his hand and making a magical sign, she determines that he needs “love potion number 9.” It smelled like turpentine and looked like ink, but it caused him to fall in love with everything he then saw and kiss everything that crossed his path. When he kisses a policeman on a street corner, the policeman breaks the bottle containing the love potion.

What the US songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller penned in 1959 continues to delight people to this day.

What would have happened with love potion number 10? That has yet to be written, but Carl & Melanie’s version is already a case for the ENT doctor, because this catchy tune is not easy to get out of your head.

With love,

Mel & Carl