''Silk Electric'' is the thirteenth studio album by American R&B singer

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

, released on September 10, 1982, by

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 ...

. It was Ross' second of six albums released by the label during the decade. It reached No. 27 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 (No. 5 R&B), No. 33 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and the Top 20 in Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. The album cover was designed by

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

. The album contains Ross' US Top 10,

Grammy 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 a ...

-nominated single, "

Muscles Muscle is a soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue. There are three types of muscle tissue in vertebrates: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to muscle contra ...

", which was written and produced by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

. All other tracks were produced by Ross, including the US Top 40 follow-up single " So Close" featuring prominent background vocal arrangements by

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

. The song "In Your Arms", written by Linda Creed and Michael Masser, was covered by Teddy Pendergrass and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

as " Hold Me" the following year. The song "I Am Me" was co-written by Ross (and incorrectly listed as co-written by Cindy Birdsong instead of Janie Bradford on the ''Greatest Hits: The RCA Years'' compilation album). The album was certified Gold in the US and Silver in the UK. The album was remastered and re-released on September 2, 2014 by Funky Town Grooves as an "Expanded Edition", with bonus material.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Silk Electric'' liner notes. * Diana Ross – lead vocals, arrangements (3, 4, 5), backing vocals (3–10) * Michael Jackson – uncredited backing vocals (1) * Patti Austin – backing vocals (1) * Julia Tillman Waters – backing vocals (1) * Maxine Willard Waters – backing vocals (1) *

– backing vocals (2), background vocal arrangements (2) * Tawatha Agee – backing vocals (2) * Cissy Houston – backing vocals (2) * Paulette McWilliams – backing vocals (2) * Denzil Miller – keyboards (1) * Michael Boddicker – synthesizers (1) * Greg Smith – synthesizers (1) * Bill Wolfer – synthesizers (1) * Rob Mounsey – keyboards (2, 3, 7), arrangements (2, 3, 7) * Steve Goldstein – synthesizers (2, 5, 10), arrangements (5) * Ray Chew – keyboards (4, 5, 6, 8, 10), arrangements (4, 6, 10) * Ed Walsh – synthesizers (6, 7) *

Paul Shaffer Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian musician, actor, and comedian who served as David Letterman's musical director, bandleader, and sidekick on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1993) and ''Late Show with D ...

–

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

(9), rhythm arrangements (9) * Joe Bargar – acoustic piano (9) * David Williams – guitar (1) *

Eric Gale Eric Gale (September 20, 1938 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz and jazz fusion guitarist. Biography Eric Gale was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. His grandfather was English, and Gale had relatives in Venezuela and Bar ...

– guitar (2, 5, 6, 8, 9) * Jeff Mironov – guitar (2, 5, 6, 8, 9) * Bob Kulick – lead and rhythm guitars (3, 4, 7, 10) * Nathan Watts – bass (1) * Neil Jason – bass (2–9) * Lucio Hopper – bass (10) * Jonathan Moffett – drums (1) * Yogi Horton – drums (2–7, 9, 10) * Rick Marotta – drums (8) * Errol "Crusher" Bennett – percussion (10) * Bill Reichenbach Jr. – string arrangements (1) *

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 ...

– string arrangements (6, 8, 9), rhythm arrangements (8) *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock music, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was ...

– horn arrangements (9)

Production

* Producers – Michael Jackson (Track 1); Diana Ross (Tracks 2–10). * Engineers – Ross Pallone and Tom Perry (Track 1); Larry Alexander (Tracks 2–10). * Assistant engineer on tracks 2–10 – Dave Greenberg * Track 1 recorded at Hollywood Sound Recorders (Hollywood, CA); Tracks 2–10 recorded at the

Power Station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

(New York, NY). * Mastered by

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

at Sterling Sound (New York, NY). * Cover art –

Edited and produced by Stuart Kusher

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1982 albums Diana Ross albums Capitol Records albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Michael Jackson Funk albums by American artists Albums with cover art by Andy Warhol