''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' is the thirtieth studio album by American singer

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

, released on July 9, 1985, by

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

. A departure from the

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

-produced

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

sound of her previous albums '' Jump to It'' (1982) and '' Get It Right'' (1983), Franklin worked with producer

Narada Michael Walden Narada Michael Walden ( ; Michael Walden; born April 23, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy. He began his career as a drummer, working primarily in the jazz ...

on the majority of the album, envisioning "a record with a younger sound to it".''

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 ...

'' magazine, circa 1985 - upon the release of ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'', "Aretha Franklin's New Wave of Pop" written by Eliza Graham, p. 11. As a result, ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' contains influences of several popular mid-1980s genres, including

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

, and

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

, as well as

pop song Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

s with crossover appeal. Released to praising reviews, ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' became Franklin's highest-charting album since ''

Young, Gifted and Black ''Young, Gifted and Black'' is the eighteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin, released in early 1972, by Atlantic Records. The album climbed to #2 on ''Billboards R&B albums survey and peaked at #11 on the main al ...

'' (1972) and her first and only studio album to earn a platinum certification from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), with more than one million copies physically distributed. A top-10 entry in New Zealand and Sweden, the album also went platinum in Canada and reached silver status in the United Kingdom. "

Freeway of Love "Freeway of Love" is a song by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was written by Jeffrey Cohen and Narada Michael Walden and produced by the latter for Franklin's thirtieth studio album ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' (1985). The song features a notab ...

", the album's lead single, proved both a commercial success, as well as a career achievement for Franklin, earning her a

Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards ...

while holding the number-one position on ''Billboard''s

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart for five consecutive weeks. ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' was considered Franklin's comeback album, with many journalists comparing its performance to

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 late-career crossover success with her album ''

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 ...

'' (1984), and marked the start of several collaborations with Walden. With the album, the singer established herself as a star of music video, with popular videos for "Freeway of Love", "

Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" is a song by British pop duo Eurythmics and American singer Aretha Franklin. A modern feminist anthem, it was written by Eurythmics members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart and featured on both Eurythmic ...

" and " Another Night" enjoying heavy 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 ...

. In 1989, the album was ranked number 89 on ''

'' magazine's 100 Best Albums of the Eighties listing. At the time of its release, Franklin herself rated ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' as one of her best albums ever recorded.

Background

In 1983, Franklin released her twenty-ninth studio album, '' Get It Right''. Produced by singer

, following his successful teaming with the singer on her 1982 album, '' Jump to It'', it spawned the

number-one hit " Get It Right" but became a moderate commercial success in the United States only where it peaked at number 36 on US ''Billboard'' 200. Franklin spent a great part of the following years in her hometown of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, looking after her seriously ill father, the Reverend

C. L. Franklin Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (Birth name, ''né'' Walker; January 22, 1915 – July 27, 1984) was an American Baptist Churches USA, American Baptist Minister (Christianity), minister and civil rights, civil rights activist. Known as the man with t ...

. After her father died in 1984, the singer began thinking about returning to the music scene. In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Franklin said that following ''Get It Right'', she wanted to do "a record with a younger sound to it. I'd been listening to the radio and I really liked what I heard. I figured to myself that it was time for me to do something serious."

arranged a telephone conversation with producer and singer

to discuss working together on Franklin's next studio album. Since Franklin disliked traveling, Walden subsequently started assembling backing tracks in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and brought the session tapes to Detroit, where Franklin added her vocals. According to Walden, Franklin "had to get reacquainted with being in the studio" following her hiatus but "it didn't take long for the singer to regain her form". Despite Franklin's reputation as a singer, Walden found her easy to work with, citing her a "black

Mae West Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...

". Further elaborating on the recording process, he stated: "She'll sing a song down in the lower range maybe four or five times. Then she'll sing it up in her range and do two or three takes." Looking for a male singer to work with Franklin on the duet song "Push", Walden "put out signals, but a lot of people were frightened to death to sing" with Franklin. Former

The J. Geils Band The J. Geils Band was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, harmonica and saxophone player Richard "Magic ...

vocalist

Peter Wolf Peter Wolf (born March 7, 1946) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of the J. Geils Band from 1967 to 1983 and as a solo artist. Early life and education Peter Wolf was born Peter Walter Blankfield on March 7, 1946 in The ...

, however, jumped at the chance.

Critical reception

''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' received generally favorable reviews from music critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor Craig Lytle called the album a return "in style" and praised the album for its singles as well as Franklin's vocal performance which he declared as "lively", "laudable" and "soulful". Lytle rated the album three and a half out of five stars. in his review for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

found that Franklin "hasn't done anything near this good in over a dozen

ears An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists o ...

It couldn't have happened without the top-forty revival, and it couldn't have happened without

, who unhesitatingly plugged his first legend into one pop format after another and came up with classics almost every time." Giving the album an A rating, he concluded that "from lead rocker to hooked ballad to Caribe Richie carnivalesque, these songs go no deeper than Franklin can make them by breathing, but their instant inevitability could keep this album alive for years." ''Rolling Stone'' critic

Vince Aletti Vince Aletti (born 1945) is a curator, writer, and photography critic. Career Music industry Aletti was a contributing writer for ''Rolling Stone'' from 1970 to 1989. He was the first person to write about disco in an article published by the m ...

wrote that "though ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' never quite comes together as an album, Walden's ambitious eclecticism works cut by cut with few exceptions, and astonishingly, the hype is nearly justified: this is some of Aretha Franklin's best work since the 1960s." He felt that "the example of

acted as goad and inspiration, and the edge of rich brashness in Aretha's performances seems sparked by Turner's electric drive ..''Zoomin'' seems so anxious to cover all the angles that it scatters Aretha's energies rather than focusing them. Still, Franklin sweeps through this stylistic hodgepodge with more fire and verve than she's displayed in years. Even if this isn't her crossover breakthrough, there's enough vocal brilliance here to stun any listener within range." Similarly, ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' found that Franklin "has never sounded better than she does on this album" but criticized the project for being "less than it might have been". The magazine noted that while Walden has "a way of making mediocre singers sound better than they are, he also has a way of making wonderful singers sound less wonderful, putting them up against grinding soul-funk backgrounds with which even someone like Franklin has trouble competing. In 1989, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' 85th on its 100 Best Albums of the Eighties listing.

Chart performance

In the United States, ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' peaked at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' 200, becoming Franklin's highest-charting album since ''

'' had reached number 11 in 1972. It also reached number three on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart. The singer's biggest commercial in years, the album reached gold status by August and was eventually certified platinum by the

(RIAA) in December 1985, indicating sales in excess of 1.0 million copies. Franklin's biggest seller within her discography, it would remain her final album to enter the top 20 until the release of her 2014 album ''

Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics ''Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics'' is the thirty-eighth and final studio album by American recording artist Aretha Franklin and was released on October 17, 2014. It features ten covers of songs made famous by female recording artist ...

'', which also peaked at number 13 and number three on the ''Billboard'' 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In Canada and United Kingdom, ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' also ranks among Franklin's biggest-selling albums. It was certified platinum by

Music Canada Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...

and silver by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI), while reaching number 13 on the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

and 49 on the British Albums Chart, respectively. Elsewhere, the album entered the top ten in New Zealand and Sweden, remaining Franklin's highest-charting album in both nations until her death in 2018, while making it to the top 20 in Australia and Norway. ''Who's Zoomin' Who?'' was considered Franklin's comeback album, with many journalist comparing its performance to

's late career crossover success with her album ''

'' (1984), and marked the start of several collaborations with Walden. With the album, the singer established herself as a star of music video, with popular videos for "Freeway of Love", "

" and " Another Night" enjoying heavy rotation on

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

* Aretha Franklin – lead vocals *

Walter Afanasieff Walter Afanasieff (born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasyev; February 10, 1958), formerly nicknamed Baby Love in the 1980s, is an American record producer and songwriter of Russian-Chinese descent. He was a collaborator with Mariah Carey on her first ...

– keyboards (1, 2, 4, 6-8) *

Preston Glass Preston Glass (born January 9, 1960) is an American musician, songwriter and producer. Glass is the winner of six BMI Awards. He has also worked several famous artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Kenny G, Natalie Cole and ...

– keyboards (1, 2, 6-8), keyboard vibes (1), backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 7) *

Nat Adderley Jr. Nathaniel Adderley Jr. (born May 23, 1955) is an American pop music, pop and rhythm and blues music arranger and pianist who spent much of his music career arranging as music director for Luther Vandross tours and contributed as co-songwriter on ...

– keyboards (3, 9) * Robbie Kondor – synthesizer (3, 9) *

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...

– keyboards (5), lead vocals (5) *

David A. Stewart David Allan Stewart (born 9 September 1952) is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for Eurythmics, his successful professional partnership with Annie Lennox. Sometimes credited as David A. Stewart, he won Best British ...

– keyboards (5), rhythm guitar (5) *

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

(5) *

Corrado Rustici Corrado Rustici (born 1957) is an Italian musician, songwriter and producer. Recording career Rustici was a founder member of the Naples-based progressive rock group Cervello. The band recorded the album '' Melos'' in 1973, with Rustici on guitar ...

– guitar (1, 2, 4, 6-8), guitar synthesizer (2) * Ray Gomez – guitar solo (2) *

Doc Powell Doc Powell is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was born and raised in Spring Valley, New York. He attended college at University of Charleston. Career He has worked with Wilson Pickett, who chose him to be his musical director. He has ...

– guitar (3, 9) *

Steve Khan Steve Khan (born Steven Harris Cahn; April 28, 1947) is an American jazz guitarist. Career Steven Harris Cahn was born in Los Angeles. His father, lyricist Sammy Cahn, "loved to hear any and all versions of his songs". He took piano lessons as a ...

– guitar (3, 9) * Mike Campbell – lead guitar (5) *

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

– guitar solo (8) *

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive and television presenter, perhaps best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing bas ...

– synth bass (1, 2, 4, 6, 8), bass guitar (2, 7), backing vocals (2, 4) * Louis Johnson – bass guitar (3, 9) *

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degr ...

– bass guitar (5) *

– drums (1, 2, 4, 6-8), percussion (1, 2, 6-8), acoustic piano (4), keyboards (7) *

Yogi Horton A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297-299, 331 Th ...

– drums (3, 9) *

Stan Lynch Stanley Joseph "Stan" Lynch (born May 21, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for 18 years until his departure in 1994. Early years Lynch was born in ...

– drums (5) * Steve Kroon – percussion (3, 9) *

Gigi Gonaway Gregory "Gigi" Gonaway is an American drummer and percussionist, born in Phoenix, Arizona. His father, Eldridge Gonaway was an attorney and city developer and his Mother, Lois (née Warrior) is a retired registered nurse. Gonaway has been making ...

– tambourine (1) * The Santana Rhythm Section – percussion (1, 7) *

Andy Narell Andy Narell (born March 18, 1954) is an American jazz steel pannist, composer and producer. Biography Narell took up the steelpan at a young age in Queens, New York. His father, who was a social worker, had started a program of steelpan playing ...

–

steel drums The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descriptio ...

(7) *

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for The E Street Band. Clemons released several s ...

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

(1) *

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

– trumpet solo (9) *

Paul Riser Paul Riser (born September 11, 1943) is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the "Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of the ...

– string arrangements (3, 9) * Kitty Beethoven – backing vocals (1, 2, 7) *

Carolyn Franklin Carolyn Ann Franklin (May 13, 1944 – April 25, 1988) was an American singer-songwriter. Besides her own musical success, Franklin was best known as the daughter of prominent Detroit preacher and civil rights activist C. L. Franklin and the youn ...

– backing vocals (1, 4) *

Jim Gilstrap James Earl Gilstrap (born November 10, 1946)''U.S. Public Records Index'' Vol 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. is an American singer, considered one of the most prolific session musicians in the industry. He is best known for ...

– backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 6, 7) *

Vicki Randle Vicki Randle (born December 11, 1954)Hillgirlz, the les ...

– backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 6, 7) *

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

– backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 6, 7) *

Jeanie Tracy Jeanie Tracy is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as a background singer of Sylvester, an American disco singer. Her first album, '' Me and You'' (1982), featured post-disco hits "I' ...

– backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 6-8) *

Martha Wash Martha Elaine Wash (born December 28, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the Two Tons O' Fun, who sang backing vocals for the disco si ...

– backing vocals (1) * Laundon Von Hendricks – backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 7, 8) * Nikita Germaine – backing vocals (2) * The Charles Williams Singers – choir (5) *

– lead vocals (8) * Craig Thomas – backing vocals (8) * Karen Benington – backing vocals (8) *

Sandra Feva Sandra Feva (born Sandra Arnold, May 14, 1947 – June 26, 2020), also known as Sandra Richardson, was an American soul singer, composer, and backing vocalist. She was born in Los Angeles, California, the oldest of five siblings, but grew up in De ...

– backing vocals (9) * Margaret Branch – backing vocals (9) * Brenda Corbett – backing vocals (9)

Technical

* Josh Abbey – engineer (3, 9) * Michael Brauer – additional mixing *

Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bisho ...

– mastering * Dominick Celani – assistant engineer * Dana Chappelle – second engineer * Tim Crich – second engineer *

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

– executive producer * Maureen Droney – second engineer * Aretha Franklin – producer (3, 9) * David Frazer – engineer (1, 2, 6-8) * Paul Hamingson – second engineer * Sephra Herman – production coordination (3, 9) * Gordon Logan – second engineer *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California, United States. He has been mastering music since 1979. Biography Marcussen's introduction to music recording happened in 1976 when, at ...

– original mastering * Moira Marquis – second engineer * Ray Pyle – second engineer * Don Smith – engineer (5), mixing * David A. Stewart – producer (5), mixing * Narada Michael Walden – producer (1, 2, 6-8) * Adam Williams – engineer (5) * Jay Willis – assistant engineer *

Shelly Yakus Sheldon Gershon "Shelly" Yakus (born November 1945) is an American music engineer and mixer. Formerly chief engineer and vice president of A&M Records, he was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Yakus is referenced ...

– drum recording

Artwork

* Donn Davenport – art direction * Artis Lane – painting * John Pinderhughes – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control 1985 albums Albums produced by David A. Stewart Albums produced by Narada Michael Walden Aretha Franklin albums Arista Records albums Synth-pop albums by American artists