Rockbird Explained

Rockbird is the second solo studio album by American singer Debbie Harry.^[1] It was released in November 1986 by Geffen Records in the United States and Chrysalis Records in the United Kingdom.

Background

Rockbird was released four years after the split of Blondie in 1982. Harry had largely put her music career on hold during the mid-1980s in order to look after Blondie guitarist and boyfriend Chris Stein, who had been diagnosed with a serious illness. The album was produced by Seth Justman, a key member of the J. Geils Band. Released in November 1986, there were four variations of the album artwork with the lettering in either green, orange, pink and yellow (with slight variations due to printing techniques).

A stylized version of the album's cover photo appears on the cover of select editions of the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Critical reception

Trouser Press wrote that the album "paves a pop path Harry can navigate, but the material is weak."^[2] The Los Angeles Times wrote that "the songs--which tend to be about ne’er-do-well boyfriends and romantic escapades--are tethered to jacked-up rhythms that don’t go down so well on the dance floor."^[3] Chris Heath of Smash Hits magazine was more positive, giving the album 7 out of 10 and stating "Nothing else is quite as brilliant as the current single "French Kissin' In The USA", but there's plenty of the aggressive sprightly pop songs that Blondie used to do so well, the odd slightly swoonsome ballad, and a couple of throwaway disco songs. How very nice it is to have her back".^[4]

Commercial performance

Rockbird peaked at number 31 on the UK Albums Chart, and remained in the charts for 11 weeks. It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in January 1987 for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies. In the United States, the album peaked at number 97 on the Billboard 200.

Three singles were released from the album, "French Kissin' in the USA", which reached #8 in the UK, and is Harry's only solo top-10 single in that country, as well as "In Love with Love" and "Free to Fall", which reached #45 and #46, respectively. "French Kissin'" also reached #57 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and #3 in Australia. "In Love with Love" was remixed by Stock Aitken Waterman and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Track listing

All tracks produced by Seth Justman. Side A runs from tracks 1-4 and side B from tracks 5-9 in cassette and vinyl versions.

Personnel

Musicians

• Deborah Harry – lead vocals, backing vocals (1, 3-9)
• Seth Justman – keyboards, arrangements, bass and drum programming (1, 2, 4, 6-8), backing vocals (1, 3-9)
• Phil Ashley – synthesizer programming, keyboards (1, 2, 4-8), bass and drum programming (1, 2, 4, 6-8)
• Jimmy Rip – guitars
• Toni C. (Antoinette Colandero) – additional guitars (1)
• Chris Stein – additional guitars (4, 7, 8), bass and drum programming (4, 7, 8), additional arrangements (4, 7, 8)
• Neil Jason – bass (3, 5, 6, 9)
• Yogi Horton – drums (3, 6, 9)
• Mickey Curry – drums (5)
• Gordon Gottlieb – percussion (2-4, 8, 9)
• Magic Dick – harmonica (1)
• James White – saxophone solo (1)
• Crispin Cioe – alto sax solo (2), alto saxophone (3, 5, 9), baritone saxophone (3, 5, 9)
• Arno Hecht – tenor saxophone (3, 5, 9)
• Bob Funk – trombone (3, 5, 9)
• Paul Litteral – trumpet (3, 5, 9)
• Jocelyn Brown – backing vocals (1, 2, 5, 6)
• Connie Harvey – backing vocals (1, 2, 5, 6)
• La-Rita Gaskins – backing vocals (1, 2, 5, 6)
• Fonda Rae – backing vocals (3)
• Judith Spears – backing vocals (3)
• Cookie Watkins – backing vocals (3)
• Jay Siegel – backing vocals (4)

Production and artwork

• Seth Justman – producer
• Bill Scheniman – recording, mixing
• John Alters – assistant engineer
• David Avidor – assistant engineer
• Ken Collins – assistant engineer
• Jon Goldberger – assistant engineer
• Jack Kennedy – assistant engineer
• Michael O'Haro – assistant engineer
• Rick Slater – assistant engineer
• Ken Steiger – assistant engineer
• Kent Wagner – assistant engineer
• Greg Calbi – mastering
• Kyle Davis – production coordinator
• Stephen Sprouse – cover design
• Andy Warhol – background painting
• Paula Greif – art direction
• Guzman (Constance Hansen and Russell Peacock) – photography
• Mixed at Counterpoint Studios (New York, NY).
• Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).

Charts

Chart (1986–1987)	Peak position
Australian (Kent Music Report)[5]	18
European Albums (Music & Media)[6]	78
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[7]	40

Notes and References

1. Web site: Debbie Harry, On Beyond Blondie. Richard. Harrington. November 30, 1986. www.washingtonpost.com.
2. Web site: Debbie Harry . Trouser Press . 12 October 2020.
3. Web site: FALL ALBUM ROUNDUP : DEBBIE HARRY: CANDY-BOX POP. November 23, 1986. Los Angeles Times.
4. Debbie Harry: Rockbird (album review) . Heath . Chris . Smash Hits . 19 November 1986 . 92 .
5. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. St Ives, N.S.W.. Australian Chart Book. 1993. 134. 0-646-11917-6.
6. European Hot 100 Albums . . 3 . 49 . December 13, 1986 . 21 . 29800226 . World Radio History.
7. Book: Pennanen, Timo . Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 . Finnish . 1st . Helsinki . . 2006 . 978-951-1-21053-5.