The Red Hot Chili Peppers is the debut studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released Aug. 10, 1984 on EMI America and Enigma Records. The album was produced by Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill, and is the only Peppers album to feature Jack Sherman on guitar. Sherman was in the band as a replacement for founding member Hillel Slovak, who'd left the band along with founding drummer Jack Irons before the album was recorded. Shortly after the album was released, Sherman was fired and Slovak rejoined the band. The album also features founding members Anthony Kiedis on vocals and Flea on bass, as well as Cliff Martinez on drums.
"Get Up and Jump" was the only single released from the album, but a music video was made for the song "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes." The album has been credited as the first release from the funk metal genre[4] and has also been labeled as "the little spark that ignited the rap rock revolution."[3]
Writing and recording
The band was often at odds with producer Andy Gill over the musical direction of the album. Anthony Kiedis was disappointed with the overall sound, thinking that it lacked the raw energy of the band's original 1983 demo tape.[6][7] In his 2004 autobiography Scar Tissue, Kiedis recalled, "One day, I got a glimpse of Gill’s notebook, and next to the song 'Police Helicopter', he’d written 'Shit.' I was demolished that he had dismissed that as shit. Police Helicopter was a jewel in our crown. It embodied the spirit of who we were, which was this kinetic, stabbing, angular, shocking assault force of sound and energy. Reading his notes probably sealed the deal in our minds that 'Okay, now we’re working with the enemy', It became very much him against us, especially Flea and me. It became a real battle to make the record."[7]
The album failed to chart on the Billboard 200, reaching No. 201 (meaning it "bubbled under" the main album chart for eight weeks in the autumn of 1984). The album received college airplay and MTV rotation, and built the band's fan base. The reviews that were published of the album were mixed, with the first issue of Spin magazine giving, according to Anthony Kiedis in his autobiography Scar Tissue, a positive review.[7]Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic later wrote that "their first effort didn't quite gel into a cohesive album".[5] As of 2007, it had sold about 300,000 copies worldwide.[11] Kiedis and Flea have said over the years that they prefer the demo versions of most of the songs, which were recorded with the original lineup featuring Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons; however, the band acknowledged in various books that Jack Sherman's contributions to the band, particularly his knowledge of funk music and music theory, were instrumental in the band's development that were not present with Slovak.
Gwen Dickey, better known by her stage name, Rose Norwalt, provides backing vocals on "Mommy, Where's Daddy?" Dickey was the singer for the 1970s group Rose Royce. On live performances of the song, her lines are performed by Flea.
