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Blue Rue

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Blue Rue
Studio album by
Gerard McMahon & Kid Lightning
ReleasedJanuary 1981
GenreRock
LabelARC/Columbia
ProducerGerard McMahon, Kid Lightning

Blue Rue is an album by singer/songwriter Gerard McMahon and Kid Lightning. It was released on the ARC/Columbia label in January 1981 as NJC 36986 (LP) and NCT 36986 (cassette).[1] It was distributed internationally by CBS as catalog no. 84880 (LP).

Background

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In 1978 McMahon was chosen by Jerry Bruckheimer to provide the original songs (not the score) for the movie Defiance and when the movie was in post-production there was speculation that the project had potential for a soundtrack album.[2] When the movie premiered in February 1980 – its release was delayed to avoid possible competition with The Warriors[3] – the poster and some ads had the text “Original songs by Gerard McMahon”.[4] One of the songs McMahon wrote for the movie, “Bad Times”, was recorded by Tavares and became a minor hit peaking at number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 64 on Cashbox Top 100 Singles in late February, 1980,[5][6] and managed a peak of number 61 on the Record World Singles chart in early March.[7] McMahon also managed to get the song “Is That You” recorded by KISS for their 1980 album Unmasked. These relative successes led to a publishing deal with the newly formed Amazin’ Music run by former Billy Joel manager Irwin Mazur and, shortly thereafter, a record deal with ARC.[8]

Reception

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Critical reception of the album was varied. Some saw “the most intense, exceptional album of mainstream rock of the year”, one which contained “a hot string of hits”,[9] and featured the “mostt [sic.] ambitious writing heard this year from anybody”.[10] Others called it “a blustering, hollow debut […] a formula effort that fails to find the spark to catch fire”,[11] and a syndicated review from Rolling Stone claimed that the album showcased an “utter lack of emotion”.[12] Most reviewers mentioned a stylistic debt to Bruce Springsteen and/or Tom Petty.[9][13][14] Both Billboard and Cashbox noted that the material on the album should be accessible to both Top 40 and AOR radio formats,[15][16] and critic Robert Hilburn included the album track “Town Girls” on his Alternative Top 10.[17] Despite this the album managed only minor airplay[18][19][20][21] and several radio appearances in early April, 1981, failed to improve that.[22][23] The album failed to chart on the Billboard Top 200.

Track listing

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  1. "Taxi (Nightdriver)"
  2. "Night Woman"
  3. "Gone Tomorrow"
  4. "Town Girls"
  5. "All I Really Need"
  6. "You Know Me Better Than I Do"
  7. "Run Into Your Shadow"
  8. "One More Goodbye"
  9. "Blind Love"
  10. "What've You Gotta Lose"

Personnel

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  • Gerard McMahon – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards
  • Gary Mallaber – drums, percussion, backing vocals
  • John Massaro – guitar, keyboards, harmonica, backing vocals
  • Al Campbell – keyboards, synthesizer
  • Steve Sykes – lead guitar, guitar synthesizer
  • Kenny Lewis – bass, backing vocals

Production

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  • Producer – Gerard McMahon, Kid Lightning
  • Chief Engineer – Joel Soifer
  • Engineer – Bob Deeb

References

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  1. ^ Billboard 1981-01-24, p. 53
  2. ^ Billboard 1979-03-03, p. 19
  3. ^ The Tampa Tribune of Tampa, Florida 1980-02-01, section H p. 1
  4. ^ Newsday of Melville, New York 1980-03-14, section II p. 4
  5. ^ Billboard 1980-02-16, p. 94
  6. ^ Cashbox 1980-02-23, p. 4
  7. ^ Record World 1980-03-01, p. 25
  8. ^ Billboard 1980-07-05, p. 27
  9. ^ a b The Post Star of Glen Falls, New York 1981-03-14, Featurama section p. 5
  10. ^ The Muncie Star of Muncie, Indiana 1981-05-17, section B p. 9
  11. ^ Argus Leader of Sioux Falls, South Dakota 1981-03-19, p. B-1
  12. ^ The Record of Hackensack, New Jersey 1981-04-14, p. A-17
  13. ^ Daily News of New York, New York 1981-04-20, p. 41
  14. ^ Dayton Daily News of Dayton, Ohio 1981-05-17, Leisure section p. 27
  15. ^ Billboard 81-01-31, p. 62
  16. ^ Cashbox 81-01-31, p. 11
  17. ^ The Los Angeles Times of Los Angeles, California 1981-04-26, Calendar section p. 58
  18. ^ Cashbox 1981-02-21, p. 20
  19. ^ Record World 1981-02-28, p. 28
  20. ^ Billboard 1981-03-07, p. 28
  21. ^ Radio & Records 1981-03-13, p. 46
  22. ^ Radio & Records 1981-04-03, p. 42
  23. ^ Radio & Records 1981-04-10, p. 40
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