**** Great Balls of Fire *** Good Vibrations ** Maybe Baby * Running on Empty : New Day Dawning

*** MORRIS DAY. “Daydreaming.” Warner Bros. Day has always come across like a cool sultan of the single life. Be it as a founding member of the Time or a scene-stealer in Prince’s “Purple Rain” movie, Day seemed the ultimate player: foppish and fun-loving, a freckle-faced weisenheimer ever on the prowl for fast dames and easy pleasures. Even a tear-stained ballad like “Gigolos Get Lonely Too” seemed to be sung with an eyebrow-arched smirk. Day and loneliness on an intimate basis? Not on your life. Not a guy this cool.

But “Daydreaming,” Day’s second album as a solo artist, suggests that beneath the pompadour, brocade jackets and gold-plated pinky rings lurks a soul of old-fashioned, me-and-you-babe romance. The recently married Day shares writer/producter credit with his wife Judith, and most of the songs contrast sharply with his old playboy image. “Yo’ Luv” is a flashy, funk-injected romp, but “Sally” and “A Man’s Pride” are purely human, warts and all. Not as comical as his debut solo effort, this album shows a side of Day that borders on the vulnerable--and it’s a vulnerability more real than that of the “Gigolos”-variety.

The best track is the one he co-wrote and produced with former Time members Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis: “Fishnet,” a homage to hosiery, particularly when worn by party-loving, big-legged women. This is such a sturdy groove, so downright lusty and good-natured, that it almost gives lechery a good name. More songs in this vein would have given the album more punch, but even a domesticated Day is worth a listen.