Leather Jackets (album)

Leather Jackets
Studio album by Elton John
Released	15 October 1986
Recorded	1985, January, June, July, September 1986
Genre	Soft rock, pop
Length	46:02
Label	Geffen (Canada, US) Rocket Records (Worldwide)
Producer	Gus Dudgeon
Elton John chronology
Ice on Fire (1985) Leather Jackets (1986) Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (1987)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Los Angeles Times	(Negative)

Leather Jackets is the twentieth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, recorded at Sol Studios in England and Wisseloord Studios in the Netherlands. and released in 1986. It was his first album to not create any top 40 singles in either the US or the UK since 1970's Tumbleweed Connection, which had no singles released from it. It is also the poorest-charting album of John's career. In 2006, John declared this his least favourite of all his albums, while lyricist Bernie Taupin believes The Big Picture deserves that honour.^{[citation needed]}

"Heartache All Over the World" was the only single to achieve chart success in the US, though it failed to crack the top 50. "Slow Rivers" is a collaboration with Cliff Richard that was released as a single in the UK. Cher collaborated with "Lady Choc Ice" (actually John himself) to write "Don't Trust That Woman".

Roger Taylor and John Deacon of Queen play drums and bass guitar respectively on the track "Angeline".

This was John's last studio release to be produced by Dudgeon and his last in which he played a grand piano before switching to the Roland RD-1000 digital piano for Reg Strikes Back and the two albums following that. After John's throat surgery in 1987, Chris Thomas would be rehired as producer. For the first time in John's career, no songs on this album are longer than 5 minutes.

John played "Paris" during his 1986 US tour. He included "Heartache All Over the World" and "Slow Rivers" on his 1986 Australian tour with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, which would eventually yield John's live album Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. "Heartache" was included in the band portion of the show (John opted not to play piano for that number) while "Slow Rivers" was played during the second half of the show with the orchestra. Due to contractual constraints, "Slow Rivers" was not included on Live in Australia, despite the fact that it was from the orchestral portion of the show, which was the basis for the album.

Though not released as a single, "Paris" would also, ironically, become a minor FM hit for some jazz stations that programmed the track.

This is John's only studio album that has yet to be remastered as of 2012.

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John/Bernie Taupin, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Leather Jackets" – 4:10
2. "Hoop of Fire" – 4:14
3. "Don't Trust That Woman" (Cher/Lady Choc Ice [John]) – 4:58
4. "Go It Alone" – 4:26
5. "Gypsy Heart" – 4:46

Side two

6. "Slow Rivers" (Duet with Cliff Richard) – 3:06
7. "Heartache All Over the World" – 4:01/4:17++
8. "Angeline" (John/Taupin/Carvell) – 3:55
9. "Memory of Love" (John/Gary Osborne) – 4:08
10. "Paris" – 3:58
11. "I Fall Apart" – 4:00

++There are actually two different versions of the album. On most original pressings, the length of "Heartache All Over the World" is 4:01 (incorrectly listed as "3:52" on the album sleeve), while on some editions, including the 1992 American CD re-release, the version of "Heartache" includes a brief additional a capella segment during the final chorus, resulting in a length of 4:17.

Personnel

• Produced by Gus Dudgeon
• Engineered by Graham Dickson
• Mastered by Greg Fulginiti US

• Albert Boekholt - Emulator Vocals
• Alan Carvell - Backing Vocals
• John Deacon - Bass
• Kiki Dee - Backing Vocals
• Graham Dickson - Electronic Percussion
• Gus Dudgeon - Electronic Percussion, Drum Programming
• Martin Fjord - Orchestra Contractor
• Elton John - Piano, Midi Piano, Yamaha GS1, Yamaha CP-80, JX8P, Vocals
• Davey Johnstone - Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Guitar, Backing Vocals
• Katie Kissoon - Backing Vocals
• Shirley Lewis - Backing Vocals
• Jody Linscott - Percussion, Tambourine
• Fred Mandel - Piano, Jupiter 8, JX8P, Synthesisers, DX7, Korg DW 8000, TX Rhodes, Prophet 2000, Roland P60, Programming, Synthesiser Sequences
• Dave Mattacks - Drums
• Charlie Morgan - Drums, Electronic Percussion
• Gordon Neville - Backing Vocals
• James Newton-Howard - String Arrangements, Conductor
• David Paton - Bass
• Frank Ricotti - Percussion
• Cliff Richard - Vocals
• Roger Taylor - Drums
• Paul Westwood - Bass
• Pete Wingfield - Backing Vocals
• Gavin Wright - Orchestra Leader

B-sides

Song	Format
"Highlander"	Heartache All Over the World 7" / 12" (US/UK)
"Heartache All Over the World (Megamix)"	Heartache All Over the World 12" (US/UK)
"Billy and the Kids"	Slow Rivers 7" / 12"(UK)
"Lord of the Flies"	Slow Rivers 12" (UK)
"Don't Trust That Woman"	Angeline 7" (UK)

Charts

Chart positions

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart	4
Austrian Albums Chart	22
Canadian RPM Albums Chart	38
Dutch Mega Albums Chart	34
New Zealand Albums Chart	34
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart	12
Swedish Albums Chart	31
Swiss Albums Chart	13
UK Albums Chart	24
U.S. Billboard 200	91
West German Media Control Albums Chart	21

Year-end charts

Chart (1986)	Position
Australian Albums Chart	58

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)	Gold	100,000^
*sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone