''Dancin' on the Edge'' is second solo studio album by English/American rock musician

Lita Ford Lita Rossana Ford (born September 19, 1958) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, and then embarked on a successful glam metal solo career tha ...

. It was her final release with

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

, as she departed to sign with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

in 1987. The album was a moderate commercial success, reaching No. 66 of the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The album was also nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in category of Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

Overview

Ford's second solo release after leaving

The Runaways The Runaways were an American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. Formed in 1975 in Los Angeles, the band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are " Cherry Bomb", " Holl ...

in 1979, ''Dancin' on the Edge'' features the debut of her new backing band, featuring drummer

Randy Castillo Randolpho Francisco Castillo (December 18, 1950 – March 26, 2002) was an American musician. He was Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999 to 2000. Early life Castil ...

, who would soon join

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

's band, and bassist Hugh McDonald, who later joined

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...

(McDonald had previously played with Jon Bon Jovi in the All Star Revue; the group that recorded the hit "Runaway.") ''Dancin' on the Edge'' surpassed the success of Ford's debut album '' Out For Blood'' in both sales and airplay.

Music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

s for the singles "Gotta Let Go" and "Dressed to Kill" received heavy rotation on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

during the summer of 1984. "Gotta Let Go" was a minor hit in England, reaching #94 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video for "Dressed to Kill" featured a cameo from Ford's then-fiancée,

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi Jr. (born 19 February 1948) is an English musician. He co-founded the pioneering Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader, primary composer, and sole continuous member for over ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

. Ford toured relentlessly in support of the album for most of 1984, culminating in a pre-''

Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consists of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obsc ...

'' concert special recorded for MTV.

Track listing

All songs were written by

, except where noted. ;Side one # "Gotta Let Go" ''(Ford, Geoffrey Leib)'' – 4:39 # "Dancin' on the Edge" – 5:00 # "Dressed to Kill" – 3:44 # "Hit 'n Run" ''( Leib, Moon Calhoun)'' – 3:54 ;Side two #

"Lady Killer" – 3:41 # "Still Waitin'" – 4:20 # "Fire in My Heart" – 3:46 # "Don't Let Me Down Tonight" – 4:42 # "Run with the $" – 4:21

Personnel

;Band members *

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Hugh McDonald -

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

;Additional musicians * Geoff Leib - synthesizer, backing vocals *Robbie Kondor, Aldo Nova - synthesizer ;Production *Lance Quinn - producer *Larry Alexander - engineer, mixing *Malcolm Pollack, Obie O'Brien, Phil Nicole, Gary King - engineers *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

- mastering at

Masterdisk Masterdisk is an American multimedia company in New York, located at 8 John Walsh Boulevard in Peekskill. They provide production services such as audio mastering, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD production. Their clients include such n ...

, New York *Barry Levine - photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1984 albums Lita Ford albums Mercury Records albums