One Step Closer (The Doobie Brothers album) explained

One Step Closer
Type:	Album
Artist:	the Doobie Brothers
Cover:	The Doobie Brothers - One Step Closer.jpg
Released:	September 17, 1980
Recorded:	1980 at Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood; Warner Bros. Recording Studios, North Hollywood; United Sound Recorders, Detroit; and A&R Recorders, New York
Genre:	Rock
Length:	37:41
Label:	Warner Bros.
Producer:	Ted Templeman
Prev Title:	Minute by Minute
Prev Year:	1978
Next Year:	1981

One Step Closer is the ninth studio album by American rock band the Doobie Brothers. The album was released on September 17, 1980, by Warner Bros. Records. The album included the hit "Real Love", which reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. This album is the band's last studio album with Michael McDonald in the lineup until 2014's Southbound, and also the first studio album to feature John McFee as a member of the band.

Personnel

The Doobie Brothers

• Patrick Simmons – guitars, lead and backing vocals
• John McFee – guitars, backing vocals
• Michael McDonald – keyboards, synthesizers, lead and backing vocals
• Cornelius Bumpus – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, organ, lead and backing vocals
• Tiran Porter – bass
• Keith Knudsen – drums, backing vocals
• Chet McCracken – drums, vibraphone, marimbas

Additional personnel

• Bobby LaKind – congas, bongos, backing vocals
• Nicolette Larson – backing vocals on "Real Love", "Dedicate This Heart", and "Just In Time"
• Patrick Henderson – keyboards on "Real Love", "One By One", and "Keep This Train A-Rollin'"
• Lee Thornburg – trumpet on "South Bay Strut" and "Keep This Train A-Rollin'", flugelhorn for "Dedicate This Heart"
• Chris Thompson – backing vocals on "No Stoppin' Us Now"
• Ted Templeman – tambourine, cowbell, maracas, backing vocals on "One Step Closer"^[1]
• Jerome Jumonville – tenor saxophone, horn arrangements on "Keep This Train A-Rollin'"
• Joel Peskin – baritone saxophone on "Keep This Train A-Rollin'"
• Bill Armstrong – trumpet on "Keep This Train A-Rollin'"
• Jimmie Haskell – string arrangements on "Real Love" and "South Bay Strut"

Production

• Producer – Ted Templeman
• Production Assistant – Joan Parker
• Production Coordination – Susyn Schope
• Engineer – James Isaacson
• Second Engineer – Gene Meros
• Mastering – Kent Duncan and Tim Dennan at Kendun Recorders (Burbank, CA).
• Photography – Norman Seeff
• Art Direction and Design – Jim Welch

Charts

Chart (1980–81)	Peak position
Australian (Kent Music Report)^[2]	18
Canada (RPM)^[3]	18
New Zealand (RIANZ)^[4]	22
UK (Official Charts)^[5]	53
US (Billboard 200)^[6]	3

Notes and References

1. Book: Ted . Templeman. Greg . Renoff. Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music. ECW Press. 2020. 311. 978-1770414839.
2. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 92.
3. Web site: RPM Search Engine . March 31, 2004 . . PHP.
4. Web site: The Doobie Brothers . . Hung Medien . ASP . June 28, 2011.
5. Web site: Artist Chart History: Doobie Brothers . . October 1, 2021.
6. The Doobie Brothers Chart History: Billboard 200 . . October 1, 2021.