Chicago 13

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AllMusic

Chicago 13 is the eleventh studio album by the American band Chicago, released in 1979. The follow-up to Hot Streets, Chicago 13 is often critically disfavored. This would be the band's final release that features lead guitarist Donnie Dacus, who had followed late, founding lead guitarist, Terry Kath. All band members would contribute to the songwriting (one of only two albums where this is the case, with the other being Chicago VII).

Background

After recording sessions in Morin-Heights, Quebec and Hollywood, Chicago 13—which saw the band return to numbering its albums and displaying its logo—was released that August and was preceded by Donnie Dacus's "Must Have Been Crazy" as lead single. Chicago 13 is the first Chicago album to bear no significant hit singles. With negative reviews, Chicago 13 reached No. 21 and went gold. Not long after its release and the tour to support it, Dacus was fired from the band with no explanation as to why he was fired.

In 2003, Chicago 13 was remastered and reissued by Rhino Records with a B-Side, featuring Dacus's "Closer to You" (an outtake from the Hot Streets sessions), and the 12-inch single mix of "Street Player" as bonus tracks. The songs "Street Player" and "Closer to You" had previously been released by other artists: "Street Player" by Rufus, who originally recorded it before Chicago, and "Closer" by Stephen Stills, though with Donnie Dacus on lead vocals. "Street Player" did eventually reach hit status, being sampled for both the 1995 hit "The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall into My Mind)" by The Bucketheads, the 2009 hit "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" by Pitbull and the 2013 remix by dance music producer "Tradelove".

Track listing

Side One

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Vocals	Length
1.	"Street Player"	Danny Seraphine/David "Hawk" Wolinski	Peter Cetera	9:11
2.	"Mama Take"	Cetera	Cetera	4:14
3.	"Must Have Been Crazy"	Donnie Dacus	Dacus	3:26
4.	"Window Dreamin'"	Walter Parazaider/Lee Loughnane	Peter Cetera	4:11
5.	"Paradise Alley"	Robert Lamm	Dacus	3:39

Side Two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Vocals	Length
6.	"Aloha Mama"	Seraphine/Wolinski	Peter Cetera	4:11
7.	"Reruns"	Lamm	Lamm	4:29
8.	"Loser with a Broken Heart"	Cetera	Cetera	4:43
9.	"Life Is What It Is"	de Oliveira/Marcos Valle	Cetera	4:37
10.	"Run Away"	Pankow	Cetera/Dacus	4:18

Bonus Tracks on Rhino Re-issue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Vocals	Length
11.	"Closer to You"	Dacus/Stills/Warner Schwebke	Dacus	4:54
12.	"Street Player (Dance mix)"	Seraphine/Wolinski	Cetera	8:44

Personnel

Chicago

• Peter Cetera – bass, lead and background vocals
• Donnie Dacus – guitar, lead and background vocals
• Laudir de Oliveira – percussion
• Robert Lamm – keyboards, lead and background vocals
• Lee Loughnane – trumpet, background vocals
• James Pankow – trombone, brass arrangements
• Walter Parazaider – woodwinds
• Danny Seraphine – drums

Additional personnel

• David "Hawk" Wolinski – synthesizer on "Street Player"
• Airto Moreira – percussion on "Street Player", "Paradise Alley", "Life Is What It Is" and "Run Away"
• Maynard Ferguson – trumpet on "Street Player"
• "P.C. Moblee" – lead vocals on "Window Dreamin'" and "Aloha Mama" (Moblee was actually Peter Cetera singing in a lower register. His appearance on the album is credited as "courtesy of the Peter Cetera Vocal Company").

Production

• Produced by Phil Ramone and Chicago
• Production Assistant – Michele Slagter
• Engineered and Mixed by Jim Boyer
• Assistant Engineers – John Beverly Jones, Brad Leigh, Peter Lewis, Nick Blagona, Robbie Whelan and Roger Ginsley.
• Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound (New York City, NY).
• Cover Design – John Berg
• Logo Design – Nick Fasciano

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1979	Pop Albums	21

Singles- Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1979	Must Have Been Crazy	Pop Singles	83
1979	Street Player	Black Singles	91