| "How Do I Make You" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Linda Ronstadt | ||||
| from the album Mad Love | ||||
| B-side | "Rambler Gambler" | |||
| Released | January 1980 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:25 | |||
| Label | Asylum Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Billy Steinberg | |||
| Producer(s) | Peter Asher | |||
| Linda Ronstadt singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"How Do I Make You" is a song composed by Billy Steinberg and recorded by Linda Ronstadt in 1980, reaching the top 10 in the United States.
Steinberg stated that he was "a little bit influenced" by the Knack hit "My Sharona" in writing "How Do I Make You". He originally recorded the song with his band Billy Thermal as one of several demos produced while the band was signed to Planet Records. The label ultimately did not release these songs. However, several Billy Thermal demos, including "How Do I Make You", were eventually included on a Billy Thermal EP released by Kinetic Records, a Los Angeles-based independent label. [3]
According to Steinberg, the song's later rise to fame was born from a relationship between Billy Thermal's guitarist, Craig Hull, and Wendy Waldman, a backing vocalist for Linda Ronstadt's live shows: "without asking my permission or anything, Wendy and Craig played the Billy Thermal demos for Linda Ronstadt, and Linda liked the song 'How Do I Make You.'" [3]
"How Do I Make You", which featured Nicolette Larson on backing vocals, [4] was released as an advance single from the album Mad Love . It exemplified Ronstadt's change to a harder-edged style, propelling her stardom briefly in the direction of new wave. Shipped on January 15, 1980, "How Do I Make You" hit number 6 on the Cash Box Top 100 chart. On the Billboard Hot 100, it reached a peak of number 10. [5]
A non-album track, Ronstadt's version of the traditional "Rambler Gambler", was the B-side of "How Do I Make You" and was serviced to C&W radio, charting on the Billboard C&W chart at number 42.
"How Do I Make You" appeared in the U.S. Top 10 for several weeks during March and April 1980. [5] The track hit number 1 on many AOR (Album Oriented Rock) stations' charts. The single was also successful in Australia (number 19) and New Zealand (number 3).
A live version, recorded for an HBO special in April 1980, is included in the 2019 release "Live In Hollywood". [6]
AllMusic critic Mike DeGagne assessed "How Do I Make You" as "a far cry from the ballads, the love songs, and the ample amount of cover versions that [Ronstadt] had charted with in the past" saying "[the track's] quick tempo and pulsating pace had Ronstadt showing some new wave spunk mixed with a desire to rock out a little." [4] However, Rolling Stone critic Stephen Holden, felt that on "How Do I Make You" Ronstadt "frankly imitates Deborah Harry," the lead vocalist of defining new wave act Blondie. He further described the song as "Buddy Holly-like" and that it roughly brackets "How Do I Make You" with earlier Ronstadt hits "That'll Be the Day" (1976) and "It's So Easy" (1977), both remakes of Buddy Holly records. [7]
The 1980 album Chipmunk Punk by Alvin and the Chipmunks featured a cover of How Do I Make You, [8] .
In 2019, Australian hard rock band Baby Animals released a version as the lead single from their first greatest hits album. [9]
| Year-end chart (1980) | Rank |
|---|---|
| US Top Pop Singles (Billboard) [10] | 68 |
Linda Maria Ronstadt is an American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music.
Patricia Lynn Yearwood is an American country singer. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single "She's in Love with the Boy," which became a number one hit on the Billboard country singles chart. Its corresponding self-titled debut album would sell over two million copies. Yearwood continued with a series of major country hits during the early to mid-1990s, including "Walkaway Joe" (1992), "The Song Remembers When" (1993), "XXX's and OOO's " (1994), and "Believe Me Baby " (1996).
William Endfield Steinberg is an American songwriter. He achieved his greatest success in the 1980s with songwriting partner Tom Kelly; together they wrote or co-wrote the No. 1 hits "Like a Virgin" by Madonna (1984), "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (1986), "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles (1989), "So Emotional" by Whitney Houston (1987) and "Alone". They also wrote or co-wrote the hit songs "I Drove All Night", "I Touch Myself" by Divinyls (1990), and "I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders (1994).
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Chipmunk Punk is an album by the Chipmunks, as well as being the first album released by Ross Bagdasarian Jr., after he took over the voices of the Chipmunks after the death of his father in 1972. Despite the title of the album, none of the songs listed are considered to be in the style of real punk rock music. It was released in June 1980. The album peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard 200. It was certified gold by the RIAA on October 14, 1980, becoming the Chipmunks' first gold record. In 2005, it was re-released on CD, although the CD was only available through the official Chipmunks website. In Canada, the album reached No. 59.
"Heat Wave" is a 1963 song written by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team. It was first made popular by the Motown vocal group Martha and the Vandellas. Released as a 45 rpm single on July 9, 1963, on the Motown subsidiary Gordy label, it hit number one on the Billboard Hot R&B chart—where it stayed for four weeks—and peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Don't Know Much" is a song written by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Tom Snow. Mann was the first to record the song in 1980, gaining a minor chart hit in the US. The song was made famous when it was covered as a duet by Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville in 1989. Their version was a worldwide success, topping the Irish Singles Chart and reaching the top 10 in several territories.
"You're No Good" is a song written by Clint Ballard Jr., first performed by Dee Dee Warwick for Jubilee Records in 1963 with production by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It has since been covered by many artists, including charting versions by Betty Everett in 1963, The Swinging Blue Jeans in 1964, and Linda Ronstadt in 1974, whose version was a number 1 hit in the United States.
Prisoner In Disguise (1975) is Linda Ronstadt's sixth solo LP release and her second for the label Asylum Records. It followed Ronstadt's multi-platinum breakthrough album, Heart Like a Wheel, which became her first number one album on the US Billboard 200 album chart in early 1975.
Get Closer is the eleventh studio album by singer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1982.
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My Very Special Guests is a duet album by American country music artist George Jones released in 1979 on the Epic Records label.
Simple Dreams is the eighth studio album by the American singer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1977 by Asylum Records. It includes several of her best-known songs, including her cover of the Rolling Stones song "Tumbling Dice" and her version of the Roy Orbison song "Blue Bayou", which earned her a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. The album also contains covers of the Buddy Holly song "It's So Easy!" and the Warren Zevon songs "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" and "Carmelita". The album was the best-selling studio album of her career, and at the time was the second best-selling album by a female artist. It was her first album since Don't Cry Now without long-time musical collaborator Andrew Gold, though it features several of the other Laurel Canyon-based session musicians who appeared on her prior albums, including guitarists Dan Dugmore and Waddy Wachtel, bassist Kenny Edwards, and producer and multi-instrumentalist Peter Asher.
Living in the USA is the ninth studio album by American singer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1978. The album was Ronstadt's third and final No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
The singles discography of American singer Linda Ronstadt contains 80 lead and collaborative singles, four as a featured artist, eight promotional singles and eight other charted songs. Her first credited release was 1967's "Different Drum", which also included the Stone Poneys along with Ronstadt as a featured artist. Ronstadt's first pair of solo singles were released by Capitol Records in 1969. The 1970 release "Long, Long Time" was her first solo charting single. Her 1974 single "You're No Good" topped the US Hot 100, reached number seven in Canada and number 15 in Australia. Its B-side song "I Can't Help It " reached number two on the US Hot Country Songs list. It was followed by 1975's "When Will I Be Loved", which made the top ten on multiple charts in the United States and Canada, including topping their country surveys. It was followed by the US top five song "Heat Wave" and the US country top five song "Love Is a Rose".
Mad Love is the tenth studio album by singer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1980. It debuted at #5 on the Billboard album chart, a record at the time and a first for any female artist, and quickly became her seventh consecutive album to sell over one million copies. It was certified platinum and nominated for a Grammy.
What's New is an album of traditional pop standards released by American singer/songwriter/producer Linda Ronstadt in 1983. It represents the first in a trilogy of 1980s albums Ronstadt recorded with bandleader/arranger Nelson Riddle. John Kosh designed the album covers for all three albums.
Greatest Hits, Volume 2 is a hits compilation album from American singer/songwriter/producer Linda Ronstadt. It was released in late 1980 on Asylum Records. The record mostly covers Ronstadt's more uptempo singles. The release has sold close to two million copies in the United States alone and was the superstar's eighth consecutive Platinum-certified album.
Linda Ronstadt, Stone Poneys and Friends, Vol. III is the third and final studio album by The Stone Poneys, released on April 29, 1968. Singer Linda Ronstadt would release her first solo album the following year.
John Haeny is an American-born music producer, recording and mixing engineer, sound designer and academic. From the late 1960s through the late 1980s he recorded, mixed and produced hundreds of albums. He worked with a variety of artists across multiple genres including Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Jim Morrison, Tom Jones, Warren Zevon and Linda Ronstadt to Weather Report, John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard and Duke Ellington.
