''Spoiled Girl'' is the 12th studio album by American singer-songwriter

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...

, released by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

, in June 1985. Recorded with a variety of producers in New York, this was Simon's only album for Epic. It was commercially unsuccessful when originally released, peaking at No. 88 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 album chart, but has gone on to become a cult favorite within Simon's back catalogue. The album produced two singles: "

Tired of Being Blonde "Tired of Being Blonde" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon for her 12th studio album ''Spoiled Girl'' (1985) for which it served as the lead single. Background According to its composer Larry Raspberry, the song was "in ...

" and "

My New Boyfriend "My New Boyfriend" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, and the second single from her 12th studio album ''Spoiled Girl'' (1985). Simon included the single on her 1995 career retrospective box set '' Clouds ...

", with the former making the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at No. 70.

Reception

In a mixed review of the album, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' wrote "''Spoiled Girl'' is Simon's most listenable album in years. Thanks to production by Arthur Baker,

Paul Samwell-Smith Paul Granville Samwell-Smith (born Paul Smith, 8 May 1943, in Richmond, Surrey, England) is an English musician and record producer. He was a founding member and the bassist of the 1960s English rock band the Yardbirds, which launched leading g ...

and

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced s ...

, there’s enough verve and contemporaneity to the basic tracks so that Simon’s laconic phrasing seems newly energized, while the tracks produced by

Phil Ramone Philip Ramone (né Rabinowitz, January 5, 1934March 30, 2013) was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, who in 1958 co-founded A & R Recording, Inc., a recording studio with business par ...

and Andy Goldmark manage to convincingly update Simon's old approach. But such studio gloss is no compensation for an album that’s so utterly inconsequential. In the end, as with any other spoiled girl, you just wish she'd be quiet." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' was much more positive, writing "Carly Simon's first album in two years is a spicy, lighthearted romp of a record in which the 40-year-old singer-songwriter imaginatively comes to terms with the frivolous spirit of mid-80's pop. Nine producers, including the electronic wizard Arthur Baker, worked on the album, whose songs range in style from the kind of catchy folk-pop that has long been Miss Simon's stock in trade to ultracontemporary dance-oriented tunes with electronically tricked-up textures." They also singled out the track "Black Honeymoon" as "the album's darkest and most musically haunting song, a chilling vignette about sexual jealousy elegantly produced in a style that suggests a folkish variant of

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 ...

's pop-jazz by way of

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

's ''

Private Dancer ''Private Dancer'' is the fifth solo studio album by Tina Turner. It was released on May 29, 1984, through Capitol Records and was her first album released through the label. After several challenging years of going solo after divorcing Ike T ...

''. It is one of the finest cuts Miss Simon has ever recorded."

Release history

''Spoiled Girl'' was released by

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

, and compact disc in 1985. Both the cassette and CD versions included the bonus track "Black Honeymoon" (originally the B-side of the "Tired Of Being Blonde" single). A second CD release came in the late 1990s under the Sony Music Special Products label, which also included "Black Honeymoon". In July 2012, Hot Shot Records re-released the album as a deluxe edition with four bonus tracks: "Black Honeymoon", the 7" single version of "Tired Of Being Blonde", and two remixes of the track "My New Boyfriend" which were originally included on the 12" version of the single.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

. Notes * The song "Black Honeymoon" was the B-side for the single "Tired of Being Blonde" and appears only on the

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

and CD versions of the album, but not on the

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

Personnel

Musicians

Production

Charts

Album – ''Billboard'' (United States) Album – International Singles – ''Billboard'' (United States)

References

External links

Carly Simon's Official Website
{{Authority control 1985 albums Carly Simon albums Albums produced by Phil Ramone Albums produced by Don Was Albums produced by Paul Samwell-Smith Albums produced by Russ Kunkel Albums produced by Arthur Baker (musician) Epic Records albums Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios Albums recorded at MSR Studios