Maps of Music

Chicago 17 (1984)

Where the lyrics of Chicago 17 take you, and where it was really made.

Chicago's best-selling album has no photo of the band on its cover. The artwork is a parcel wrapped in brown paper and twine, with the group logo as the main feature.

Key places

Sunset Sound, Hollywood (1984)

Recording site Sunset Sound — Sunset Sound in Hollywood is named as one of the studios where Chicago 17 was recorded. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Record Plant, Los Angeles (1984)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The Record Plant in Los Angeles is named as one of the studios where Chicago 17 was recorded. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Chicago 17: 14th studio album, 17th overall, by American rock band Chicago
• Released 14 May 1984 on Full Moon/Warner Bros. Records
• Second release for Full Moon/Warner Bros.
• Second album produced by David Foster
• Last album with founding bassist/vocalist Peter Cetera
• Best-selling album in Chicago's catalogue as of 2023, with over 6.1 million copies sold in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan
• Four singles, all peaked in the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100

Background

• Recorded during a period when the band's line-up included Peter Cetera as lead and backing vocalist and bass player
• Chicago 17 followed the group's earlier albums on the traditional 'Chicago' logo design, which the album keeps as its main cover feature
• Peter Cetera's brother, Kenny Cetera, provided background vocals on the album and performed live with the band during the 17 tour
• Some songs were recorded during the Chicago 17 sessions but not released
• 'Good for Nothing' from those sessions was later released on the We Are the World charity album in 1985
• Bill Champlin offered the song 'Sweet Marie', recorded during the sessions, to the Norwegian band TOBB

Recording

• Recorded at The Lighthouse (North Hollywood, CA), Sunset Sound (Hollywood, CA) and Record Plant (Los Angeles, CA)
• Mixed at Lion Share Recording Studio (Los Angeles, CA)
• Produced by David Foster; Humberto Gatica engineered and mixed
• David Foster also wrote arrangements for most tracks and played keyboards and synthesizer programming
• Paul Jackson Jr. and Michael Landau played guitars; Jeff Porcaro played drums on track 1 (uncredited)
• Jeremy Lubbock wrote string arrangements for tracks 3, 5, 7 and 10
• A later 2006 remaster by Rhino Entertainment used the original analog versions of 'Please Hold On' and 'Prima Donna' and added a Robert Lamm demo, 'Here Is Where We Begin', as a bonus track

Cover

• The traditional 'Chicago' logo, designed by John Berg and Nick Fasciano, is the main feature of the cover
• The cover has no photos of the group
• The cover is designed as a package wrapped in brown kraft paper, tied with twine and sealed with tape on the back
• The number '17' in Arabic numerals appears stamped on the wrapping paper below the logo
• A pink receipt form on the back lists the tracks on side one and side two under the description of the package
• The inner dust sleeve carries a large group photo of the band
• Art direction and design by Simon Levy; album cover art by Larry Vigon; photography by Harry Langdon and James Goble

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Chicago is an American rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1967.
• The band described itself as a "rock and roll band with horns" and blended classical music, jazz, R&B, and pop.
• The group first called itself the Big Thing, became Chicago Transit Authority in 1968, and shortened its name to Chicago in 1969.

Members

• The original line-up was Peter Cetera (bass), Terry Kath (guitar), Robert Lamm (keyboards), Lee Loughnane (trumpet), James Pankow (trombone), Walter Parazaider (woodwinds), and Danny Seraphine (drums).
• Lamm, Loughnane, and Pankow have remained constant members since 2009.
• Terry Kath died in 1978 after an accidental gunshot wound.

Career

• The band's debut double album, Chicago Transit Authority (1969), was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.
• In 1971 Chicago became the first rock act to sell out a week at Carnegie Hall.
• "If You Leave Me Now" (1976) became the group's first number-one single and won its only Grammy.
• Billboard placed the band among the most successful chart acts in its history, and it has sold more than 100 million records.
• The original line-up was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
• Chicago received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award on October 16, 2020.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• AllMusic: music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album the pinnacle of producer David Foster's craft and one of the best adult contemporary records of the '80s
• Billboard: Bobby Olivier wrote that the album is one of the greatest pure power ballad albums of all time, or at least from 1984
• The album received three Grammy Awards in 1985
• David Foster won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical (tied with Lionel Richie and James Anthony Carmichael)
• Humberto Gatica won Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical
• David Foster and Jeremy Lubbock won Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) for 'Hard Habit to Break'
• 'Hard Habit to Break' was also nominated for Record of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals and Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices

Reappraisal

• Billboard's review singled out 'Hard Habit to Break' as one of the finest entries on the album
• AllMusic's review named the album as one of the most influential records within its style

Records

• Four singles, all peaked in the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100
• Over 6.1 million copies sold in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, as of 2023
• RIAA certification of six times platinum in the United States
• Chicago's best-selling album as of 2023

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The cover shows no photos of the band; the group is shown only through the logo on a wrapped parcel and a group photo on the inner dust sleeve.
• Peter Cetera's brother Kenny Cetera sang background vocals on the album and performed live with the band on the 17 tour.
• 'Good for Nothing' was recorded during the Chicago 17 sessions, went unreleased on this album, and later appeared on the We Are the World charity album in 1985.
• 'Sweet Marie', recorded during the sessions, was offered by Bill Champlin to the Norwegian band TOBB, which released it on 14 May 2014, the album's 30th anniversary.
• A 2006 Rhino Entertainment remaster added a Robert Lamm demo, 'Here Is Where We Begin', as a bonus track.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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