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.

Track listing

• Before the album's release, the track "Pick It Up (And Put It in Your Pocket)" was used in a 1985 episode of Miami Vice.

Accolades

Year	Publication	Country	Accolade	Rank	class=unsortable
1986	Best	France	"Albums of the Year"	3	^[3]
1986	Q	United Kingdom	"Albums of the Year"		^[4]
1986	Sounds	United Kingdom	"Albums of the Year"		^[5]
1990	Mucchio Selvaggio	Italy	"The Best Albums of the 80s"		^[6]
1990	Velvet	Italy	"The 100 Best Albums of the 80s"		^[7]
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)^[8]	61
Germany (Media Control Charts)^[9]	38
Netherlands (MegaCharts)^[10]	62
Norway (VG-lista)^[11]	11
Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade)^[12]	27
US Top Pop Albums (Billboard)^[13]	131

Singles

Year	Title	Peak Chart positions
		width=25px	^[14]	width=25px	^[15]	width=25px	^[16]	width=25px	^[17]	width=25px	^[18]	width=25px	^[19]	width=25px	^[20]	width=25px	^[21]	width=25px	^Indie^[22]
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.^[23]

• Stan Ridgway – lead vocals, guitar (A3, A5, B1, B2, B4), keyboards (A1, A4, B2-B4), harmonica (A1, B1), banjo (A2), bass guitar (B3), production (A3-A5), engineering (A3-A5)

Musicians

• K. K. Barrett – drums (B1)
• Chris Becerra – drums (B4)
• Joe Berardi – drums (A5)
• Hugo Burnham – percussion (A2)
• Luis Cabaza – bass guitar (B2)
• Mr. Christopher – violin (A1), cello (A1)
• Mark Cohen – banjo (A4), mandolin (A4)
• John Dentino – keyboards (A1)
• Bruce Fowler – trombone (A5)
• Richard Gibbs – instruments (B2)
• Richard Greene – violin (A2)
• Mark Lewis – backing vocals (B4)
• Mark Morris – backing vocals (B4)
• Bill Noland – keyboards (A1, B1, B2), piano (A2), production (B2)

Musicians (cont.)

• Joe Ramirez – backing vocals (A4), drum programming (A4), guitar (B1)
• Tom Rechoin – percussion (A2)
• Steve Reid – percussion (B2)
• Mark Terlizzi – bass guitar (A3)
• Louis van den Berg – keyboards (A3-A5, B3, B4), producer (A3-A5), engineering (A3-A5)
• Mike Watt – bass guitar (A3)
• Pietra Wexstun – backing vocals (A3)
• Eric Williams – guitar feedback
• Bruce Zelesnik – drums (A1)

Production and additional personnel

• Joe Chiccarelli – production (B2), engineering (B2), mixing (B2)
• Mitchell Froom – production (A2), keyboards (A2)
• Carl Grasso – art direction
• Jim Hill – engineering (A2)
• Hugh Jones – production (A1, B1), engineering (A1, B1), mixing (A1), keyboards (A1)
• Scott Lindgren – photography, cover art
• Andy Waterman – mixing (A2-A5, B1)

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
Spain	1986	Epic	CD, CS, LP	40-2687
United Kingdom		I.R.S.	CD, LP	1008
United States			CD, LP	5637
	1993		CD	X2 0777 7 13125 26
United Kingdom	2012	Water	CD	Water252

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. Web site: Best - Albums of the Year. 2009-12-03 . Best.
4. Q - Albums of the Year. 2009-12-03 . Q.
5. Web site: Sounds - Albums of the Year . 2009-12-03 . Rocklist.net.
6. Web site: Mucchio Selvaggio - The Best Albums of the 80s . 2009-12-03 . Mucchio Selvaggio.
7. Web site: Velvet - The 100 Best Albums of the 80s . 2009-12-03 . Velvet.
8. 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.
9. Web site: Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat . offiziellecharts.de . August 9, 2016.
10. Web site: Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat . dutchcharts.nl . June 29, 2015.
11. Web site: Stan Ridgeway - The Big Heat . 2009-12-02 . NorwegianCharts.com.
12. Web site: Stan Ridgeway - The Big Heat . 2009-12-02 . HitParade.ch.
13. Web site: [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=stan ridgway|chart=Billboard 200}} Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - Stan Ridgway ]. 2008-06-03 . .
14. 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 .
15. Web site: Stan Ridgway . austriancharts.at . August 8, 2016.
16. Web site: Stan Ridgway . ultratop.be . August 8, 2016.
17. Web site: Stan Ridgway . offiziellecharts.de . August 9, 2016.
18. Web site: Stan Ridgway Discography . 2009-12-02 . irishcharts.ie .
19. Web site: Stan Ridgway . August 8, 2016 . dutchcharts.nl .
20. Web site: Stan Ridgway . August 8, 2016 . hitParade.ch .
21. Web site: Stan Ridgway Discography. August 8, 2016 . officialcharts.com .
22. 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 .
23. The Big Heat . . 1985 . sleeve . . Hollywood, California.