❤ Grace!! Nightclubbing is her 5th album, the first 3 are full on disco. She went new wave/alternative in 1980. This is considered one of her strongest releases
You have already listened to Grace Jones Matt, Arcadia's "Election Day" had a spoken section by her. Grace Jones was initially a model but became a performance artist, singer and actor. Her live shows were decades ahead of others, using art, theatre design and music. She was signed to Island Records and her most popular music was produced by the late Alex Sadkin who merged Jamaican style reggae , jazz, early synth music all together. Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes was a huge fan and they moved on similar circles of New York's clubbing and Pop Art Scene, both walking a fine line of androgynous and blurred gender lines. When Nick and John sought out Alex Sadkin for the Seven and The Ragged Tiger album he brought in his more percussive style of music production and when he produced Arcadia's "So Red The Rose" he was already known to Jones and able to approach her for a contribution to "Election Day".
It's a cover of a track originally by an Australian group, Flash and the Pan, but it suits Grace perfectly. "Feeling like a woman, looking like a man " was basically her aesthetic at the time. In the late 70's she had made three full-on disco album, but a change of direction was needed - a veer into new wave, via dance, reggae and funk. This is the second album of the "Compass Point " trilogy, working with producers Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin (who went on to produce the Thompson Twins and Duran). The band was the Compass Point All-Stars - Sly and Robbie, Barry Reynolds, Wally Badarou (who later did great things for Level 42) and Barry Reynolds amongst others. So you had these reggae musicians performing new wave and rock tracks, creating this amazing hybrid sound which was incredibly influential and unique. When this album came out in 1981 it was the epitome of cool. It still doesn't really sound like anything else. It features covers of tracks by Iggy Pop, Bill Withers, The Police and Marianne Faithfull, as well as tracks by and co-written by Jones with the other musicians. Don't downplay Jones' role in all this - it's not the same without her. The persona and the artwork/videos she created with her then boyfriend artist jean Paul Goude are a big part of the story but ultimately the music stands for itself. And it does sound like a rainy city at night, reflected neon lights and billboards, this androgynous creature stalking the street, sneering and snarling. It is definitely art, it's fashion, it's style. It's amazing.
I stand corrected re Graces contribution -I just checked the credits on my copy! The deluxe version has a cover of a Numan song too tho best to listen to the original before going on to that. The first three albums are indeed full on late 70s disco and as such don’t do much for me personally and the change in style was a brilliant move. Interesting that Robert Palmer made a move from his earlier style to something more New Wave/electronic with the Clues album around the same time. Sounds nothing like Grace tho.
Flash and the Pan a.k.a. Harry Vanda and George Young wrote a slew of Australian and international hits including 'Friday on my mind' for the Easybeats and 'Love is in the Air' for John Paul Young.
So pleased to see you listening to Grace. I have had her albums, Warm Leatherette (1980), Nightclubbing(1981), Living My Life(1982) and Slave To The Rhythm (!985) since they came out and still happily listen to them today. I don't see much focus on them from other reactors but I think you'll like them.
Grace's albums from '80-'82 (Warm Leatherette, Nightclubbing, Living My Life) are probably her most accomplished and most popular, but there are gems scattered across her other LPs too. For example, the version of Piaf's La Vie En Rose from her 1977 debut album is amazing and bold and one of her most famous recordings. Oh, and she was all over the dance floor in the early '80s. Enjoy! :D Oh, nearly forgot - Sly & Robbie are all over that track. Her best work was done in collaboration with other notables but that doesn't mean she wasn't capable. Yeah, she did a lot of covers (like this, La Vie En Rose, and Warm Leatherette she had a knack of making them her own) but she also wrote. She wasn't 'just' a singer/performer. And i mean like A L L over the dance floor!
Great that you are starting on Grace- this is a fantastic album and Duran have cited it as one of their favourites. The songs are mostly covers and the musicians are session musicians. Grace”s contribution is the vocals only. It was produced by Alex Sadkin who later worked with Duran. The preceding album War, Leatherette is worth checking out
Recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, The Bahama's. Studio? It was a compound. Grace flew there and did those 2 albums with Alex Sadkin and (Chrus Blackwell, the owner of Island Records at the time). She started out as a model. Let me see, what else do I know off the top of my head. LOL I love her and love those 2 albums, Nightclubbing and Warm Leatherette. Both albums, her best. There is some awesome stuff in Wiki on her backers. More than I could go into here. Thank you for doing this!!! Perfect Birthday Gift.👍💅
Though she’d been round a while her album before this one Warm Leatherette really got people interested. Don’t let that slip by and then Nightclubbing came along and sealed the deal. She’s constantly copied but never improved upon.
So excited to go on the Grace journey with you … looooove her. Private Life, I’ve Seen That Face Before, Pars, Breakdown, La Vie en Rose ❤ & Love is the Drug - (Extended Mix) is fiiiiire!
Another neglected artist you've dove into as well as The Thompson Twins! You got good taste mate! Incidentally, Grace sang backing vocals on the TT hit 'Watching' and the TT sang backing vocals on Graces' hit 'My Jamaican Guy'.
Hugely important and influential on any young alternative/queer/odd/artistic teen of the early 80s I know she changed the lives of me and my friends at that time
![Shnootz - Reaction Video (Grace Jones - I've Seen that Face Before [Libertango])](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hQ2ROwxhhCk/mqdefault.jpg)
![Shnootz - Reaction Video (Grace Jones - I've Seen that Face Before [Libertango])](/img/tr.png)
❤ Grace!! Nightclubbing is her 5th album, the first 3 are full on disco. She went new wave/alternative in 1980. This is considered one of her strongest releases
You have already listened to Grace Jones Matt, Arcadia's "Election Day" had a spoken section by her.
Grace Jones was initially a model but became a performance artist, singer and actor. Her live shows were decades ahead of others, using art, theatre design and music.
She was signed to Island Records and her most popular music was produced by the late Alex Sadkin who merged Jamaican style reggae , jazz, early synth music all together.
Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes was a huge fan and they moved on similar circles of New York's clubbing and Pop Art Scene, both walking a fine line of androgynous and blurred gender lines.
When Nick and John sought out Alex Sadkin for the Seven and The Ragged Tiger album he brought in his more percussive style of music production and when he produced Arcadia's "So Red The Rose" he was already known to Jones and able to approach her for a contribution to "Election Day".
Grace's look at this time was arresting, hard edged and luscious. The sound of this album is a perfect match for it.
It's a cover of a track originally by an Australian group, Flash and the Pan, but it suits Grace perfectly. "Feeling like a woman, looking like a man " was basically her aesthetic at the time. In the late 70's she had made three full-on disco album, but a change of direction was needed - a veer into new wave, via dance, reggae and funk. This is the second album of the "Compass Point " trilogy, working with producers Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin (who went on to produce the Thompson Twins and Duran). The band was the Compass Point All-Stars - Sly and Robbie, Barry Reynolds, Wally Badarou (who later did great things for Level 42) and Barry Reynolds amongst others. So you had these reggae musicians performing new wave and rock tracks, creating this amazing hybrid sound which was incredibly influential and unique. When this album came out in 1981 it was the epitome of cool. It still doesn't really sound like anything else. It features covers of tracks by Iggy Pop, Bill Withers, The Police and Marianne Faithfull, as well as tracks by and co-written by Jones with the other musicians. Don't downplay Jones' role in all this - it's not the same without her. The persona and the artwork/videos she created with her then boyfriend artist jean Paul Goude are a big part of the story but ultimately the music stands for itself. And it does sound like a rainy city at night, reflected neon lights and billboards, this androgynous creature stalking the street, sneering and snarling. It is definitely art, it's fashion, it's style. It's amazing.
I stand corrected re Graces contribution -I just checked the credits on my copy! The deluxe version has a cover of a Numan song too tho best to listen to the original before going on to that. The first three albums are indeed full on late 70s disco and as such don’t do much for me personally and the change in style was a brilliant move. Interesting that Robert Palmer made a move from his earlier style to something more New Wave/electronic with the Clues album around the same time. Sounds nothing like Grace tho.
Flash and the Pan a.k.a. Harry Vanda and George Young wrote a slew of Australian and international hits including 'Friday on my mind' for the Easybeats and 'Love is in the Air' for John Paul Young.
This was perfect, I didn't need to add a thing. Well done!
So pleased to see you listening to Grace. I have had her albums, Warm Leatherette (1980), Nightclubbing(1981), Living My Life(1982) and Slave To The Rhythm (!985) since they came out and still happily listen to them today. I don't see much focus on them from other reactors but I think you'll like them.
Love Grace.
One of my all-time favorite tracks.
Loving this. Le vie en Rose, full version, is my favourite.
Grace's albums from '80-'82 (Warm Leatherette, Nightclubbing, Living My Life) are probably her most accomplished and most popular, but there are gems scattered across her other LPs too. For example, the version of Piaf's La Vie En Rose from her 1977 debut album is amazing and bold and one of her most famous recordings.
Oh, and she was all over the dance floor in the early '80s. Enjoy! :D
Oh, nearly forgot - Sly & Robbie are all over that track. Her best work was done in collaboration with other notables but that doesn't mean she wasn't capable. Yeah, she did a lot of covers (like this, La Vie En Rose, and Warm Leatherette she had a knack of making them her own) but she also wrote. She wasn't 'just' a singer/performer.
And i mean like A L L over the dance floor!
Great that you are starting on Grace- this is a fantastic album and Duran have cited it as one of their favourites. The songs are mostly covers and the musicians are session musicians. Grace”s contribution is the vocals only. It was produced by Alex Sadkin who later worked with Duran. The preceding album War, Leatherette is worth checking out
Understood, I'm down to go through lots of her material/releases. And cheers, shout-out to Alex Sadkin.
@@mattsnider2667 she co wrote a few tunes on this one.
Recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, The Bahama's. Studio? It was a compound. Grace flew there and did those 2 albums with Alex Sadkin and (Chrus Blackwell, the owner of Island Records at the time). She started out as a model. Let me see, what else do I know off the top of my head. LOL I love her and love those 2 albums, Nightclubbing and Warm Leatherette. Both albums, her best. There is some awesome stuff in Wiki on her backers. More than I could go into here. Thank you for doing this!!! Perfect Birthday Gift.👍💅
Love that you are starting on Grace! She's a real one-off. This is a great album to start with.
Though she’d been round a while her album before this one Warm Leatherette really got people interested. Don’t let that slip by and then Nightclubbing came along and sealed the deal. She’s constantly copied but never improved upon.
So excited to go on the Grace journey with you … looooove her. Private Life, I’ve Seen That Face Before, Pars, Breakdown, La Vie en Rose ❤ & Love is the Drug - (Extended Mix) is fiiiiire!
Excellent! And yeah, I don't know her music at all, and the first few tracks have already been eye-opening. :)
Another neglected artist you've dove into as well as The Thompson Twins! You got good taste mate!
Incidentally, Grace sang backing vocals on the TT hit 'Watching' and the TT sang backing vocals on Graces' hit 'My Jamaican Guy'.
And yes she can and does sing very well
Hugely important and influential on any young alternative/queer/odd/artistic teen of the early 80s I know she changed the lives of me and my friends at that time