Goodnight L.A.

Untitled

Goodnight L.A. is the eighth studio album by British melodic rock band Magnum, released in 1990 by Polydor.

Polydor had plans to break Magnum in America and Goodnight L.A. was an attempt to refine Magnum's sound for the American market.

Most of the material was already written and arranged, at least in demo form, and was taken to Los Angeles and Vancouver to find an American producer. Keith Olsen was suggested because of the success of his work on Whitesnake's 1987. Tony Clarkin, the band's guitarist and usually the sole songwriter, then invited co-writers such as Russ Ballard, Jim Vallance and David Cassidy's wife Sue Shiffrin to collaborate on songwriting duties. Other songs called "The Rock" and "On That Day" were retitled or dropped. "Come Back Running" was recorded as a demo version, but it was never released.

The rest of the band flew to Los Angeles in 1990 to record at Keith Olsen's studios, "Goodnight L.A." The album was originally titled Born To Be King but was eventually named after the studio.

Three singles were planned, "Rockin’ Chair" being the lead single, then "Heartbroke And Busted"; the third single, "No Way Out", was cancelled because Polydor was disappointed with the chart ranking of "Heartbroke And Busted".

Track listing

All tracks written by Tony Clarkin except where noted.

1. "Rockin' Chair" (Tony Clarkin and Russ Ballard) — 4:10
2. "Mama" — 4:34
3. "Only A Memory" — 7:04
4. "Reckless Man" — 3:11
5. "Matter Of Survival" (Tony Clarkin and Russ Ballard) — 4:19
6. "What Kind Of Love Is This" (Tony Clarkin and Jim Vallance) — 4:35
7. "Heartbroke And Busted" — 3:37
8. "Shoot" — 3:34
9. "No Way Out" (Tony Clarkin and Russ Ballard) — 3:59
10. "Cry For You" (Tony Clarkin and Sue Shiffron) — 3:57
11. "Born To Be King" — 5:33

Singles

Rockin' Chair 7" (1990)

1. "Rockin' Chair" [LP Version] (Tony Clarkin and Russ Ballard) — 4:10
2. "Mama" [LP Version] — 4:34

Rockin' Chair 12" (1990)

1. "Rockin' Chair" [LP Version] (Tony Clarkin and Russ Ballard) — 4:10
2. "Mama" [LP Version] — 4:34
3. "Where Do You Run To" [B-Side] — 0:00

Rockin' Chair CD (1990)

1. "Rockin' Chair" [LP Version] (Tony Clarkin and Russ Ballard) — 4:10
2. "Mama" [LP Version] — 4:34
3. "Where Do You Run To" [B-Side] — 0:00

Heartbroke And Busted 7" (1990)

1. "Heartbroke And Busted" [LP Version] — 3:37
2. "Hanging Tree" [B-Side] — 0:00

Heartbroke And Busted 12" (1990)

1. "Heartbroke And Busted" [LP Version] — 3:37
2. "Hanging Tree" [B-Side] — 0:00
3. "Cry For You" [LP Version] (Tony Clarkin and Sue Shiffron) — 0:00

Heartbroke And Busted EP (1990)

1. "Heartbroke And Busted" [LP Version] — 3:37
2. "Les Mort Dansant" [Acoustic] — 3:37
3. "Hanging Tree" [B-Side] — 0:00
4. "Cry For You" [LP Version] (Tony Clarkin and Sue Shiffron) — 0:00

Heartbroke And Busted CD (1990)

1. "Heartbroke And Busted" [LP Version] — 3:37
2. "Hanging Tree" [B-Side] — 0:00
3. "Cry For You" [LP Version] (Tony Clarkin and Sue Shiffron) — 0:00

Personnel

• Tony Clarkin — Guitar
• Bob Catley — Vocals
• Wally Lowe — Bass
• Mark Stanway — Keyboards
• Mickey Barker — Drums

Additional Musicians

• Tommy Funderburk — Backing Vocals
• Michael Sadler — Backing Vocals
• Paulinho da Costa — Percussion
• Deric Dyer — Saxophone

External links

• www.magnumonline.co.uk — Official Magnum site
• Goodnight L.A. (1990) — lyrics from lyricwiki.org