Voice of America (Little Steven album) explained
Voice of America is the second solo studio album by Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul released on May 7, 1984, four weeks before Bruce Springsteen released Born in the U.S.A.
This album traded in the horns and the R&B influences of the previous Men Without Women for a raw, garage rock sound. Politics came to the lyrical forefront, with the general theme being opposition to the Reagan Era's American foreign policy.
"Out of the Darkness", a synthesizer-led anthem with sweeping arena rock and hair metal atmosphere, garnered some airplay, as well as music video play on MTV, and was effective in concert, while the somewhat softer and evocative "Checkpoint Charlie" also received considerable radio airplay. "Los Desaparecidos" gained praise as an effective protest song on behalf of the 1970s and 1980s victims of state-sponsored forced disappearance in South America. On other songs, the political viewpointing became more strident and was criticized as somewhat artless.
"I Am a Patriot", which held roughly that dissent was not disloyalty, became a favorite song of Jackson Browne, who covered it on his 1989 album World in Motion, and who frequently performed it in his concerts. In 2004, the two would duet on the song during the last of the Vote for Change shows. Pearl Jam has covered the song as well.
In 2019, the album was remastered for release as part of Van Zandt's career-spanning box set . The digital deluxe edition of the album was released on October 25, 2019, containing 10 bonus tracks, including the studio outtake "Rock N Roll Rebel", which was written following Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen's 1983 removal from Disneyland due to their clothing being deemed inappropriate.[2] The digital deluxe edition also includes the reissued Vote! bonus EP.
Personnel
- Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul
- Little Steven – lead vocals, guitar, arrangements
- Jean Beauvoir – bass, vocals
- Dino Danelli – drums
- Monti Louis Ellison – congas, African talking drum, shekere, wind chimes, tambourine, timbales, backing vocals
- Pee Wee Weber – keyboards, backing vocals
- Zoë Yanakis – oboe, backing vocals, additional keyboards
- Additional musicians
- Technical
- Little Steven – producer, package design
- John Rollo – engineer, production assistance
- Leif Mases – engineer
- Jean Trenchant – engineer
- Bob Clearmountain – mixing
- Zoë Yanakis – production assistance, assistant engineer
- Peter Hefter – assistant engineer
- Malcolm Pollack – additional engineer, assistant mixing engineer
- Peter Millius – additional assistant engineer
- John Davenport – additional assistant engineer
- Mikael Hogstrand – additional assistant engineer
- Dave Greenberg – additional assistant engineer
- Bruce Lampcov – additional assistant engineer
- Wally Traugott – mastering
- Henry Marquez – art direction
- Dino Danelli – package design, song titles design
- Jim Marchese – photography
- Mark Weiss – photography
- CLE Print – reprographics[3]
- Bonus tracks
"Vote!"
- Little Steven – lead guitar, producer, arrangement
- Darlene Love – backing vocals
- Jean Beauvoir – co-producer
- Zoë Yanakis – engineer
- Steven Escallier – engineer
- Paul Ray – engineer
- Dominic Maita – engineer
- Steven Thompson – mixing
- Mike Barbiero – mixing
- Greg Calbi – mastering
- Recorded at Pantheon Studios (Arizona), Sunset Sound (Los Angeles), RPM Studios (New York City)[4]
- "Caravan", "I Don't Want to Go Home"
- Little Steven – vocals, guitar
- Jean Beauvoir - bas
- Benjamin King - keyboards
- Dino Danelli - drums
- Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg - trombone
- Crispin Cioe - baritone saxophone
- Arno Hecht - tenor saxophone, flute
- Paul Litteral - trumpet
- Nelson Bogart - trumpet
- Monti Louis Ellison - percussion
- Zoë Yanakis - oboe[5]
- "Inside of Me"
- Little Steven – vocals, piano[6]
Charts
Album
Singles
- "Vote!" was also released as a single but did not chart.
Notes and References
- Russell, Lisa. "Little Steven (Van Zandt) Says Goodbye to the Boss". People. Time Inc., 10 Sept. 1984. Web. 2 Apr. 2017. "The timing of Van Zandt’s LP—Bruce’s came out only four weeks after Voice of America—is also proving to be a little off."
- Web site: 5 famous people banned, barred or ejected from Disneyland for behaving badly. Macdonald. Brady. timesheraldonline.com. August 9, 2019. August 23, 2022.
- Voice of America. Album liner notes. Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul. . 1984.
- Web site: Vote That Mutha Out!. 1984 . discogs.com. August 23, 2022.
- Web site: Rockpalast Night 16-17 October 1982: Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. rockpalastarchiv.de. August 23, 2022.
- Web site: Little Steven - Inside Of Me (solo piano) - French TV 1983. youtube.com. August 23, 2022.
- "Norwegian Charts > Little Steven"
- "Swedish Charts > Little Steven"
- "Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul Songs (Top Songs/Chart Singles Discography)"
