''Irons in the Fire'' is the third
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American singer-songwriter
Teena Marie, released on August 14, 1980 by
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 ...
. Her first self produced effort, it was dedicated to her father, Thomas Leslie Brockert (1919-1976). It received positive reviews on its release. In a 2009 interview she named it as her personal favourite of all her albums.
Reception
''Irons in the Fire'' peaked at #9 on the Black Albums chart and #38 on the Pop Albums chart. Lead single "I Need Your Lovin'" peaked at #9 on the US Black Singles chart and became her first Top 40 hit on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at #37. It also reached #28 in the United Kingdom, making it Marie's second and last top 30 single in that country. In addition, along with the track "Chains", "I Need Your Lovin'" peaked at number two for two weeks on the dance charts.
"Young Love" was released as the album's second single, peaking just outside the top 40 on the US Black Singles chart.
Track listing
All songs were written by Teena Marie, except where noted.
# "I Need Your Lovin'" – 7:31
# "Young Love" – 5:29
# "First Class Love" – 5:06
# "Irons in the Fire" – 3:33
# "Chains" – 7:11
# "You Make Love Like Springtime" – 4:59
# "Tune in Tomorrow" (Mickey Hearn, Marie) – 6:26
# "You Make Love Like Springtime (Reprise)" – 3:26
Bonus tracks - 2011 Expanded Edition
# "You Make Love Like Springtime (Reprise)" (Extended) – 5:23 (replaces track 8)
# "I'm A Sucker For Your Love' (Live)" – 8:35
# "I Need Your Lovin' (Live)" – 5:31
# "Someday We'll All Be Free (Live)" – 2:26
# "Deja Vu (Live)" – 10:38
# "Square Biz (Live)" – 6:29
Personnel
*James S. Stewart, Jr. – Piano, Electric Piano
*David Taylor, Greg Hargrove, Wali Ali – Electric Guitar
*Nick Brown – Acoustic Guitar
*
Michael Boddicker – Synthesizer
*
Bobby Lyle – Piano
*Allen McGrier,
James Jamerson – Bass
*Paul Hines,
Earl Palmer – Drums
*
Paulinho da Costa – Percussion, Congas
*Thomas "T" Bumpass – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
*William Carroll White, Jr. – Alto Saxophone
*Ray C. Woodard – Tenor Saxophone
*Lloyd Lindroth – Harp
*
Jill Jones, Mickey Hearn, Shirley Mattison,
Ozone
Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...
– Backing Vocals
*
Paul Riser – string arrangements
Technical
*Bobby Brooks – engineer
*Ginny Livingston, Johnny Lee – art direction
*
Ron Slenzak
Ronald J. Slenzak (born January 29, 1948) is an American photographer, best known for photographing record album covers. Some of the album covers that he has photographed include ''Spitfire'' (Jefferson Starship), ''Huey Lewis and the News'' (the ...
– photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Singles
Covers
In 2000, pop singer
Sheena Easton covered "I Need Your Lovin'" as a bonus track on her retro Disco covers album ''
Fabulous
Fabulous may refer to:
*Fabulous (band), a 1990s British rock band
* ''Fabulous'' (album), by Sheena Easton, 2000
*''Fabulous'', an album by the Tamperer featuring Maya, 1999
* "Fabulous" (Charlie Gracie song), 1957
* "Fabulous" (Jaheim song), 200 ...
'' for the Japanese market.
The Cover Girls
The Cover Girls are an all-female, New York city-based freestyle group that achieved most of its chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Among the group's best-known songs are " Show Me, " " Because of You," “ Don't Stop Now,” ...
,
Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Curiosity Killed the Cat was a British pop band that achieved success in the UK in the late 1980s, with hit singles such as " Down to Earth", " Misfit" and " Ordinary Day", from their No. 1 debut album, '' Keep Your Distance''. This was follo ...
have also covered the song.
References
External links
Teena Marie-Irons In The Fire at Discogs
{{Authority control
Teena Marie albums
1980 albums
Albums arranged by Paul Riser
Gordy Records albums