''Dog Eat Dog'' is the 12th studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

, released in 1985. It was her second album for

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. As with its predecessor ''

Wild Things Run Fast ''Wild Things Run Fast'' is the 11th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Her first of four releases for Geffen Records, it was released in 1982 and represents her departure from jazz to a more 1980s pop sound. This was he ...

'', ''Dog Eat Dog'' moves away from Mitchell's previous folk and jazz influences in favour of 1980s studio pop. The album was a particular departure for Mitchell due to its highly synthetic sound – it was the first (and one of the few albums) on which she plays no guitar and on which she focuses entirely on keyboards (mostly synthesizers and the

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lic ...

sampler). ''Dog Eat Dog'' also featured an expanded role for Mitchell's bass-playing husband

Larry Klein Larry Klein (born March 17, 1956) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is based in Los Angeles. He began his career as a bassist, playing with jazz artists Willie Bobo, Freddie Hubbard, Carmen McRae, Joe Henderson, Bobby ...

, who not only co-produced and played keyboards, but played a significant part in shaping the album's technological pop sound and also wrote the music for two of the songs. All guitars were played by session musician

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitch ...

, using an electric/textural approach very different from Mitchell's own. On later albums, Mitchell gradually returned to a more organic approach similar to her mid-'70s sound.

Recording

The British electronic musician

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

provided production on ''Dog Eat Dog''. He and Mitchell clashed in the studio, with Dolby's precise working methods proving incompatible with Mitchell's more freeform approach. Mitchell said: "He'd get excited with some idea and I couldn't get him off the keyboards. Then I'd feel bad. I'd think, oh God, I understand. He's on a creative roll. But he can't because if he does that he'll decorate me right off my own project. He may be able to do it faster. He may even be able to do it better, but the fact is it won't really be my music." Dolby wrote in his memoir that he was "probably too much of a brat, with my own blinkered way of working". On the original issue of the album, Dolby was credited as a co-producer, but on the version released as part of the 2003 Mitchell box set ''The Complete Geffen Recordings'' albums he is only credited with "sound file assistance". Mitchell was enthusiastic about the potential of sampling and played a proactive role in incorporating it. Mitchell recorded the bashed metal sound on "The Three Great Stimulants", sourcing it from an abandoned metal sheeting panel in an alleyway near her New York home, and forced its inclusion despite arguing with Klein and Dolby, who both believed that the sample was too low-fidelity. Mitchell also based "Smokin' (Empty, Try Another)" around the sound of the

cigarette machine A cigarette machine is a vending machine that dispenses packs of cigarettes in exchange for payment. Many modern cigarette machines require customers to swipe an identification card to prevent persons under the legal smoking age from purchasin ...

in the parking lot of A&M. According to her notes about ''The Complete Geffen Recordings'', the machine was played live, not sampled.

Music

In terms of music genres, ''Dog Eat Dog'' was described as " synth-fueled pop" by '' Paste''s Ellen Johnson, and classified under the

pop/rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

category on

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 ...

, having also been thought of by reviewer William Ruhlmann as Mitchell "continuing to straddle the worlds of California folk/pop and

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

". Lyrically, the album dealt with prominent issues in mid-1980s society, such as

Reaganism Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989). A Republican and former actor and governor of California, he energized the conservative movement in the United States from 1964. His basic foreign policy was to equal and ...

televangelists Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning "ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-proc ...

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...

and

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

in Ethiopia. "Good Friends" was recorded as a duet with Michael McDonald, Rod Steiger made a voiceover appearance on "Tax Free" as a televangelist, while Dolby and Bob "Zyg" Winard added humorous character vocal interjections in the background to "Shiny Toys". Some connections to Mitchell's past work are evident in the use of horn sections, and also by appearances from

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

and saxophonist

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Davi ...

Release

"Shiny Toys" and "Good Friends" were both released as singles. A video was produced for "Good Friends" using film animation by

Jim Blashfield Jim Blashfield (born September 4, 1944, Seattle, Washington) is an American filmmaker and media artist, best known for his short films such as ''Suspicious Circumstances'' and ''The Mid-Torso of Inez'', and his music videos for musicians Talking He ...

. "Shiny Toys" was also released in a 12" extended dance single format, remix by

François Kevorkian François Kevorkian (born 10 January 1954), also known by the stage name François K, is a French-born, U.S.-based DJ, producer, remixer and label owner of Armenian descent, who started his career DJing in clubs such as the Paradise Garage an ...

, and had a more complete lyric than the album version, featuring additional spoken character voices by Thomas Dolby ("I LOVE being out on the golf course!").

Track listing

Credits taken from Mitchell's official website.

Personnel

*Joni Mitchell – vocals, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, sound effects, cover painting *

– keyboards, synthesizers, bass, programming; spoken vocals on "Fiction" *

– keyboards, synthesizers, programming; spoken vocals on "Fiction" and "Shiny Toys" *Joe Smith – spoken vocals on "Fiction" *

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger (; April 14, 1925July 9, 2002, aged 77) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Cited as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars," he is closely assoc ...

– spoken vocals (evangelist speech) on "Tax Free" *Bob "Zyg" Winard – spoken vocals on "Shiny Toys" *

– guitar *

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...

– guitar on "Smokin' (Empty, Try Another)" *

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...

– flute, tenor saxophone on "Shiny Toys" *Kazu Matsui – shakuhachi icon "Ethiopia" *

– soprano saxophone on "Impossible Dreamer", tenor saxophone on "Lucky Girl" *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', ''Rock with You'', ...

– trumpet, flugelhorn, horn arrangement on "Shiny Toys" *Gary Grant – trumpet, flugelhorn on "Shiny Toys" *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Colai ...

– drums, samples *

Alex Acuña Alejandro Neciosup Acuña (born December 12, 1944), known professionally as Alex Acuña, is a Peruvian-American drummer and percussionist. Background Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands such as La Orquesta de los Hermanos Neci ...

– bata drum on "Impossible Dreamer" *Michael Fisher – percussion samples * Michael McDonald – vocals on "Good Friends", background vocals on "Tax Free" *

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. He is the drummer and one of the lead singers for the Eagles. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as "Witchy Woman", "Despe ...

– background vocals on "Tax Free", "Dog Eat Dog" and "Shiny Toys" *

Amy Holland Amy Celeste Boersma, known professionally as Amy Holland, is an American pop rock singer, songwriter, and composer. Holland's music career spans more than 30 years. She received a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist in 1981, following h ...

– background vocals on "Tax Free" Technical *Mike Shipley – engineer, mixing *Bob "Zyg" Winard, Dan Marien – assistant engineers *Glen Christensen – art direction

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1985 albums Joni Mitchell albums Albums produced by Thomas Dolby Albums produced by Larry Klein Geffen Records albums Albums with cover art by Joni Mitchell Experimental pop albums