The Big Heat (album) explained

The Big Heat
Type:Studio
Artist:Stan Ridgway
Cover:Stan Ridgway The Big Heat.jpg
Released:1986
Studio:Fiddler's Studio, J.C. Studios and The Lighthouse, Hollywood, CA
Genre:New wave, alternative rock, avant-pop[1]
Length:42:15
Label:I.R.S.
Producer:Joe Chiccarelli, Mitchell Froom, Hugh Jones, Bill Noland, Stan Ridgway, Louis van den Berg
Next Title:Mosquitos
Next Year:1989

The Big Heat is the debut solo album by American musician Stan Ridgway (former Wall of Voodoo vocalist), released in 1986 by I.R.S. Records. Named after the 1953 film noir of the same name, the original release consisted of nine songs, including the No. 4 UK hit "Camouflage".[2] In 1986, the album reached No. 131 on the Billboard 200. The album was re-released in 1993 with six additional tracks and again re-released in 2007.

Recording

Ridgway said of the album, "I wanted to bring a lot of influences to the surface. In Voodoo, we would take the influences and hide them. I wanted to move along and be able to do a jazz song. My heroes are people like Miles Davis who go through different musical stages and don't get stagnant."[3]

Reception

Spin said, "A man of few words, he makes every line count for something — either an image that evokes a scene or a line of dialogue that evokes a character. His decision to build and record in his own studio has paid off with a well-balanced sound that has lots of space for odd acoustic instruments to dart in and out of his synth-based arrangements."[4]

Track listing

Accolades

YearPublicationCountryAccoladeRankclass=unsortable
1986 Best France"Albums of the Year" 3 [5]
1986 Q United Kingdom"Albums of the Year" [6]
1986 Sounds United Kingdom"Albums of the Year" [7]
1990 Mucchio Selvaggio Italy"The Best Albums of the 80s" [8]
1990 Velvet Italy"The 100 Best Albums of the 80s" [9]
1991 Rock & Folk France"The 250 Best Albums from 1966-1991" 3
1999 Panorama Norway"The 30 Best Albums of the Year 1970-98" 19
2002 Mucchio Selvaggio Italy"100 Best Albums by Decade" 1-20
"*" denotes an unordered list.

Chart positions

Album
Chart (1986)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[10] 61
Germany (Media Control Charts)[11] 38
Netherlands (MegaCharts)[12] 62
Norway (VG-lista)[13] 11
Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade)[14] 27
US Top Pop Albums (Billboard)[15] 131
Singles
YearTitlePeak Chart positions
width=25px[16] width=25px[17] width=25px[18] width=25px[19] width=25px[20] width=25px[21] width=25px[22] width=25px[23] width=25px
Indie[24]
1985"The Big Heat"— — — — — — — — 13
"Drive She Said"60 — — — — — — — —
1986"Camouflage"76 17 7 8 2 11 11 4 —
"The Big Heat (Remix)"91 — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes singles that were released but did not chart.

Personnel

Adapted from The Big Heat liner notes.[25]

Musicians
Musicians (cont.)
Production and additional personnel

Release history

RegionDateLabelFormatCatalog
Spain1986EpicCD, CS, LP40-2687
United KingdomI.R.S.CD, LP1008
United StatesCD, LP5637
1993CDX2 0777 7 13125 26
United Kingdom2012WaterCDWater252

Notes and References

  1. Grimstad . Paul . What is Avant-Pop? . The Brooklyn Rail.
  2. https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/House%20Of%20Bamboo Stan Ridgway: Camouflage
  3. RAM. The Far Side of Voodoo. Bill Forman. 284. 16. 21 May 1986.
  4. . Spins. Mark Fleischmann. May 1986. 13. 34.
  5. Web site: Best - Albums of the Year. 2009-12-03 . Best.
  6. Q - Albums of the Year. 2009-12-03 . Q.
  7. Web site: Sounds - Albums of the Year . 2009-12-03 . Rocklist.net.
  8. Web site: Mucchio Selvaggio - The Best Albums of the 80s . 2009-12-03 . Mucchio Selvaggio.
  9. Web site: Velvet - The 100 Best Albums of the 80s . 2009-12-03 . Velvet.
  10. 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. 252.
  11. Web site: Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat . offiziellecharts.de . August 9, 2016.
  12. Web site: Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat . dutchcharts.nl . June 29, 2015.
  13. Web site: Stan Ridgeway - The Big Heat . 2009-12-02 . NorwegianCharts.com.
  14. Web site: Stan Ridgeway - The Big Heat . 2009-12-02 . HitParade.ch.
  15. Web site: [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=stan ridgway|chart=Billboard 200}} Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - Stan Ridgway ]. 2008-06-03 . .
  16. Web site: Stan Ridgway . australian-charts.com . August 8, 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160921012309/http://www.australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=27219 . September 21, 2016 .
  17. Web site: Stan Ridgway . austriancharts.at . August 8, 2016.
  18. Web site: Stan Ridgway . ultratop.be . August 8, 2016.
  19. Web site: Stan Ridgway . offiziellecharts.de . August 9, 2016.
  20. Web site: Stan Ridgway Discography . 2009-12-02 . irishcharts.ie .
  21. Web site: Stan Ridgway . August 8, 2016 . dutchcharts.nl .
  22. Web site: Stan Ridgway . August 8, 2016 . hitParade.ch .
  23. Web site: Stan Ridgway Discography. August 8, 2016 . officialcharts.com .
  24. Book: Lazell, Barry . Indie Hits 1980-1989 . Cherry Red Books . 1997 . June 29, 2015 . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20110605133215/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/r.htm . June 5, 2011 .
  25. The Big Heat . . 1985 . sleeve . . Hollywood, California.

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