''Unfinished Business'' is the second studio album from American singer Ronnie Spector, released in 1987. Two singles were released from the album; "Who Can Sleep" in April 1987 (featuring Eddie Money as a guest vocalist) and "Love on a Rooftop", released in August 1987. A music video for "Who Can Sleep" was directed by David Hogan and produced by Amanda Temple for Limelight Productions. It achieved medium rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Background

In 1986, Spector saw a resurgence in her music career after providing vocals on Eddie Money's Top 5 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hit " Take Me Home Tonight". In the wake of the song's success, Columbia Records offered Spector a contract to record a solo album, which became ''Unfinished Business''. In her 1990 memoir '' Be My Baby'', Spector recalled the offer as "like the dream of a lifetime come true". However, the album was not a commercial success, with Spector recalling: "I could tell within two weeks f the album's releasethat it was a flop. I know the excitement that happens when you've got a hit - the telephone rings off the hook, and everybody wants a piece of you. But none of that was happening."

Critical reception

Upon release, ''

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 ...

'' commented: "Former Ronette's voice is an American classic, and she puts it to good use on this nice update of the Spector sound." They praised

Susanna Hoffs Susanna Lee Hoffs (born January 17, 1959) is an American singer and guitarist, best known as a co-founder of the pop-rock band The Bangles. Hoffs founded The Bangles (originally called the Bangs) in 1981 with Debbi and Vicki Peterson. They re ...

' backing vocals on "Dangerous", noting how she "complements Spector expertly" on the track. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' listed the album as one of their "feature picks" during May 1987 and commented: "More than a few cleverly placed Ronettes touches gives the LP its charm".

Track listing

Personnel

* Ronnie Spector - vocals * Eddie Money - additional vocals (track 1) * Bob Christianson, Pepy Castro - backing vocals (tracks 1, 4-5) * Doug Worthington - guitar (tracks 1, 3-4) * Danny Lewis - keyboards (tracks 1, 3-5), backing vocals (track 1), trumpet (track 4) *

Kenny Aaronson Kenny Aaronson (born April 14, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American bass guitar player. He has recorded or performed with several notable artists such as Bob Dylan, Rick Derringer, Billy Idol, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Foghat, Sammy ...

- bass (track 1) * David Prader - drums (track 1) * Desmond Child and Rouge - backing vocals, backing vocal arrangement (track 2) *

Bruce Kulick Bruce Howard Kulick (born December 12, 1953) is an American guitarist and since 2000 a member of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously, Kulick was a long-time member of the band Kiss (19841996). He was also a member of Union with John Cor ...

- guitar (track 2) * Seth Glassman - bass (track 2) * Jerry Marotta - drums (track 2) * Robert Stern - saxophone (track 2) * Gregg Mangiafico - keyboards (track 2) *

- backing vocals (track 3) *

Jimmy Vivino Jimmy Vivino (born January 10, 1955) is an American guitarist, keyboard player, singer, producer, and music director. He is best known as having been the leader of Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, the house band for the TBS late night ...

- guitar (track 3) * Peter Scherer - Synclavier (tracks 3-4), Synclavier programming (track 5) * Kasim Sulton - tambourine, wind chimes (track 3) *

Thommy Price Thommy Price (born December 9, 1956) is an American musician. He has played drums in a number of bands, including Scandal, Billy Idol, Blue Öyster Cult, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and is an in-demand session drummer. History Price was a ...

- drums (track 3) * Margaret Dorn - backing vocals (tracks 4-5) * Rick De Pofi - saxophone (track 4) * Larry Sarello - trombone (track 4) * Ada Dyer - backing vocals (tracks 6, 8) * Deva Gray, Janie Barnet - backing vocals (tracks 6-10) * Kenny White - piano (tracks 6, 8) * Paul Shaffer - organ (tracks 6-7), piano (tracks 9-10), arranger (tracks 9-10), Hammond organ (track 10) * Douglas Berlent - synthesizer (tracks 6-10), synthesizer programming (tracks 6-8, 10), synthesizer arrangement (tracks 6-8, 10), production assistant coordinator (tracks 6-10), piano (track 7), arrangement (track 7) * Will Lee - bass (tracks 6-10) * Michael Dawe - drums (tracks 6, 8) * Lonie Groves - backing vocals (tracks 7, 10) * Russ Palamino - tenor saxophone (tracks 7, 10), alto saxophone (track 9) *

Anton Fig Anton Fig (born 8 August 1952 in Cape Town, South Africa), known as "The Thunder from Down Under", is a South African session drummer, perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Ba ...

- drums (tracks 7, 9-10) * Tommy Rotella - guitar (track 8) *

Janice Pendarvis Janice Gadsden Pendarvis is an American singer, songwriter, and voiceover artist. She has worked with artists such as Sting, David Bowie, Steely Dan, Peter Tosh, Brandy, the O'Jays, Philip Glass, Jimmy Cliff, Laurie Anderson, the Naked Brothe ...

- backing vocals (track 9) ;Production * Chris Floberg - assistant engineer (track 1), assistant mixer (track 10) * Jim Grove, Mario Rodriguez - assistant engineers (track 1) * Michael Young - producer (tracks 1, 3-5), engineer (tracks 1, 3-5), arrangement (tracks 1, 3-5), mixing (tracks 3-5, 10) * Stephen Rosen - coordinator (tracks 1-5) *

Frank Filipetti Frank Filipetti is an American record producer, audio engineer and mixer, who was born in Bristol, Connecticut, United States. Filipetti has seven Grammy Awards and ten nominations for his work on ''The Color Purple'', ''The Book of Mormon'', ''W ...

- mixing (track 2) * Arthur Payson - engineer (track 2) * Mike Morgan - assistant engineer (track 2) * Ralph Schuckett - arrangement (track 2) *

Desmond Child John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. His hits as a songwriter include Kiss's "I Was Made for Lovi ...

- producer (track 2), arrangement (track 2) * Roy Hendrickson - assistant engineer (track 3) * John Hegedes - mixing (track 3) * Chris Floberg - assistant engineer (track 4) * Gary Klein - producer (tracks 6-10) * Mark Gadie - remix (tracks 6, 8-9), mixing (track 7) * John Davenport - engineer (tracks 6-10) * Tim Lightner - assistant engineer (tracks 6-7, 9) * David Wolfert - rhythm arrangement (track 6) * Craig Vogel - assistant engineer (tracks 8, 10) * George Marino - mastering ;Other * Stacy Drummond - art direction *

Sante D'Orazio Sante D'Orazio is an American photographer. D'Orazio exhibited in the Kunsthaus Munich, Kunsthauswien Vienna, the L.A. County Museum, Kahmann Gallery (Amsterdam), Stellan Holm Gallery (New York), Cameraworks Gallery (Berlin) Hilario Galguera ...

- photography * David Cameron - back cover photography *

Charles Koppelman Charles Koppelman (March 30, 1940 – November 25, 2022) was an American musician, music producer, and businessman. He held executive positions at EMI and Steve Madden, and he was Chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. At the time of his d ...

, Don Rubin - executive producers * Janet Oseroff, Jonathan Greenfield - management

References

{{Authority control 1987 albums Columbia Records albums CBS Records albums Albums produced by Gary Klein (producer) Albums produced by Desmond Child