''Wet'' is the twenty-first
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 ...
released by
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...
in 1979. The album is a
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
of sorts with all the songs referring to, or expressing different interpretations of, water. ''Wet'' is also the first and the last word sung on the album.
The album was a major success for Streisand, propelled by the album's US No. 1 hit single, "
No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)
"No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" is a 1979 song recorded by American singers Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer. It was written by Paul Jabara and Bruce Roberts, and produced by Giorgio Moroder and Gary Klein.
The song was recorded for Streis ...
", a duet with American disco singer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...
which underwent a retitling and change of emphasis in order to qualify under the water theme. Streisand also scored a top 10 US Adult Contemporary hit with the follow up single "Kiss Me In The Rain."
There are two covers on the album: the 1940s standard "
Come Rain or Come Shine
"Come Rain or Come Shine" is a popular music song, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was written for the Broadway musical '' St. Louis Woman'', which opened on March 30, 1946, and closed after 113 performances.
Chart perf ...
" and the
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, Pop music, pop, rock and roll, Folk music, folk, Swing music, swing, and country music.
He started his car ...
classic "
Splish Splash", which features background vocals by
Toto lead singer
Bobby Kimball
Robert Troy Kimball (born March 29, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the original and longtime frontman of the rock band Toto from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Kimball has also performed as a solo artist and ...
.
Commercial performance
The album peaked at No. 7 on the US, Canadian and Australian charts and has been certified as Platinum by the RIAA.
[ According to the liner notes of Barbra's ]retrospective
A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...
box set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists and bands ...
'' Just for the Record...'', the album also received a record certification in New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.[Liner notes, C4K 44111. Columbia Records, 1991]
Track listing
Singles
* "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) " / "Wet" (1979)
* "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (12-inch disco single)" (1979)
* "Kiss Me In the Rain" / "I Ain't Gonna Cry Tonight" (1979)
Personnel
*Barbra Streisand – vocals
*Dan Ferguson – acoustic guitar
* Steve Lukather, Jay Graydon
Jay Joseph Graydon (born October 8, 1949, Burbank, California) is an American songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, keyboardist, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two Grammy Awards (in the R&B category) wi ...
, Larry Carlton – electric guitar
*David Hungate
William David Hungate (born August 5, 1948) is an American bass guitarist noted as a member of the Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1976 to 1982 and again from 2014 to 2015, and the son of judge William L. Hungate. Along with most of his T ...
, Neil Stubenhaus – bass guitar
*Ian Underwood
Ian Robertson Underwood (born May 22, 1939) is a woodwind and keyboards player, known for his work with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
Biography
Underwood graduated from The Choate School in 1957 and Yale University with a bachelo ...
, Michael Boddicker
Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January 19, 1953) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He is a three times National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (N.A.R.A.S.) Most Valuable Player "Synthesi ...
– synthesizer
*Ed Greene
Ed Greene is an American drummer and session musician.
In 1971 he recorded with Donald Byrd (''Ethiopian Knights'', 1972), together with Thurman Green, Harold Land, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Sample, Bobbye Porter Hall, David T. Walker, and Wilton ...
, 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 ...
, Rick Shlosser
Rick Shlosser is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. He has been a member of Van Morrison's band and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He's also been a varied sessions drummer.
Discography 1970s
* Andy Pratt - ''Records Are Like Life'' (1 ...
, Steve Schaeffer, James Gadson
James Gadson ( James Edward Gadson; born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and ...
– drums
*Richard Tee
Richard Edward Tee (born Richard Edward Ten Ryk; November 24, 1943 – July 21, 1993) was an American pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger, who had several hundred studio credits and played on such notable hits as "In Your Eyes", " Sl ...
, David Foster
David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...
, Bill Payne, Lincoln Mayorga
Lincoln Mayorga (born March 28, 1937) is an American pianist, arranger, conductor and composer who has worked in rock and roll, pop, jazz and classical music.
Life and career
Pop music in the 1950s and '60s
Mayorga was born in Los Angeles, Cal ...
, Michael Lang – piano
*Jai Winding, Alan Broadbent – Fender Rhodes, piano
*Greg Mathieson – piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer
*Bobbye Hall
Bobbye Jean Hall is an American percussionist who has recorded with a variety of rock, soul, blues and jazz artists, and has appeared on 20 songs that reached the top ten in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Early career, work for Motown and move to ...
, Gary Coleman, Paulinho da Costa – percussion
* Tom Scott – saxophone
*Gayle Levant – harp
*Bobby Kimball
Robert Troy Kimball (born March 29, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the original and longtime frontman of the rock band Toto from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Kimball has also performed as a solo artist and ...
, Tom Kelly, Bill Champlin
William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. H ...
, Julia Waters, Maxine Waters, Luther Waters - backing vocals
*Lee Holdridge
Lee Elwood Holdridge (born March 3, 1944) is a Haitian-born American composer, conductor, and orchestrator. A 18-time Emmy Award nominee, he has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Daytime Emmy Awards, two News & Documentary Emmy Awards, and one ...
, Lalo Schifrin
Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical elemen ...
, Nick De Caro, Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. Hamlisch was one of only seventeen people to win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. This collection of all four is referred to as an " EGOT ...
, Charlie Calello
Charles Calello (born August 24, 1938) is an American arranger, composer, conductor, record producer, and singer born in Newark, New Jersey. Calello attended Newark Arts High School and the Manhattan School of Music, in New York City. His track ...
, Greg Mathieson – arrangements, conducting
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
Barbra Streisand albums
1979 albums
Albums conducted by Charles Calello
Albums conducted by Lee Holdridge
Albums arranged by Charles Calello
Albums arranged by Lee Holdridge
Albums produced by Gary Klein (producer)
Columbia Records albums
Albums recorded at Capitol Studios
Concept albums