''Party'' is the fifth solo studio album by American rock singer

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

. It was released in June 1981 by record label Arista. For this record, Pop collaborated with

Ivan Kral Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

, who is best known as the guitar and bass player for

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''. Called the "punk poe ...

in the 1970s.

Recording

When Arista heard the album, they brought in former

Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conce ...

producer

Tommy Boyce Sidney Thomas "Tommy" Boyce (September 29, 1939 – November 23, 1994) and Bobby Hart (born Robert Luke Harshman; February 18, 1939) were a prolific American duo of singer-songwriters. In addition to three top-40 hits as artists, the duo is ...

to remix " Bang Bang". According to Iggy Pop's autobiography ''I Need More'', he wrote "Bang Bang" because Arista Records wanted a single and he promised them a commercial album. He originally wanted

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

Mike Chapman Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian-American record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi ...

to produce the song. Iggy claimed he got the idea for the song from reading '' The Right Stuff'' at a local bookstore. "Eggs On Plate" was originally known as "Don't Put the Brakes On Tonight" and was originally written for

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session music ...

Release

''Party'' was released in June 1981. The album peaked at number 166 in the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Top 200. " Bang Bang was released as a single the same month, charting at number 35 on the Billboard Club Play Singles Chart. ''Party'' is the last of Pop's three albums with Arista Records, following ''

New Values ''New Values'' is the third studio album by American musician Iggy Pop. It was released in July 1979 by record label Arista. Background ''New Values'' was Pop's first record for Arista and the first collaboration by Pop and James Williamso ...

'' and ''

Soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

''. Buddha reissued the album in 2000 with two bonus tracks: "Speak to Me" and a

cool jazz Cool jazz is a style of modern jazz music that arose in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by relaxed tempos and lighter tone, in contrast to the fast and complex bebop style. Cool jazz often employs formal arrangements and ...

rendition of the standard "

One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" is a hit song written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the movie musical '' The Sky's the Limit'' (1943) and first performed in the film by Fred Astaire. Background Harold Arlen described the so ...

Critical reception

''Party'' has been poorly received by critics. Charlotte Robinson of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

called it "a bizarre train wreck of an album". Mark Deming of

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 ...

wrote "Part of Iggy Pop's unique sort of integrity is that the man doesn't seem to know how to sell out, even when he tries, and ''Party'', one of the strangest albums of his career, is living proof."

Tour

The ''Party'' tour was documented on the '' Live in San Fran 1981'' CD (released in 1983) and DVD (released in 2005). This performance was filmed on November 25, 1981 at the

Warfield Theatre The Warfield Theatre, colloquially referred to as The Warfield, is a 2,300-seat music venue located in San Francisco, California. It was built as a vaudeville theater and opened as the '' Loews Warfield'' on May 13, 1922. History In the 1920s, ...

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Tour personnel *

– vocals *

Carlos Alomar Carlos Alomar (born 7 May 1951) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican guitarist. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, having played on more Bowie albums than any musician other than pianist Mike Garso ...

– guitar * Gary Valentine – guitar * Rob Duprey – guitar * Michael Page –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Clem Burke Clement Burke (born Clement Anthony Bozewski; November 24, 1954) is an American musician who is best known as the drummer for the band Blondie from 1975, shortly after the band formed, throughout the band's entire career. He also played drums f ...

– drums Noticeably absent from tour was the album's guitarist and song co-writer

Ivan Král Ivan Kral (12 May 1948 – 2 February 2020) was a Czech Americans, Czech-born American composer, filmmaker, guitarist, record producer, bassist, and singer-songwriter. He worked across genres including pop music, punk rock, garage rock, rock, ja ...

Track listing

Personnel

* Iggy Pop – vocals *

– guitar, keyboards * Rob Duprey – guitar * Michael Page – bass guitar * Dougie Bowne – drums * Jimmy Whizner – arrangements on "Sea of Love", "Bang Bang" and "Time Won't Let Me" * Uptown Horns –

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

on "Pleasure", "Sincerity", "Houston Is Hot Tonight" and "Happy Man"

Charts

Use in media

* The song "Pumpin' for Jill" was featured in the second-season episode ''Chuck Versus the Ex'' of ''

Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Party (album) 1981 albums Iggy Pop albums Arista Records albums Albums produced by Thom Panunzio