''Big Girls Don't Cry'' is an album by American music duo

The Weather Girls The Weather Girls are an American female duo whose best-known line-up comprised Martha Wash and Izora Armstead. Formed in 1976 in San Francisco, California, The Weather Girls members began their musical career as Two Tons O' Fun, the female back ...

, released in 1985. It was the group's final album on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

,. The music drew on influences from 1960's sounds. It was less successful than its predecessor, '' Success'' (1983).

Critical reception

Writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Ron Wynn gave a mixed review to the record, describing the songs on it as "formula pop-soul and dance filler." Wynn also stated that group "never really were allowed to showcase their real personalities or styles." Music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

thought that the duo "takes it one step further and make soul a cartoon, with the title cut the masterstroke." Christgau further commented: "They'll cop material anywhere--debut single's from

Jesse Winchester James Ridout "Jesse" Winchester Jr. (May 17, 1944 – April 11, 2014) was an American-Canadian musician and songwriter. He was born and raised in the southern United States. Opposed to the Vietnam War, he moved to Canada in 1967 to avoid b ...

. And if at first their tricks seem inspired, by the time you get to

Creedence Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

and

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

they're beginning to sound obvious."

Track listing

# "Lock Me Up" (Doug James,

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

) – 4:16 # "

Big Girls Don't Cry Big Girls Don't Cry may refer to: Music * ''Big Girls Don't Cry'' (Lynn Anderson album), 1968 * ''Big Girls Don't Cry'' (The Weather Girls album), 1986 * "Big Girls Don't Cry" (Fergie song), 2007 * "Big Girls Don't Cry" (The Four Seasons song), ...

" (

Bob Crewe Robert Stanley Crewe (November 12, 1930 – September 11, 2014) was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. He was known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio, a string of Top 10 singles for the Four Season ...

Bob Gaudio Robert John Gaudio (born November 17, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the pop/rock band the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote and produced the vast majori ...

) – 3:25 # "Well-A-Wiggy" (

) – 4:31 # "No One Can Love You More Than Me" (

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

, Billy Livsey) – 4:55 # "

Down on the Corner "Down on the Corner" is a song by the American band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It appeared on their fourth studio album, ''Willy and the Poor Boys'' (1969). The song peaked at No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 20 December 1969. The flip ...

" (

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American mu ...

) – 3:56 # "March" (

Peter Zizzo Peter Eric Zizzo (born February 22, 1966) is an American songwriter, music producer, musician and writer. Zizzo is also a stage and television actor, having appeared in the Showtime series Billions in 2021. Zizzo has written hits for artists suc ...

) – 3:39 # "

Laughter in the Rain "Laughter in the Rain" is a song composed and recorded by Neil Sedaka, with lyrics by Phil Cody. It includes a 20-second saxophone solo by Jim Horn. Background The song was released on Elton John's Rocket Records. After hearing a version of "L ...

" (

, Phil Cody) – 3:15 # "You Can Do It" (

Evie Sands Evie Sands (born July 18, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. Sands' music career spans more than 50 years. She began her career as a teenager in the mid-1960s. After a rocky start, she eventually found chart success in 1969, be ...

, Richard Germinaro,

Ben Weisman Benjamin Weisman (November 16, 1921 – May 20, 2007) was an American composer. He wrote 57 songs recorded by Elvis Presley, more than any other songwriter. Biography Weisman was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and grew up in Brooklyn, New Yor ...

) – 4:28

Personnel

;The Weather Girls *Izora Armstead - lead vocals *Martha Wash - lead vocals ;Musicians *

Elliott Randall Elliott Randall (born June 15, 1947) is an American guitarist best known for being a session musician with popular artists. Randall played the well-known guitar solos from Steely Dan's song "Reelin' in the Years" and Irene Cara's song " Fame". The ...

Georg Wadenius Georg "Jojje" Wadenius (born 4 May 1945) is a Swedish multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was particularly active during the 1970s and 1980s as a studio and session guitarist and bassist, as well as for a series of albums of childr ...

, Scott Zito - electric guitar *Elliott Randall,

- acoustic guitar *

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 1 ...

- alto saxophone *Gregg Mangiafico - synthesizer programming *

Leon Pendarvis Leroy Leon Pendarvis (born 1945) is an American session musician. He plays keyboards and is a background vocalist. He is also an occasional guitarist. The artists he has worked with over the years include Bonnie Raitt on her ''Streetlights'' albu ...

– acoustic piano, drum and synthesizer programming, arrangements *Sammy Merendino - drum programming *

Jimmy Maelen Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

- additional percussion *Carl Hall, Izora Armstead, Martha Wash, Ula Hedwig - backing vocals ;Technical * Joe Venneri –

audio engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound * Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum * Digital audio, representation of sou ...

, associate producer, mixing * Jeff Kent – producer, mixing *

Hank Medress Henry "Hank" Medress (November 19, 1938 – June 18, 2007) was an American singer and record producer, best known for his taking part in the American band The Tokens. Biography Medress was born in Brooklyn, New York City, where he attended "Abra ...

– producer *

Charles Koppelman Charles Koppelman (March 30, 1940 – November 25, 2022) was an American musician, music producer, and businessman. He held executive positions at EMI and Steve Madden, and he was Chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. At the time of his d ...

– executive producer *John Berg - art direction *Gary Heery - photography

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1985 albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Charles Koppelman The Weather Girls albums