Smoke Signals (Smokey Robinson album)

Last updated
Smoke Signals
Smoke Signals (Smokey Robinson).jpg
Studio album by
Released1986
Recorded1986
Genre R&B, soul
Length42:53
LanguageEnglish, Spanish
Label Motown
Producer Smokey Robinson, Reginald "Sonny" Burke
Smokey Robinson chronology
Essar
(1984)
Smoke Signals
(1986)
One Heartbeat
(1987)

Smoke Signals is a studio album by the American singer Smokey Robinson, released in 1986 by Motown. [1] [2] "Be Kind to the Growing Mind", featuring the Temptations, encourages songwriters to avoid distasteful lyrics. [3] "Hold On to Your Love" was written with Stevie Wonder. [4] Robinson supported the album with a North American tour. [5]

Contents

Critical reception

The Houston Chronicle wrote: "Less personal than many of his solo projects, Smoke Signals is reassuring, if not a renewal for Robinson." [6] The San Diego Union-Tribune noted that Robinson "retains his inimitable sense of cheerful optimism and wholesomeness." [7] The Chicago Sun-Times deemed the album "a little too much in the middle-of-the-road." [8]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Smokey Robinson; except where indicated

  1. "Some People (Will Do Anything for Love)" (Bobby Sandstrom, Michael Price) - 4:22
  2. "Sleepless Nights" (Alan Gorrie, Michael Mugrage) - 4:07
  3. "Because of You (It's The Best It's Ever Been)" - 4:12
  4. "Be Kind to the Growing Mind" (featuring the Temptations) - 4:45
  5. "Te Quiero Como Si No Hubiera Un Mañana (I'm Gonna Love You Like There's No Tomorrow)" (Robinson, Ivory Stone, Mark Davis) - 4:21
  6. "Hold On to Your Love" (Robinson, Stevie Wonder) - 5:12
  7. "Photograph in My Mind" (J.C. Crowley, Tom Campbell) - 3:51
  8. "No Time to Stop Believing" (Don Black, Simon Climie) - 4:11
  9. "Wishful Thinking" (Bobby Sandstrom, Michael Price, David Paul Bryant) - 4:05
  10. "Hanging On by a Thread" (Robinson, Davis) - 3:45

Personnel

Production

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References

  1. Brogan, Daniel (3 Jan 1986). "Smokey Robinson's 'Smoke Signals'...". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. 48.
  2. The Complete Encyclopedia of African American History Jessie Carney Smith, Lean'tin Bracks, Linda T Wynn - 1578595835 2015 - Page 386 "Between 1986 and 1991 Robinson released five more albums, including Smoke Signals, One Heartbeat, and Love, Smokey."
  3. "Tracks of Smokey's Tears Left on Broadway". Part II. Newsday. 29 Dec 1986. p. 7.
  4. Gilbert, Calvin (January 24, 1986). "Robinson's voice, songs still strong on 'Signals'". Fun. The Advocate. Baton Rouge. p. 2.
  5. DeVault, Russ (August 16, 1986). "Smooth Smokey Robinson – He's been singer, writer, talent scout, executive and happy". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. L23.
  6. Spies, Michael (February 2, 1986). "Records". Zest. Houston Chronicle. p. 13.
  7. Varga, George (March 9, 1986). "Robinson art alive in 'Smoke Signals'". The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. E4.
  8. Hoekstra, Dave (July 18, 1986). "Smoke Signals". Weekend Plus. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 7.