Maps of Music

Mad Love (1980)

Where the lyrics of Mad Love take you, and where it was really made.

Veteran singer Linda Ronstadt made a New Wave-leaning record in 1980, and it became her seventh consecutive album to sell over one million copies.

Key places

Recorded at Record One, Los Angeles (1980)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — The album was recorded at Record One in Los Angeles. Credits list the sessions as running from October 24, 1979 to January 10, 1980. The point is set at city-center level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Mad Love: tenth studio album by Linda Ronstadt, released in 1980
• Debuted at #5 on the Billboard album chart, a record at the time and a first for any female artist
• Became her seventh consecutive album to sell over one million copies
• Certified platinum and nominated for a Grammy
• Recorded from October 24, 1979 to January 10, 1980

Background

• Reflects the advent of punk rock and new wave music in the later 1970s
• Many veteran acts, including Fleetwood Mac, Carly Simon, Heart, Queen, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, tried to revitalize their sound with the stripped-down, D.I.Y. punk and new wave aesthetic
• Mad Love was Ronstadt's response to this trend
• Production and promotion carried professional risk for Ronstadt after numerous multi-platinum hits
• Includes new material by established stars, such as Neil Young's "Look Out for My Love", which gave some continuity with her previous releases
• In 2011, after 31 years, the album was taken out of print
• Reissued in 2012 in Warner/Rhino's "Original Album Series" boxed set of five classic albums, which was also later discontinued

Recording

• Three songs by Elvis Costello: "Party Girl", "Girls Talk" and "Talking in the Dark"
• Three tracks from the Cretones' first album, Thin Red Line (1980)
• Ronstadt hired Cretones guitarist Mark Goldenberg to provide arrangements, play guitar and lend authenticity to the project
• Peter Asher produced the album; Val Garay handled recording and mixing
• Recorded at Record One, Los Angeles

Cover

• Brash, hot pink and black graphics
• The singer's new spiky, short-cropped hairstyle reinforced the album's New Wave status

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born July 15, 1946 in Tucson, Arizona; American singer across rock, folk, pop, country, and soul.
• In the mid-1960s joined the folk-rock trio the Stone Poneys as lead singer, releasing three albums in 1967–68.
• Solo debut Hand Sown ... Home Grown (1969), described as the first alternative country record by a female recording artist.
• Became the first female "arena class" rock star; top-grossing concert artist of the decade.
• Voted Top Female Pop Singer of the 1970s; "You're No Good" reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Worked with producer Nelson Riddle on the Great American Songbook trilogy What's New, Lush Life, and For Sentimental Reasons.
• Recorded Canciones de Mi Padre (1987), the best-selling non-English-language album in US music history.
• Retired in 2011 after losing the ability to sing; later diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014; Kennedy Center Honoree in 2019.

Formation

• At age 14 formed a folk trio with her brother Peter and sister Gretchen.
• Moved to Los Angeles in 1964 to form a band with Bobby Kimmel.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Debuted at #5 on the Billboard album chart, a record at the time and a first for any female artist
• The singles "How Do I Make You" and "Hurt So Bad" climbed to #10 and #8 on the Billboard charts in mid 1980
• "I Can't Let Go" received heavy rotation on classic rock FM stations
• The record-buying public proved to be more adventurous than anticipated, making Ronstadt's risk pay off richly
• The album reflected the New Wave turn that many veteran acts were attempting at the time

Records

• Debut at #5 on the Billboard album chart
• Peaked at #3 on the album charts
• Sold over one million copies, making it Ronstadt's seventh consecutive platinum record
• Certified platinum
• "How Do I Make You" earned a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Rock Vocal Performance Female single category
• For the fourth time, Ronstadt was named Billboard's #1 Female Artist of the Year

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Ronstadt used the album's success to persuade Asylum Records to approve two non-pop/rock projects: torch standards with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra and classical mariachi music sung in Spanish
• The album includes three Elvis Costello songs and three tracks from the Cretones' first album, Thin Red Line
• The cover's brash, hot pink and black graphics added to the record's New Wave image
• Ronstadt was named Billboard's #1 Female Artist of the Year for the fourth time
• The album was reissued in 2012 as part of a five-album boxed set after going out of print in 2011

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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