Nightclubbing (Grace Jones album)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Nightclubbing is the fifth studio album by Grace Jones, released in 1981. It is the second of three post-disco albums that Jones made at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and became Jones' commercial breakthrough and also formed the basis of her groundbreaking concept tour A One Man Show. It claimed the number one slot on NME Album of the Year.
The lead-off single for the album was Sting's "Demolition Man", originally written for Grace Jones but also included on The Police's album "Ghost in the Machine", later that same year. Nightclubbing also includes the hit single "Pull Up to the Bumper", co-written by Jones, which made #53 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1981. After the chart success of compilation Island Life in 1985 the track was re-released as a double a-side together with 1977's "La Vie En Rose" and then reached #12 in the UK in January of 1986. The third single from Nightclubbing in 1981 was "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)" which melded Ástor Piazzolla's Argentine tango classic with a reggae beat, and lyrics partly sung in French. The title track is a cover of an Iggy Pop song, which was co-written by David Bowie and the fourth single release, "Walking in the Rain", was originally recorded by Australian New Wave band Flash and the Pan and included on their eponymous 1979 debut album. Nightclubbing closes with the ballad "I've Done It Again" written by Barry Reynolds, with whom Jones would go on to compose most of the material for 1982's "Living My Life".
The album reached number #35 on the UK Album Chart in May 1981, #9 on Billboard's R&B Albums chart and #32 on Pop Albums, and this in combination with an entirely new androgynous image created by Jean-Paul Goude brought Jones from being a former disco diva with a loyal cult following but dropping sales figures to an international star with mainstream chart success, and resulted in Island Records re-releasing her 1980 album Warm Leatherette worldwide.
The liner notes of the 2006 Universal Music compilation The Grace Jones Story state "A double deluxe CD edition of Nightclubbing is being released in May 2006 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her keynote work", the bonus disc most likely including the original 1981 7" and 12" mixes that were left off the 1998 compilation Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions, namely "Walking In The Rain" (2 different 12" mixes + one 7" edit), "Pull Up To The Bumper" (3 different 12" mixes and also a 7" dub version performed by the Compass Point Allstars called "Peanut Butter"), "Feel Up" (2 different 12" mixes), "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)" (12" Mix) plus the Spanish language 7" version of the latter entitled "Esta Cara Me Es Conocida". For reasons unknown, this deluxe edition however remains unreleased.
Trivia
- The music video for "Pull up to the Bumper" featured clips from Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
