''Love Zone'' is the sixth studio album by British R&B singer and songwriter

Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles, (born 21 January 1950), better known by his stage name Billy Ocean, is a British recording artist who had a string of R&B international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British R&B singer-son ...

, released in April 1986 through

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, an ...

. Three singles were released from the album including Ocean's second US No. 1 hit "

There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" is a song by English singer Billy Ocean from his sixth studio album, ''Love Zone'' (1986). The song was written and produced by Wayne Brathwaite and Barry Eastmond; Ocean was also credited as a co-writer ...

" and the US top ten hit " Love Zone". It also features the UK No. 1 and US No. 2 single "

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" is a popular witticism in American English. The phrase is an example of antimetabole. The origin of the phrase has been attributed to various sources. It appears to come from American football par ...

", which had originally been released as a single from the soundtrack to the 1985 film ''

The Jewel of the Nile ''The Jewel of the Nile'' is a 1985 American Action film#Action-adventure, action-adventure romantic comedy film directed by Lewis Teague and produced by Michael Douglas, who also starred in the lead role, and reunites with co-stars Kathleen Tur ...

''. A critical and commercial success, it became his highest charting album in both the UK and the US, where it peaked at number two and number six respectively, and was certified

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for shipments of over 2 million copies.

Critical reception

''Love Zone'' received favourable reviews from critics. ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' magazine noted that "Ocean just floats along on this smooth" album and that "the moods ecreates are so richly romantic they shouldn’t be inflicted on the brokenhearted". The album received a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nomination in the category of

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male *From 1969 to 1994 it was awarded as Best R&B V ...

. Ocean also won two

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Produc ...

, including for Favorite Pop/Rock Single.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Production and artwork

* Executive producer on track 1 –

Robert John "Mutt" Lange Robert John "Mutt" Lange (born 11 November 1948) is a South African record producer and songwriter, mainly known for his work in rock music as well as his previous marriage to Canadian singer Shania Twain, for whom he wrote and produced several ...

* Producers – Barry J. Eastmond and Wayne Brathwaite * Engineers – Steve Power (1-7 & 9); Bryan "Chuck" New (Track 8) * Mixing – Nigel Green (Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 8 & 9); Bryan "Chuck" New (Tracks 2, 6 & 7) * Cover photography – Rob Lee

References

External links

* 1986 albums Billy Ocean albums Pop rock albums by English artists Jive Records albums Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios {{1980s-pop-album-stub