City of Angels (The Miracles album)
City of Angels is an album by the Motown soul group The Miracles, released on Motown Records' Tamla label in September 1975. The group's fourth album recorded after replacing lead singer Smokey Robinson with Billy Griffin in 1972, City of Angels is a concept album, depicting of a man from "Anytown, U.S.A." who follows his estranged girlfriend Charlotte to Los Angeles, where she has gone in hopes of becoming a star. All of the tracks on the album were written by Billy Griffin and Miracles bass singer Pete Moore. Freddie Perren and Moore served as the album's producers.
| City of Angels | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 17, 1975 | |||
| Recorded | 1975 | |||
| Studio | Crystal Sound Recorders (Los Angeles, California) | |||
| Genre | Soul, progressive soul, disco | |||
| Length | 51:47 | |||
| Label | Tamla | |||
| Producer | Freddie Perren, Pete Moore | |||
| The Miracles chronology | ||||
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| Singles from City of Angels | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B[2] |
The album's first single, "Love Machine", peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 6, 1976, and was a multi-million-selling platinum single,[3] becoming the most successful single of The Miracles' career. Its success coincided with the rise of the disco craze of the late 1970s. Another song on City of Angels, "Ain't Nobody Straight in L.A.", caused controversy due to addressing the subject of homosexuality: "Ain't nobody straight in L.A./It seems that everybody is gay."[4]
City of Angels reached 33 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States, and peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Black Albums chart.[5] The Miracles' City Of Angels was also a Platinum album with over one million records sold.[3]
The song "Overture" from that album, co-written by Moore and Billy Griffin, was used as the official theme on Radio Monte Carlo in France from 1978 to 1979.[6] While not available on CD in the U.S. until more recently, City of Angels was available in its entirety on the Motown import release, The Miracles – The Essential Collection.[7]
In 2010, Motown released City Of Angels on CD in the U.S. for the first time – on Hip-O Select's "Motown Select" website, with the extended 12" version of "Love Machine" as a bonus track. Along with a never-before released essay by writer David Nathan, it included commentary by Miracles members Pete Moore and Billy Griffin, the album's composers.[8]
Walk of Fame star edit
The album's cover depicted The Miracles' "star" on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, although the group actually did not have such a star back in 1976. However, life eventually did imitate art, as The Miracles were honored with a star in Hollywood on March 20, 2009.[9][10]
Legacy edit
Rapper/producer Danny! reinterpreted the plot of "Poor Charlotte" for his 2006 album Charm.[11]
Track listing edit
All songs written by William Griffin and Warren "Pete" Moore.
Side one
- "Overture" – 3:10
- "City of Angels" – 4:50
- "Free Press" – 3:15
- "Ain't Nobody Straight In L.A." – 3:48
- "Night Life" – 4:27
Side two
- "Love Machine" – 6:52
- "My Name is Michael" – 3:00
- "Poor Charlotte" – 6:05
- "Waldo Roderick DeHammersmith" – 3:06
- "Smog" – 5:16
Personnel edit
The Miracles edit
- Billy Griffin – lead vocals, guitar, co-composer
- Bobby Rogers – backing vocals
- Pete Moore – backing vocals, producer, co-composer
- Ronnie White – backing vocals
Additional edit
- Freddie Perren – producer, synthesizer (ARP & string ensemble), vibraphone
- Donald Griffin – guitar
- Greg Poree – guitar
- Jay Graydon – guitar
- John Barnes – keyboards, synthesizer
- Ed Greene – drums
- James Gadson – drums
- Scott Edwards – bass
- Eddie "Bongo" Brown – congas, bongos
- Paulinho da Costa – percussion
- Victor Feldman – vibraphone
- Carolyn Willis – vocals
- Julia Tillman – vocals
Charts edit
Weekly charts edit
References edit
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen. "City of Angels- The Miracles". All Music. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ a b . Gbelv.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen. "City of Angels- The Miracles". Billboard. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen. "City of Angels- The Miracles". All Music. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
- ^ "WBMM Warren "Pete" Moore". Gbelv.com. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
- ^ "The Miracles, The Essential Collection: The Miracles: Music". Amazon. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
- ^ "HIPO". Hip-oselect.com. January 29, 2010. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
- ^ "LIFE". LIFE. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
- ^ "The Miracles Hollywood Star". Varley. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
- ^ Richardson, Mark. "Danny!: Biography". Artistdirect. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
- ^ "The Miracles US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 202. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
External links edit
- The Miracles-City Of Angels at Discogs
- Dusty Groove album review [1]
- The Miracles-City Of Angels: Original Album cover image
- Dick Clark interviews The Miracles on their "City Of Angels" album on ABC's American Bandstand (1975) on YouTube