The Big Heat (album)

This article is about the Stan Ridgway album. For the Leslie Cheung album, see Big Heat (album).

The Big Heat
Studio album by
Stan Ridgway
Released1986
StudioFiddler's Studio, J.C. Studios and The Lighthouse, Hollywood, CA
GenreNew wave, alternative rock, avant-pop[1]
Length42:15
LabelI.R.S.
ProducerJoe Chiccarelli, Mitchell Froom, Hugh Jones, Bill Noland, Stan Ridgway, Louis van den Berg
Stan Ridgway chronology
The Big Heat
(1986) 		Mosquitos
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Village VoiceB[3]

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".[4] 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.

Recording

Ridgway said of the album, "I wanted to bring a lot of influences to the surface. In Voodoo, we would take the influences and hide them. I wanted to move along and be able to do a jazz song. My heroes are people like Miles Davis who go through different musical stages and don't get stagnant."[5]

Reception

Spin said, "A man of few words, he makes every line count for something — either an image that evokes a scene or a line of dialogue that evokes a character. His decision to build and record in his own studio has paid off with a well-balanced sound that has lots of space for odd acoustic instruments to dart in and out of his synth-based arrangements."[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Stan Ridgway, except where otherwise indicated.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."The Big Heat"4:26
2."Pick It Up (And Put It in Your Pocket)"4:32
3."Can't Stop the Show"3:45
4."Pile Driver"4:44
5."Walkin' Home Alone"4:31
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Drive, She Said"4:11
2."Salesman"5:23
3."Twisted"3:37
4."Camouflage"7:05
CD edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
10."Rio Greyhound"3:12
1993 remastered CD track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Stormy Side of Town" 5:02
12."Foggy River"Fred Rose4:32
13."End of the Line" 5:51
14."Nadine"Chuck Berry3:26
15."Can't Stop the Show" (live) 3:53
16."Drive, She Said" (live) 4:39
  • 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
1986 Best France "Albums of the Year" 3 [7]
1986 Q United Kingdom "Albums of the Year" * [8]
1986 Sounds United Kingdom "Albums of the Year" * [9]
1990 Mucchio Selvaggio Italy "The Best Albums of the 80s" * [10]
1990 Velvet Italy "The 100 Best Albums of the 80s" * [11]
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

Personnel

Adapted from The Big Heat liner notes.[27]

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

References

  1. ^ Grimstad, Paul. "What is Avant-Pop?". The Brooklyn Rail.
  2. ^ McDonald, Steven. "The Big Heat – Stan Ridgway". AllMusic. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert (July 1, 1986). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  4. ^ Stan Ridgway: Camouflage OfficialCharts.com Accessed September 2, 2007.
  5. ^ Bill Forman (May 21, 1986). "The Far Side of Voodoo". RAM. No. 284. p. 16.
  6. ^ Mark Fleischmann (May 1986). "Spins". Spin. No. 13. p. 34.
  7. ^ "Best - Albums of the Year". Best. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  8. ^ "Q - Albums of the Year". Q. Archived from the original on January 4, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  9. ^ "Sounds - Albums of the Year". Rocklist.net. Archived from the original on February 16, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  10. ^ "Mucchio Selvaggio - The Best Albums of the 80s". Mucchio Selvaggio. Archived from the original on May 16, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  11. ^ "Velvet - The 100 Best Albums of the 80s". Velvet. Archived from the original on May 16, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  12. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 252. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ^ "Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat". offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  14. ^ "Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  15. ^ "Stan Ridgeway - The Big Heat". NorwegianCharts.com. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  16. ^ "Stan Ridgeway - The Big Heat". HitParade.ch. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  17. ^ "Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - Stan Ridgway". Nielsen Company, Billboard. Retrieved June 3, 2008.
  18. ^ "Stan Ridgway". australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  19. ^ "Stan Ridgway". austriancharts.at. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  20. ^ "Stan Ridgway". ultratop.be. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  21. ^ "Stan Ridgway". offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  22. ^ "Stan Ridgway Discography". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  23. ^ "Stan Ridgway". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  24. ^ "Stan Ridgway". hitParade.ch. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  25. ^ "Stan Ridgway Discography". officialcharts.com. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  26. ^ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  27. ^ The Big Heat (sleeve). Stan Ridgway. Hollywood, California: I.R.S. Records. 1985.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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