''City of Angels'' is an album by the

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

soul group

The Miracles The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups ...

, released on Motown Records' Tamla label in September 1975. The group's fourth album recorded after replacing lead singer

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

with

Billy Griffin William L. Griffin (born August 15, 1950) is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known for replacing Smokey Robinson as lead singer of The Miracles in 1972. Biography Griffin was born and raised in West Baltimore, Maryland. He attend ...

in 1972, ''City of Angels'' is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, depicting of a man from "Anytown, U.S.A." who follows his estranged girlfriend Charlotte to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, 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 Frederick James Perren (May 15, 1943 – December 16, 2004) was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor. He co-wrote and co-produced songs including "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gay ...

and Moore served as the album's producers. 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, becoming the most successful single of The Miracles' career. Its success coincided with the rise of the

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

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 Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

: ''"Ain't nobody straight in L.A./It seems that everybody is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

."''

Life imitates art

The album's cover depicted The Miracles' "star" on the

Hollywood Walk Of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

, 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 just such a star in Hollywood on March 20, 2009. ''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. The Miracles' ''City Of Angels'' was also a Platinum album with over one million records sold. 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. 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''. 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.

Legacy

Rapper/producer

Danny! Daniel Keith Swain (born August 18, 1983), known mononymously as Danny!, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and composer. Swain rose to prominence after his debut performance on '' Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', where he premiered ...

reinterpreted the plot of "Poor Charlotte" for his 2006 album ''

Charm Charm may refer to: Social science * Charisma, a person or thing's pronounced ability to attract others * Superficial charm, flattery, telling people what they want to hear Science and technology * Charm quark, a type of elementary particle * Ch ...

''.

Track listing

All songs written by William Griffin and

Warren "Pete" Moore Warren Thomas "Pete" Moore (November 19, 1938 – November 19, 2017) was an American singer-songwriter and record producer, notable as the bass singer for Motown group the Miracles from 1955 onwards, and was one of the group's original members. ...

. 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

The Miracles

– lead vocals, guitar, co-composer *

Bobby Rogers Robert Edward Rogers (February 19, 1940 – March 3, 2013) was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Miracles to t ...

– backing vocals * Pete Moore – backing vocals, producer, co-composer *

Ronnie White Ronald Anthony White (April 5, 1939 – August 26, 1995), usually referred to as Ronnie White, was an American singer, best known as the co-founder of The Miracles and its only consistent original member. White was also known for bringing Stevi ...

– backing vocals

Additional

– producer, synthesizer (ARP & string ensemble), vibraphone *Donald Griffin – guitar *Greg Poree – guitar *

Jay Graydon Jay Joseph Graydon (born October 8, 1949, Burbank, California) is an American songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, keyboardist, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two Grammy Awards (in the R&B category) wi ...

– guitar *John Barnes – keyboards, synthesizer *

Ed Greene Ed Greene is an American drummer and session musician. In 1971 he recorded with Donald Byrd (''Ethiopian Knights'', 1972), together with Thurman Green, Harold Land, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Sample, Bobbye Porter Hall, David T. Walker, and Wilton ...

– drums *

James Gadson James Gadson ( James Edward Gadson; born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and ...

– drums *Scott Edwards – bass *

Eddie "Bongo" Brown Eddie "Bongo" Brown (September 13, 1932 – December 28, 1984) was an American musician born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. Brown played congas, Bongo drum, bongos, the gourd and claves for Motown Records' in-house ...

– congas, bongos * Paulinho da Costa – percussion *

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

– vibraphone *Carolyn Willis – vocals *Julia Tillman – vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

References

External links

The Miracles-City Of Angels at Discogs
*

Dusty Groove Dusty Groove is a Chicago-based online record store specializing in new and vintage jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop, world, rare, collectible, and vinyl records and CDs. History Online record store Founded in 1996 by University of Chicago alumn ...

album revie

The Miracles-''City Of Angels'': Original Album cover image
* {{Authority control 1975 albums Concept albums The Miracles albums Tamla Records albums Albums produced by Freddie Perren Albums produced by Pete Moore