''Slug Line'' is the third album by

John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New wave music, new wave, blues, and country music, country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Gramm ...

, released in 1979. It was the first of two albums with

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

. It was his first charting album, reaching No. 202 on Billboard's album charts, and also the highest-charting album during his first 15 years as a recording artist.

Critical reception

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' wrote that "Hiatt evinces a talent for disarmingly pretty ballads."

Track listing

All tracks written by John Hiatt, except where noted # "You Used to Kiss the Girls" – 2:36 # "The Negroes Were Dancing" – 2:46 # "Slug Line" – 3:02 # "Madonna Road" – 4:23 (Hiatt, Jim Wismar) # "(No More) Dancin' in the Street" – 2:22 # "Long Night" – 5:18 # "The Night That Kenny Died" – 2:37 # "Radio Girl" – 2:57 # "You're My Love Interest" – 3:19 # "Take Off Your Uniform" – 4:08 # "Sharon's Got a Drugstore" – 2:12 # "Washable Ink" – 3:15

Personnel

*John Hiatt – guitar, vocals *Jon Paris – guitar, bass guitar *Doug Yankus – guitar *Veyler Hildebrand – bass *Etan McElroy – piano, background vocals on "Long Night" * B.J. Wilson – drums *

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" (" Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, science ficti ...

– drums * Bruce Gary – drums *Thom Mooney – drums *

Todd Cochran Todd Cochran (born September 3, 1951) is an American pianist, composer, keyboardist, essayist, and conceptual artist. Early in his career he was also professionally known as Bayeté. Cochran started his career as a teenager with saxophonist John ...

– piano, organ ;Technical * Denny Bruce – producer *Russ Gary – engineer *

John Van Hamersveld John Van Hamersveld (born September 1, 1941, Baltimore, Maryland, United States) is an Americans, American graphic artist and illustrator who designed record jackets for pop and psychedelic bands from the 1960s onward. Among the 300 albums are the ...

– art direction *Nick Rozsa – cover photography

References

John Hiatt albums 1979 albums MCA Records albums Albums produced by Denny Bruce {{1970s-rock-album-stub