How Cruel Explained

How Cruel is a 12-inch one-sided EP by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, which was released in November 1979 on A&M. The title track had previously appeared on Armatrading's live album Steppin' Out, which was not released in the US. The EP was released in the US and elsewhere, but not in the UK.^[1] It peaked at #19 on the Norwegian Albums Chart.^[2] It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 23rd Annual Grammy Awards in 1981.^[3] The single from this EP was "Rosie"/"How Cruel" (1979/1980), which reached #49 in the UK and #52 in Australia.^{[4] [5]} "Rosie" was included on Armatrading's first compilation album, 1983's Track Record, as well as her 2004 live album . All four tracks from this EP were placed at the start of the second CD of Armatrading's 2003 compilation album Love and Affection: Joan Armatrading Classics (1975–1983).

Track listing

All tracks composed by Joan Armatrading.

1. "Rosie" – 3:10
2. "How Cruel" – 3:04
3. "He Wants Her" – 3:15
4. "I Really Must Be Going" – 4:27

Personnel

• Joan Armatrading – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
• Richard Hirsch, Winston Delandro – guitar
• Ben Adkins, Bill Bodine, Durban Betancourt-Laverde – bass
• James Lascelles, Mike Storey, Red Young – keyboards
• Gary Mallaber, Richard Bailey – drums
• Lon Price – saxophone on "How Cruel"

Technical

• Henry Lewy, Skip Cottrell, Chris Tsangarides – engineers

Charts

Year-end charts

Notes and References

1. Book: Larkin, Colin. The Virgin Encyclopedia of Seventies Music. registration. Virgin. 1997. 19. 1852279478.
2. Web site: Joan Armatrading . Norwegiancharts.com . Hung Medien . 12 May 2017.
3. Web site: Grammy Awards: Best Rock Vocal Performance – Female. Rock on the Net. 12 May 2017.
4. Book: Roberts, David. 2006. British Hit Singles & Albums. 19th. Guinness World Records Limited . London. 1-904994-10-5. 29.
5. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian)

   . David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. St. Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. Illustrated. 19. 0-646-11917-6.

6. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Album 1980. dutchcharts.nl. 18 February 2021.