''One Down'' is a 1982 album by the New York based no wave music group

Material Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geolo ...

, produced by Material, recorded by indie producer/engineer

Martin Bisi Martin Bisi (born 1961) is an American producer and songwriter. He is known for recording important records by Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, The Dresden Dolls, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, A ...

in Brooklyn and musician/engineer Robert Musso in Manhattan. The album sees the band reduced to a duo of keyboardist

Michael Beinhorn Michael Beinhorn is a North American record producer, composer, author and musician. He has produced albums for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Hole, Violent Femmes and Marilyn Manson. Career 1977-1983: Early Years, Material, Herbie Hanco ...

and bassist

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

, collaborating with different musicians and singers on each track.

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...

made her recording debut as a lead vocalist on this album, for a version of the song "

Memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

Song background

"Let Me Have It All" is a cover from

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi ...

's 1973 album ''

Fresh Fresh or FRESH may refer to: People *DJ Fresh (born 1977), UK-based drum and bass artist *DJ Fresh (producer), US-based R&B producer born Marqus Brown Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Fresh'' (1994 film), a crime film * ''Fresh'' (200 ...

''. "

" featured vocals by

accompanied by

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

on tenor saxophone. The track marks Houston's first appearance on record as a lead vocalist on an album, prior to her own albums and she would perform it at select dates during her first major tour in 1986, '' The Greatest Love World Tour''. The song was written by

Hugh Hopper Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 – 7 June 2009) was a British progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and other bands. Biography Early career Starting in ...

and originally recorded by

The Wilde Flowers The Wilde Flowers were an English psychedelic rock band from Canterbury, Kent. Formed in 1964, the group originally featured lead vocalist Kevin Ayers, lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist Brian Hopper, rhythm guitarist and vocalist Richard Sincl ...

with vocals by Robert Wyatt. A dance mix by John Luongo of "I'm the One"/"Don't Lose Control" was released as a 12" single in 1982 (Celluloid/Elektra, 0-67970). Mixes of "Time Out" was released as a 12" single in 1983 (Elektra, 0-67916).

Track listing

#"Take a Chance" (

) – 4:31 #"I'm the One" (Laswell, Beinhorn, R. Bernard Fowler) – 5:25 #"Time Out" (Laswell, Thi-Linh Le, Beinhorn) – 4:52 #"Let Me Have It All" ( Sly Stewart) – 5:23 #"Come Down" (Laswell, Beinhorn, Fowler) – 4:43 #"Holding On" (Laswell, Beinhorn, Brian Eno) – 4:40 #"

" (

) – 3:58 #"Don't Lose Control" (Laswell, Beinhorn) – 4:18

CD bonus track

"Bustin' Out" (Laswell, Beinhorn,

Fred Maher Frederick J. Maher is an American drummer, music programmer and record producer. He was a member of the bands Massacre (1980–81), the Dance, Material, Scritti Politti, and has recorded and toured with Lou Reed. In 1984 he released ''Basic'', ...

) – 8:03

Personnel

;Material *

– Prophet-5,

Oberheim OB-Xa The Oberheim OB-Xa was the second of Oberheim's OB-series polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizers, replacing the OB-X with updated features. History The OB-Xa was released in December 1980, replacing the OB-X after only a year on the mark ...

, Oberheim DMX sequencer, Roland TR-808 drum machine, Roland VP330 vocoder, tapes, percussion *

– Music Man Sting Ray bass, Fender Precision bass, effects ;vocalists *

Nona Hendryx Nona Bernis Hendryx (born October 9, 1944) is an American vocalist, record producer, songwriter, musician, and author. Hendryx is known for her work as a solo artist as well as for being one-third of the trio Labelle, who had a hit with "Lady ...

– vocals ("Take a Chance", "Let Me Have It All", "Bustin' Out") *B.J. Nelson – vocals ("Take a Chance", "Let Me Have It All", "Holding On") * R. Bernard Fowler – vocals ("I'm the One", "Come Down") *Thi-Linh Le – voice ("Time Out") *Noris Night – voice ("Let Me Have It All") *

– vocals ("Memories") * Jean Karakos – voice ("Don't Lose Control") ;musicians * Nile Rodgers – guitar ("I'm the One", "Come Down") * Fred Frith – guitar ("Time Out") *

Nicky Skopelitis Nicky Skopelitis (born January 19, 1960) is an American guitarist and composer of Greek descent. He also has performed on banjo, oud, lute, keyboards and other instruments. Although Skopelitis has recorded few albums as a bandleader, he has ap ...

– guitar ("Take a Chance", "Holding On") *Ronnie Drayton – guitar ("Let Me Have It All", "Holding On", "Bustin' Out") *J.T. Lewis – drums ("Take a Chance", "Time Out", "Holding On") *Yogi Horton – drums ("Let Me Have It All", "Memories") * Tony Thompson – drums ("I'm the One", "Come Down", "Don't Lose Control") *

– drums ("Bustin' Out") *Nicky Marrero – percussion ("Take a Chance", "Time Out", "Holding On") *Daniel Ponce – bongos ("I'm the One", "Don't Lose Control") *

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano and flute. During the 1960s, Lake worked with the Black ...

– tenor and alto saxophone ("Come Down") *

– tenor saxophone ("Memories") *Raymond Jones – Yamaha CP-70B electric grand piano ("Memories")

Production

*Produced by Material *Recorded at O.A.O Studio (Brooklyn, New York) by

and at RPM Sound Studio (Manhattan, New York) by Robert Musso

Release history

*1982 – Celluloid / Vogue (Fr.), CEL 541003 (LP) *1982 – Elektra (USA), 60206 (LP) *1982 – Celluloid, CELCD 5504 (CD) *1983 – CBS / Sony (Jp.), 25 AP 2754 (LP) *1992 – Metronome / Restless, 7 72654-2 (CD) *1992 – Demon / MauMau, MauCD 624 (CD) *1992 – Jimco, Jp., JICK 89047 (CD) *1997 – Movie Play Gold, MPG 74047 (CD) *2005 – Golden Stars, GSS 5406 (CD, Portugal, retitled ''CD 1'')

References

{{Authority control 1982 albums Material (band) albums Elektra Records albums Celluloid Records albums Albums produced by Michael Beinhorn