''No Lookin' Back'' is the second solo

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 musician Michael McDonald. It was released on July 30, 1985 by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, three years after his debut studio album, '' If That's What It Takes'' (1982); this was his last album to be released by Warner Bros. For the first time, he co-produced and wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks. It features contributions from guitarists

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr B ...

(

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

James Gang James Gang is an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh (guitars, lead vocals), Tom Kriss (bass), and ...

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Springfield ...

and

David Pack David Robert Pack (born July 15, 1952) is an American singer and musician who co-founded the rock band Ambrosia (band), Ambrosia in the 1970s. Career As performer Pack was co-founder, guitarist and main vocalist for the band Ambrosia (band), A ...

from

Ambrosia In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus ...

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on ...

on drums ( Toto,

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from live ...

), plus the former

Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

member

Willie Weeks Willie Weeks (born August 5, 1947) is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also ga ...

on bass, and

Cornelius Bumpus Cornelius Bumpus (May 7, 1945 – February 3, 2004) was an American woodwind, brass and keyboard player and vocalist from Santa Cruz, California. Biography Bumpus began his musical career playing alto saxophone at ten for his school band, and by ...

providing horns. On release, the album was received favorably by the majority of music critics and peaked at No. 45 on the US ''

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

''. Three singles were issued from ''No Lookin' Back'': "

No Lookin' Back ''No Lookin' Back'' is the second solo studio album by American musician Michael McDonald. It was released on July 30, 1985 by Warner Bros. Records, three years after his debut studio album, '' If That's What It Takes'' (1982); this was his ...

", "Bad Times" and "Lost in the Parade". The album's first and leading single, "No Lookin' Back", was co-written by

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

and was a commercial success, peaking at No. 4 on the

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart and No. 34 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album was re-released one year later in 1986. The re-released version changed around the track order and featured different album cover artwork, along with the inclusion of the hit single " Sweet Freedom" from the soundtrack of the

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...

and

Gregory Hines Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...

film '' Running Scared'' as well as a slightly shortened version of "Our Love".

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians * Michael McDonald – lead and backing vocals (all tracks), keyboards (1), synthesizers (2-9),

Hammond B3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

(5, 7) * Mike Hanna – synthesizers (2) * Chuck Sabatino – synthesizers (3, 5), backing vocals (3, 5) * Chris Pelonis – programming (3, 4, 7) * Scott Plunkett – synthesizer horns (4),

sequencing In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which succ ...

(7) * Brian Mann – synthesizers (6, 8) *

Randy Goodrum Charles Randolph Goodrum (born July 7, 1947) is an American songwriter, pianist, and producer. Goodrum has written number one songs in each of the four decades since his first number one hit, 1978's "You Needed Me". Goodrum's songs have appeare ...

– synthesizers (9) *

– guitar (1, 2, 4, 7), synthesizers (4), rhythm guitar (9) *

–

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

(2) *

– guitar (3), lead guitar solo (9) *

– bass (1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9) *

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degr ...

– bass (2) *

– drums (1-5, 7, 8, 9), cymbals (6) * George Perilli – drums (1), programming (4) * Staff Fieldhouse –

electronic drums Electronic drums is a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sound ...

(4, 8) * Roger Nichols – drums (6) * Paulinho da Costa – percussion (6, 9) *

– tenor saxophone (3, 5)

Production

* Producers – Michael McDonald and Ted Templeman * Production coordination – Joan Parker and Kathy Walker * Engineer and Mixing – Ross Pallone * Second engineer – Mike Wuellner * Additional engineers – Lee Herschberg, Jim Pace and Grady Walker. * Mixed at Hollywood Sound Recorders (Hollywood, CA). * Originally mastered by

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other m ...

Masterdisk Masterdisk is an American multimedia company in New York, located at 8 John Walsh Boulevard in Peekskill. They provide production services such as audio mastering, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD production. Their clients include such no ...

(New York, NY). * CD mastering by Lee Herschberg at Amigo Studios (Los Angeles, CA). * Art direction –

Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff (born January 20, 1947) is an American record executive who has worked for A&M, Warner Records, Virgin U.S., Work Group, Apple, and Shangri-La Music. He founded Rock the Vote in 1990 in response to a censorship campaign aga ...

* Design – Jeri McManus * Front photography – Joel Levinson * Back photography – Brian Aris

Sales chart performance

;Album ;Singles

References

External links