Mister Heartbreak
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| Mister Heartbreak | ||||
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| Studio album by Laurie Anderson | ||||
| Released | February 14, 1984 | |||
| Recorded | July 1983 – December 1983, The Lobby, RCA, A & R, 39th Street Music, New York | |||
| Genre | Avant-garde Experimental music Pop music |
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| Length | 40:16 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. 25077 |
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| Producer | Laurie Anderson Bill Laswell Roma Baran Peter Gabriel |
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| Laurie Anderson chronology | ||||
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Mister Heartbreak is the second album by avant-garde artist, singer and composer Laurie Anderson, released in 1984.
Considered more mainstream than its predecessor[citation needed], Big Science, the album's lead track, "Sharkey's Day" formed the basis of a popular music video. Author William S. Burroughs read the lyrics of the closing track, "Sharkey's Night", while Peter Gabriel provided backing vocals on "Excellent Birds", an alternate version of which, titled "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)", also appeared on his album So. A third version of the song can be heard in the music-video version, directed by Dean Winkler. The song "Gravity's Angel" borrows imagery from Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow.
Most of the songs on this album were later performed in Anderson's 1986 concert film Home of the Brave. Burroughs appears in that film and appears in two brief segments reciting lines from "Sharkey's Night", although it is Anderson herself who performs a complete version of the song at the film's conclusion. "Sharkey's Night" featured in the Australian short Documentary film 'Ladies Please!' (1995).
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | A− [2] |
| Rolling Stone | [3] |
 This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information. |
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Contents |
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Laurie Anderson except as indicated.
[edit] Side one
- "Sharkey's Day" – 7:41
- "Langue d'Amour" – 6:12
- "Gravity's Angel" – 6:02
[edit] Side two
- "Kokoku" – 7:03
- "Excellent Birds" (Anderson, Peter Gabriel) – 3:12
- "Blue Lagoon" – 7:03
- "Sharkey's Night" – 2:29
[edit] Personnel
- Laurie Anderson – vocals, synclavier, violin on 1, bell on 3, vocoder on 2, whistle on 1, electronic conches on 2, percussion on 4
- Adrian Belew – guitar on 1 3 6 7
- Anton Fier – drums on 1, toms on 4, wood block on 4
- Bill Laswell – bass on 1 3 4 5 6 7
[edit] Additional personnel
- November (Michelle Cobbs, Dollette McDonald, Brenda Nelson) – backing vocals on 1
- Daniel Ponce – iya on 1, ikonkolo on 1, shekere on 1, double bell on 1
- Peter Gabriel – backing vocals on 2 3, vocals on 5, synclavier on 5, Linn drum on 5
- David Van Tieghem – plywood bowls on 3, drums on 3, steel drum on 6, gato on 6, bamboo on 6
- Sang-Won Park – kayagum on 4
- Connie Harvey – Japanese chorus on 4
- Phoebe Snow – backing vocals on 4
- Atsuko Yuma – backing vocals on 4
- Janet Wright – Japanese chorus on 4
- Nile Rodgers – guitar on 5
- Bill Blaber – soprano on 6
- William S. Burroughs – vocals on 7
[edit] Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | The Billboard 200 | 60[4] |
[edit] References
- ^ Allender, Mark W.B.. "Mister Heartbreak". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r612/review. Retrieved 6 September 2005.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (March 24, 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide: Laurie Anderson: Mister Heartbreak". The Village Voice. Posted at "Consumer Guide Mar. 24, 1984". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv3-84.php. Retrieved 10 January 2012. Relevant portion also posted in "Laurie Anderson > Consumer Guide Reviews". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=laurie+anderson. Retrieved 14 April 2006.
- ^ Loder, Kurt (April 12, 1984). "Laurie Anderson Mister Heartbreak > Album Review". Rolling Stone (419). Archived from the original on 12 January 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080112154909/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/laurieanderson/albums/album/102121/review/5945881. Retrieved 14 April 2006.
- ^ Mister Heartbreak - Laurie Anderson > Charts & Awards > Billboard Album at Allmusic. Retrieved 31 March 2006.
[edit] External links
- Mister Heartbreak at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)
