Up to No Good explained

Up to No Good
Type:	Album
Artist:	Peter Wolf
Cover:	Peter Wolf - Up to No Good.JPG
Alt:	A painting of a woman in a teddy sitting on a bed
Released:	1990
Studio:	16th Avenue Sound and Emerald Studios (Nashville, TN); The Bennett House and The Castle (Franklin, TN).
Genre:	Rock, hard rock
Length:	43:23
Label:	MCA
Producer:	Peter Wolf, Robert White Johnson, Taylor Rhodes
Prev Title:	Come As You Are
Prev Year:	1987
Next Title:	Long Line
Next Year:	1996

Up to No Good is the third solo album by the American musician Peter Wolf, released in 1990 on MCA Records.^[1]

Production

The album was produced by Wolf, Robert White Johnson, and Taylor Rhodes.^[2] "Never Let It Go" is about the car crash that killed Wolf's high school girlfriend.^[3]

Critical reception

The Calgary Herald missed "the juvenile appeal that Wolf lucked into just before he and his J. Geils Band buddies went their separate ways." The Toronto Star wrote that "it's a charming record, a lively and knowledgeable tome that finds its ground somewhere between the Detroit and Philadelphia schools of soul, while standing firm on a harder rock footing."^[4]

The Ottawa Citizen labeled some of the songs "classic primal funk with a conscience." The Globe and Mail dismissed the album as "just one more attempt to capitalize on the appealing, but somewhat limited, rockaboogie sound Geils and company milked throughout the seventies."^[5]

Track listing

All songs written by Peter Wolf, Taylor Rhodes and Robert White Johnson, unless noted otherwise.

1. "99 Worlds" – 3:35
2. "Go Wild" – 3:43
3. "When Women Are Lonely" – 3:45
4. "Drive All Night" (Wolf, Desmond Child) – 3:42
5. "Up to No Good" – 4:33
6. "Lost in Babylon" – 3:57
7. "Arrows and Chains" – 3:25
8. "Daydream Getaway" (Janna Allen, Wolf) – 3:44
9. "Shades of Red – Shades of Blue" – 4:07
10. "River Runs Dry" – 5:01
11. "Never Let It Go" (Wolf, Will Jennings) – 3:57

Personnel

• Peter Wolf – vocals, backing vocals, harmonica
• Mike Lawler – keyboards
• Alan St. John – keyboards
• Byron House – keyboards, bass
• Taylor Rhodes – keyboards, guitars, percussion, backing vocals
• Johnny Neel – acoustic piano
• Matt Rollings – acoustic piano
• Larry Chaney – guitars
• Jeff Golub – guitars
• Barry Tashian – guitars
• Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass
• Angus Thomas – bass
• Bobby Chouinard – drums
• Robert White Johnson – percussion, backing vocals
• Terry McMillan – harmonica
• Arno Hecht – horns
• Jim Horn – horns
• Sam Levine – horns
• Wayne Jackson – horns
• Vicki Hampton – backing vocals (7, 11)
• Kim Morrison – backing vocals (7, 11)

Technical personnel

• Peter Wolf – producer
• Robert White Johnson – producer
• Taylor Rhodes – producer
• Rob Feaster – engineer, mixing
• Paula Montondo – assistant engineer
• Bob Ludwig – mastering at Masterdisk (New York, NY)
• Manhattan Design – design
• Todd Schorr – cover painting
• Bobby DiMarzo – black and white photography
• Jeff Katz – color photography

Charts

Year!scope="col"

Chart	Position
1990	The Billboard 200^[6]	111

Notes and References

1. News: Morse . Steve . Lone Wolf . The Boston Globe . 25 Feb 1990 . B27.
2. News: Milward . John . What Is Peter Wolf Up to These Days? . The Philadelphia Inquirer . 19 Apr 1990 . E1.
3. News: Heim . Chris . Peter Wolf and Nick Lowe resurface on new labels . Chicago Tribune . 9 Mar 1990 . Friday . Q.
4. News: Potter . Mitch . Peter Wolf Up to No Good . Toronto Star . 23 Mar 1990 . D18.
5. News: Niester . Alan . Up to No Good Peter Wolf . The Globe and Mail . 23 Apr 1990 . C7.
6. Web site: Peter Wolf . Billboard . 8 March 2023.