| Female Trouble | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Nona Hendryx |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 1987 |
| Label: | EMI America |
| Producer: | Dan Hartman, Nona Hendryx |
| Prev Title: | The Heat |
| Prev Year: | 1985 |
| Next Title: | Skin Diver |
| Next Year: | 1989 |
Female Trouble is an album by the American musician Nona Hendryx, released in 1987.[1] [2] It was her first album for EMI America.[3] The album is dedicated to Winnie Mandela. "Why Should I Cry?" was the first single.[4] Female Trouble peaked at No. 96 on the Billboard 200.[5]
Female Trouble was produced mostly by Dan Hartman and Hendryx; Hendryx was unable to find a producer to helm the entire album.[6] Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Jellybean Johnson, and the System also contributed to the album.[7] [8] "Baby Go-Go" was written by Prince; it contains backing vocals from George Clinton and Mavis Staples.[4] "Winds of Change (Mandela to Mandela)", a duet with Peter Gabriel, was inspired by letters sent to Nelson Mandela by Winnie.[4] Bass player T. M. Stevens raps on "Big Fun".[9]
Trouser Press wrote that "Hendryx's irrepressible full-throttle approach makes this an invigorating blast, a tough-minded party record about sex and sexual politics."[10] The Washington Post stated: "Smarter than the average dance tracks, the nine sonically intriguing songs give up new details after repeated listening."[11] The Los Angeles Times opined that, "grossly over-produced by a revolving crew of knob-twirlers, Female Trouble is a textbook example of a funk-rock style best described as Thunderdome Pop."[12]
The St. Petersburg Times deemed "Rhythm of Change" "a hearty heavy metal tune that could match hooks and guts with most any of rock radio's staple songs."[9] The Star Tribune called the album "long on glittery form and short on substance."[13] USA Today determined that Hendryx "is too old and too smart to settle on playing the funky ingenue... Instead, she alternately—and comfortably—plays sexy and serious."[14] The Sydney Morning Herald concluded that, "ballads excepted, it's Hendryx's most impressive album for years."[15]