Riff Raff | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 1984 | |||
Studio | Maison Rouge Studios, London | |||
Genre | Rock, synth-pop | |||
Label | Arista (UK); Columbia (US) | |||
Producer | Dave Edmunds, Jeff Lynne | |||
Dave Edmunds chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [2] |
Riff Raff is a 1984 album by Welsh rock musician Dave Edmunds. [3] [4] The album was his third release for Arista Records (in the UK) and Columbia Records (in the US), following 1983's Information .
Riff Raff continued Edmunds' collaboration with Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne; Lynne produced six tracks on the albums, and wrote three of the songs. However, compared to the pair's success with Information (which hit #51 on the Billboard 200 album chart and spawned a top-40 single in "Slipping Away"), Riff Raff was a commercial flop. The album made it to only #140. [5] "Something About You" failed to crack the Billboard Hot 100 (although it did hit #16 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart). [6]
Riff Raff was the last time Edmunds and Lynne would collaborate on record. Edmunds wouldn't make another studio album for six years (although he would release a live album in the interim).
The majority of the tracks on Riff Raff are originals by Lynne, Edmunds, and band member John David. The most notable cover is the aforementioned "Something About You", originally a top-20 hit for the Four Tops in 1965. Edmunds also covered the Paul Brady-penned "Steel Claw" which was originally recorded, with a tighter, more frenetic hard rock arrangement, by Tina Turner for her multi-platinum comeback effort, "Private Dancer", released just four months prior.
Chart (1984) | Peak position |
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Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [7] | 26 |
US Billboard 200 [5] | 140 |
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangements with futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. From this point until their first break-up in 1986, Lynne, Bevan, and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.
Jeffrey Lynne is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder and currently the sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970, and as a songwriter has written most of the band's hits, including "Evil Woman", "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Hold On Tight".
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