''They Don't Make Them Like They Used To'' (also referred to as ''They Don't Make 'Em...'') is the nineteenth studio album by country superstar

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted m ...

Overview

The album's title cut was used as the theme tune to the box office hit movie ''

Tough Guys ''Tough Guys'' is a 1986 American action comedy film directed by Jeff Kanew and starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Eli Wallach, Charles Durning, Dana Carvey and Darlanne Fluegel. It is the eighth film of Touchstone Pictures, and the final fi ...

''. The song "You're My Love" was written by Prince under the pseudonym "Joey Coco" and features

El DeBarge Eldra Patrick "El" DeBarge (born June 4, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He was the focal point and primary lead singer of the family group DeBarge. Popular songs led by El DeBarge include " Time Will Reveal", " Who's Hold ...

on backing vocals. The album was a top 20 success on the country charts (and crossed over into the pop

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artist ...

) with the single "Twenty Years Ago" peaking at #2.

Singles

Two singles came from the album. The title cut, released at the end of 1986, only made #53 in the country charts although it did well by hitting #10 on the adult contemporary charts. When RCA released "

Twenty Years Ago "Twenty Years Ago" is a song written by Dan Tyler, Wood Newton, Michael Noble and C. Michael Spriggs. It was recorded by Juice Newton for her 1983 album '' Dirty Looks''. In 1986, the song was covered by Kenny Rogers and released in January 1987 ...

" in 1987, however, Rogers returned to the top five at #2, matching this feat in Canada as well.

Track listing

Personnel

* Kenny Rogers – lead vocals * Robbie Buchanan – synthesizers (1, 3, 7, 9, 10), acoustic piano (3, 4, 7, 9), arrangements (3) *

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 ...

– synthesizers (1, 2, 7, 8, 10), lead guitar (1, 4),

electronic drums Electronic drums is a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sound ...

(1, 2, 8), arrangements (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10), guitar solo (2, 9), drums (6), guitar lines (9) *

Randy Goodrum Charles Randolph Goodrum (born July 7, 1947) is an American songwriter, pianist, and producer. Goodrum has written number one songs in each of the four decades since his first number one hit, 1978's " You Needed Me". Goodrum's songs have appear ...

– synthesizers (2), electronic drums (2), arrangements (2) *

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stead ...

– synthesizers (2), rhythm guitar (2), arrangements (2) *

Michael Omartian Michael Omartian (born November 26, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, keyboardist, and music producer. He produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Awards nominations and won three. He s ...

– synthesizers (4, 7) * Marcus Ryle – synthesizers (4, 7) *

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 "Synthes ...

– synthesizers (5) *

Randy Kerber Randy Kerber (born September 25, 1958) is an American composer, orchestrator and keyboard player, who has had a prolific career in the world of cinema.SeRandy Kerberat the IMDb Kerber was born in Encino, California. He began his first national ...

– keyboards (5, 6) *

Mike Lawler Michael Vincent Lawler (born September 9, 1986) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 17th congressional district since 2023. From 2021 to 2022, he was a Republican member of the New York State Assembly f ...

– keyboards (6) * Michael Hanna – synthesizers (10) * Paul Urrich – keyboards (10) *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitc ...

– rhythm guitar (1, 4, 9), guitar (3, 7) *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Co ...

– guitar (5) *

Billy Joe Walker Jr. Billy Joe Walker Jr. (February 29, 1952 – July 25, 2017) was an American songwriter, record producer and recording artist. He composed singles for Eddie Rabbitt, including "I Wanna Dance with You", "That's Why I Fell in Love with You" and "B- ...

– guitar (6) *

Kenny Mims Kenny Mims is a veteran music producer, composer and session player born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1953. He has produced for Kenny Rogers and Marty Robbins and played guitar for Hank Williams, Jr., Kenny Rogers and Tanya Tucker. His first work w ...

– guitar (10), arrangements (10) *

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 deg ...

– bass (2) *

Abraham Laboriel Abraham Laboriel López Sr. (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the f ...

– bass (3, 4, 6, 7, 9) *

Neil Stubenhaus Neil Stubenhaus is an American bass guitarist. Career He started his musical training playing drums and switched to bass guitar at the age of 12. He studied at the Berklee College of Music where he graduated in 1975. After graduation, he was rec ...

– bass (5) *

Carlos Vega Carlos Vega (December 7, 1956 – April 7, 1998) was a Cuban-born Los Angeles-based session drummer best known for his performances with James Taylor. As a part of the L.A. studio scene from the late 1970s through the 1990s, Vega contributed to ...

– drums (3, 4, 7) *

John Robinson John Robinson may refer to: Academics *John Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882), Irish astronomer and physicist *John J. Robinson (1918–1996), historian and author of ''Born in Blood'' *John Talbot Robinson (1923–2001), paleontologist *John ...

– drums (5) *

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Western Sydney, and the Leader of the New South ...

– drums (9) * Clyde Brooks – drums (10) *

Brandon Fields Brandon David Fields (born May 21, 1984) is a former American football punter who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Michigan State University, and earned consensus All-American honors. H ...

– alto saxophone (8) *

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. ...

– backing vocals (1, 7, 8, 10) *

Richard Page Richard Lewis Page (born 22 February 1941) is a former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and from December 1979 to 2005. Early life Born the son of Victor Charles Page, he went to the independent H ...

– backing vocals (2) *

– backing vocals (3) * Tommy Funderburk – backing vocals (4) * Thom Flora – backing vocals (6) * Ann Marie Smith – backing vocals (6) *

Kin Vassy Charles Kindred Vassy (August 16, 1943 – June 23, 1994) was a singer-songwriter, who in addition to his solo recordings also recorded with other artists, most notably Kenny Rogers, Frank Zappa and Elvis Presley. In the 1960s, Vassy was a mem ...

– backing vocals (6) *

Jason Scheff Jason Randolph Scheff (born April 16, 1962) is an American bassist, singer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 2016, he was the bassist and one of the lead vocalists for the rock band Chicago; he is the longest-serving member in the bassist/vocalist p ...

– backing vocals (7, 8) *

Tamara Champlin Tamara Champlin (née Matoesian) is an American singer-songwriter who started her career as a session singer in Houston, Texas, later moving to Los Angeles. She has performed with and written for singers such as Elton John, Leon Russell, Nicky ...

– backing vocals (8) *

Peter Beckett Peter Beckett (born 10 August 1948) is an English musician and songwriter who has written songs for many prominent recording artists, his own bands and solo work, and for several films. He is likely best known as the lead singer and guitarist ...

– backing vocals (9)

Production

* Producers – Jay Graydon (Tracks 1-4 & 7-10); David Malloy (Tracks 1 & 6); Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager (Track 5); Kenny Mims (Track 10). * Production Assistants – Valerie Hobel and Gail Pearson * A&R – Marge Meoli * Engineers – Ian Eales, Jay Graydon, Kenny Mims and Tom Singers. * Mixing on Track 6 –

Brian Malouf Brian Malouf (born September 8, 1955) is an American producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with acts such as Michael Jackson, Queen, Madonna, Pearl Jam, Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews Band, Tokio Hotel, Wolfmother, and All Time Low. Also s ...

* Recorded at Garden Rake Studio (Sherman Oaks, CA);

Conway Studios Conway may refer to: Places United States * Conway, Arkansas * Conway County, Arkansas * Lake Conway, Arkansas * Conway, Florida * Conway, Iowa * Conway, Kansas * Conway, Louisiana * Conway, Massachusetts * Conway, Michigan * Conway To ...

(Hollywood, CA); Can-Am Recorders (Tarzana, CA); House of Gold and The Garage (Nashville, TN). * Mastered by

Doug Sax Doug Lionel Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three of The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six of Pink Floyd's albums, including ''The Wall''; Ray Charles ...

at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, CA). * Art Direction and Design – John Coulter * Photography – Bernie Boudreau * Lettering – Michael Manoogian * Management – Ken Kragen

Charts

References

{{Authority control Kenny Rogers albums 1986 albums Albums produced by Burt Bacharach RCA Records albums