Matt Bianco (album)

Last updated

Matt Bianco
Matt Bianco Album.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 1986
Recorded1985–1986
Studio P.W.L. Studios, Workhouse, Marquee, Mayfair, Sarm West
Genre Sophisti-pop, Latin pop, dance
Length42:49 (LP)
44:55 (CD)
Label WEA
Producer Mark Reilly, Mark Fisher, Phil Harding
Matt Bianco chronology
Whose Side Are You On?
(1984)
Matt Bianco
(1986)
Indigo
(1988)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Music Week Favourable [2]
Smash Hits 8/10 [3]

Matt Bianco is the second album by the British band Matt Bianco, released in 1986 through WEA. For this album, the band's line-up comprised vocalist Mark Reilly and musician Mark Fisher. Jenni Evans sings backing vocals on nearly every track (and lead vocal on two cuts), but was not listed as an official band member.

Contents

The album was a critical and commercial success, and spawned one of the band's biggest hits, "Yeh Yeh".

Background

Jenni Evans and Mark Fisher were brought in after the departure of Polish singer Basia Trzetrzelewska and keyboard player Danny White, who left the original trio to establish the singer's solo career under the name of Basia.

Evans would leave Matt Bianco shortly after this album, but Fisher would become a long-term member of the group. Fisher, a keyboardist, composer, and studio wizard, contributed a more contemporary sound compared to the band's earlier work. The use of synthesizers increased notably: Yamaha's DX-7 can be heard providing the slap bass in most songs, but the choice of noted studio musicians remained consistent for this album, with Ronnie Ross being the most prominent example.

After completing this album, Matt Bianco took a 13-piece band on a European tour that saw them perform in front of an audience of more than 250,000 attendees in total.

Critical reception

Simon Mills of Smash Hits praised the album, stating that the songs "are totally frivolous and throwaway but at the same time indeniably catchy and irresistible", and wondered why Reilly was not a famous pop star, since "he's devastatingly handsome" and "writes fab, squeaky clean Euro-Latin pop tunes". [3] In a favourable Music Week review, the album was praised for its "stylish bossa nova tunes", and described as "perfect for radio". [2]

Chart performance

In terms of its chart position in the United Kingdom, this album was more successful than the group's debut release, reaching number 26. It also provided three chart singles, although the only one to make the top 50 was the lead "Yeh Yeh". This was issued as a single in September 1985, about six months prior to the album. A cover version of a song which had been a UK number one for Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames in 1965, Matt Bianco's version of "Yeh Yeh" reached number 13 and stayed in the British charts for 10 weeks.

The other two singles from this album, "Just Can't Stand It" and "Dancing in the Street", were both released in 1986, and only charted for 2 and 3 weeks, at no. 66 and no. 64 respectively. Additionally, "Undercover" was released as a single in Germany and France only, but failed to chart.

Track listing

Original release

The CD and LP versions of this album feature a minor difference: "Yeh Yeh" appears in its 12" Dance Mix on the CD and on some LP editions, while the 7" version only appears on some vinyl records. Meanwhile, both the 7" and 12" versions are featured on some (but not all) cassette editions of the album.

  1. "Yeh Yeh" (Single Version) – 3:17 (on some long playing editions only)
    "Yeh Yeh" (12" Dance Mix) – 5:23 (on CD edition and on some LP editions)
  2. "Dancing in the Street" – 3:56
  3. "Undercover" – 4:32
  4. "Fly by Night" – 3:50
  5. "Smooth" – 4:37
  6. "I Wonder" – 3:55
  7. "Just Can't Stand It" – 3:54
  8. "Summer Song" – 5:34
  9. "Sweetest Love Affair" – 3:43
  10. "Up Front" – 5:31

2017 expanded deluxe edition

Disc One
  1. "Yeh Yeh" (12" Dance Mix) – 5:30
  2. "Dancing in the Street" – 3:54
  3. "Undercover" – 4:32
  4. "Fly by Night" – 3:49
  5. "Smooth" – 4:37
  6. "I Wonder" – 3:53
  7. "Just Can't Stand It" – 3:52
  8. "Summer Song" – 5:33
  9. "Sweetest Love Affair" – 3:43
  10. "Up Front" – 5:31
  11. "Yeh Yeh" (Single Version) – 3:16
  12. "Up Front" (Single Version) – 4:18
  13. "More Than I Can Bear" (Re-recorded Version) – 4:20
  14. "Undercover" (Single Version) – 3:35
  15. "Smooth" (Extra Smooth) – 5:26
  16. "Just Can't Stand It" (Maximum K Mix) – 5:20
  17. "Dancing in the Street" (Dance Mix) – 7:00
Disc Two
  1. "Undercover" (12" Version) – 5:34
  2. "It's Getting Late" (Extended Version) – 4:33
  3. "Dancing in the Street" (Dub) – 6:23
  4. "Dancing in the Street" (Instrumental) – 5:27
  5. "Dancing in the Street" (Medley Megamix) – 8:07
  6. "Just Can't Stand It" (Live) – 8:28
  7. "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" (Live) – 4:15
  8. "I Need It" (Live) – 4:53
  9. "Up Front" (Live) – 6:40
  10. "Love Situation" (7" Version) – 3:36
  11. "Love Situation" (Broadway Mix – (Tooting)) – 6:07
  12. "Love Situation" (Dub) – 4:56
  13. "Love Situation" (Remix) – 5:17
  14. "Love Situation" (Instrumental) – 3:34

Personnel

Matt Bianco:

with:

Production and engineering

Other staff

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [19] Gold25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [20] Silver60,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<i>Sacred Love</i> 2003 studio album by Sting

Sacred Love is the seventh studio album by the English musician Sting. The album was released on 29 September 2003. The album featured smoother, R&B-style beats and experiments collaborating with hip-hop artist Mary J. Blige and sitar player Anoushka Shankar. Some songs like "Inside" and "Dead Man's Rope" were well received; and Sting had experimented with new sounds, in particular the more rock-influenced "This War".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeh, Yeh</span>

"Yeh, Yeh" is a Latin soul song written as an instrumental by Rodgers Grant and Pat Patrick, and first recorded by Mongo Santamaría on his album Watermelon Man! in 1963. Lyrics were written for it shortly thereafter by Jon Hendricks of the vocal group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.

<i>Please</i> (Pet Shop Boys album) 1986 studio album by Pet Shop Boys

Please is the debut studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 24 March 1986 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and by EMI America Records in the United States. According to the duo, the album's title was chosen so that people had to go into a record shop and say "Can I have the Pet Shop Boys album, 'Please'?". Please spawned four singles: "West End Girls", "Opportunities ", "Suburbia", and "Love Comes Quickly"; "West End Girls" reached number one in both the UK and the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Bianco</span> British band formed in 1983

Matt Bianco are a British band that were formed in 1983. They are mainly known for their success in the mid-1980s and their jazz, Latin-flavoured music. The group's name suggests that Matt Bianco is a person, often assumed to be an alias for the main member and front man Mark Reilly. According to the group, Matt is "a made up spy, a secret agent; we loved spy TV themes and film scores".

<i>Cant Slow Down</i> (Lionel Richie album) 1983 studio album by Lionel Richie

Can't Slow Down is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Lionel Richie. It was released on October 14, 1983, by Motown Records.

<i>18 Tracks</i> 1999 compilation album by Bruce Springsteen

18 Tracks is an album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1999. All but three selections had been on the boxed set Tracks, released six months before. This single album was intended to capture more casual fans, and thus was oriented towards the shorter, more pop-oriented selections from Springsteen's vault.

<i>The Beautiful Experience</i> 1994 EP by Prince

The Beautiful Experience is an EP by American musician Prince, his second commercial release under the symbolic moniker. The EP contained seven mixes of the song "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" in various formats, some with completely new vocals and/or instrumentation. Of particular note is the "Mustang Mix", in which Prince uses his normal singing voice and additional lyrics to give the song a sexual edge. The maxi-single also spawned two singles, "Staxowax" and "Mustang Mix", which were sold commercially in shops to support it.

<i>Louder Than Words</i> (album) 1996 album by Lionel Richie

Louder Than Words is the fourth studio album by American singer Lionel Richie. It was released by Mercury Records on April 16, 1996, in the United States. The album marked Richie's debut with the record label as well as his first album of new material in 10 years after a longer hiatus during which he went through a much-publicized divorce from his first wife Brenda Harvey and the loss of his father and a close friend. Apart from chief producer James Anthony Carmichael, the singer worked with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Babyface and David Foster on Louder Than Words.

<i>Whose Side Are You On?</i> 1984 studio album by Matt Bianco

Whose Side Are You On? is the debut album by British band Matt Bianco, released in 1984. For this album, Matt Bianco was a trio of Basia Trzetrzelewska (vocals), Mark Reilly (vocals), and Danny White (keyboards).

<i>Heart & Soul</i> (Joe Cocker album) 2004 studio album by Joe Cocker

Heart & Soul is the nineteenth studio album by Joe Cocker, released in the UK on 12 October 2004, and in the US on 1 February 2005. The album is composed solely of cover songs, including a live version of the U2 song "One" taken from Cocker's 2004 Night of the Proms performance in Antwerp, Belgium.

<i>Indigo</i> (Matt Bianco album) 1988 studio album by Matt Bianco

Indigo is the third album by British band Matt Bianco, released in July 1988 through WEA.

<i>Across from Midnight</i> 1997 studio album by Joe Cocker

Across from Midnight is the sixteenth studio album by Joe Cocker, released in 1997.

<i>F.L.M.</i> (album) 1987 studio album by Mel and Kim

F.L.M. is the only studio album by English pop duo Mel and Kim, released on 13 April 1987 by Supreme Records. The album peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It also reached the top five in Australia, Finland and Switzerland, the 10 in Norway and the top 20 in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. Three successful singles are included on the album: "Showing Out", "Respectable" and "F.L.M.".

<i>Hard Knocks</i> (album) 2010 studio album by Joe Cocker

Hard Knocks is the twenty-first and penultimate studio album by Joe Cocker, released on 1 October 2010 by Columbia Records in Europe. It features nine new songs produced by Matt Serletic plus Cocker's version of the Dixie Chicks number "I Hope", which was produced by Tony Brown. Apart from a regular CD release, the album was also released on vinyl.

<i>Quid Pro Quo</i> (album) 2011 studio album by Status Quo

Quid Pro Quo is the twenty-ninth studio album by English rock band Status Quo, released in May 2011. The album debuted at number 10 in the UK Albums Chart and featured 14 new songs, as well as the 2010 version of their 1986 hit "In the Army Now" which was re-recorded in support of the Help for Heroes and British Forces Foundation charities. The accompanying Official Live Bootleg album features 12 older songs recorded by the band in concert in Amsterdam and Melbourne in 2010. In the UK the album was only available at branches of Tesco stores for its first week before being released conventionally on the band's Fourth Chord label on 6 June 2011.

<i>Home</i> (Chris de Burgh album) 2012 studio album by Chris de Burgh

Home is a 2012 album by Irish singer-songwriter Chris de Burgh. The album features acoustic re-recordings of 14 lesser-known songs from de Burgh's back catalogue. It was recorded during June 2012 in de Burgh's home studio in Enniskerry in County Wicklow, Ireland.

<i>Time</i> (Rod Stewart album) 2013 studio album by Rod Stewart

Time is the twenty-eighth studio album by Rod Stewart, it was released on 3 May 2013 in the UK, on 7 May in the US and Canada, and on 8 May in Japan under the title "Time: Toki no Tabibito" (タイム~時の旅人~). In May 2013, Stewart released Time, a rock album of his own original material. It marked a return to songwriting after what Stewart termed "a dark period of twenty years"; he said that writing his autobiography gave him the impetus to write music again. The album entered the top 10 in the US and entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1, setting a new British record for the longest gap between chart-topping albums by an artist, as his last studio album to reach the top spot was A Night on the Town in 1976. The album was certified platinum in the UK on 16 August 2013 and double-platinum on 29 December 2017. Overall, the album was the No. 7 best-selling album of 2013 in the UK. In the United States, the album has sold 141,000 copies as of September 2015.

<i>The Best of Matt Bianco</i> 1990 greatest hits album by Matt Bianco

The Best of Matt Bianco is a compilation album by British band Matt Bianco. It was released in 1990 by Warner Elektra Atlantic Corp.

<i>The Desired Effect</i> 2015 studio album by Brandon Flowers

The Desired Effect is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter and The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers. It was released on May 15, 2015, by Island Records. It was produced by Ariel Rechtshaid and Flowers and mixed by Alan Moulder. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Flowers' second solo number-one album and sixth overall.

<i>Thanks for the Dance</i> 2019 studio album by Leonard Cohen

Thanks for the Dance is the fifteenth and final studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released posthumously through Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings on November 22, 2019. It is the first release following Cohen's death in November 2016, and includes contributions from various musicians, such as Daniel Lanois, Beck, Jennifer Warnes, Damien Rice and Leslie Feist. The song "The Goal" was released with the announcement of the album, on September 20, 2019.

References

  1. "Matt Bianco - Matt Bianco | Album". AllMusic . Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 "LP Reviews" (PDF). Music Week . 15 March 1986. p. 29. ISSN   0265-1548 . Retrieved 24 September 2024 via World Radio History.
  3. 1 2 Mills, Simon (12–25 March 1986). "Albums" (PDF). Smash Hits . Vol. 8, no. 6. p. 59. ISSN   0260-3004 . Retrieved 22 November 2023 via World Radio History.
  4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 194. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  5. "Austriancharts.at – Matt Bianco – Matt Bianco" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  6. "Dutchcharts.nl – Matt Bianco – Matt Bianco" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  7. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Matt Bianco". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 164. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  8. "French Albums Chart See: "Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" => "MATT BIANCO"" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  9. "Offiziellecharts.de – Matt Bianco – Matt Bianco" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  10. "M&D: Classifiche" (in Italian). musicaedischi.it. Retrieved 24 September 2024. (Enter "Matt Bianco" in the "Artista" field and click "cerca".)
  11. "Charts.nz – Matt Bianco – Matt Bianco". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  12. "Swedishcharts.com – Matt Bianco – Matt Bianco". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  13. "Swisscharts.com – Matt Bianco – Matt Bianco". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  14. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  15. "Jahreshitparade Alben 1986". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  16. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1986". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  17. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment . Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  18. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1986". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  19. "Gold & Platinum Awards 1987" (PDF). Music and Media . American Radio History Archive. 26 December 1987. p. 46. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  20. "British album certifications – Matt Bianco – Matt Bianco". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 24 September 2024.