Maps of Music

The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1984)

Where the lyrics of The Red Hot Chili Peppers take you, and where it was really made.

Singer Anthony Kiedis recalled that producer Andy Gill had dismissed "Police Helicopter" in his notes, a song the singer considered a jewel of the band.

Key places

Recording at Eldorado Recording Studios, Hollywood (1984)

Recording site Eldorado Recording Studios — The album was recorded at Eldorado Recording Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The map point marks the studio at its listed location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Red Hot Chili Peppers: debut studio album by the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Released on August 10, 1984, via EMI America and Enigma Records
• Produced by Andy Gill, guitarist of Gang of Four
• The only Peppers album to feature Jack Sherman on guitar
• Features Anthony Kiedis on vocals, Flea on bass and Cliff Martinez on drums

Background

• Sherman replaced founding member Hillel Slovak, who left the band along with founding drummer Jack Irons before the album was recorded
• After the tour for this album, Sherman was fired and Slovak rejoined the band
• The band was often at odds with producer Andy Gill over the musical direction of the album

Recording

• Kiedis was disappointed with the overall sound, feeling it lacked the raw energy of the band's original 1983 demo tape
• In his 2004 autobiography Scar Tissue, Kiedis recalled that Gill's notes dismissed the song "Police Helicopter"
• Kiedis said the disagreements turned making the record into a real battle, especially between Gill and him and Flea
• Gwen Dickey, known as Rose Norwalt, provides backing vocals on "Mommy Where's Daddy?"

Cover

• Cover art by Gary Panter
• Photography by Edward Colver and Howard Rosenberg

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Los Angeles in 1982 by Anthony Kiedis, Hillel Slovak, Flea, and Jack Irons, classmates at Fairfax High School.
• First performed on December 16, 1982 at the Grandia Room club on Hollywood Boulevard, in front of about 30 people.
• Changed the name to Red Hot Chili Peppers in March 1983.
• Released the self-titled debut album in August 1984, which sold 300,000 copies.

Members

• Current: Flea (bass, backing vocals, trumpet), Anthony Kiedis (lead vocals), Chad Smith (drums, percussion), John Frusciante (guitars, backing vocals, keyboards).
• Former members include Hillel Slovak (guitar, died of a heroin overdose in 1988), Jack Irons (drums), Dave Navarro (guitar, 1993–1998), and Josh Klinghoffer (guitar, 2009–2019).

Career

• Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) was the first major commercial success; "Under the Bridge" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Californication (1999) became the band's biggest commercial success, with over 16 million copies sold worldwide.
• Stadium Arcadium (2006) was the first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and won Grammy Awards.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 31, 2022.
• Over 120 million records sold worldwide.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The reviews published of the album were mixed
• The first issue of Spin magazine gave a positive review, according to Kiedis in Scar Tissue
• Robert Christgau wrote that the band is outrageous enough, but not in the way it thinks it is
• Christgau also said the band's bassist-spokesperson's comments showed serious delusion
• The album failed to chart on the Billboard 200 at the time

Reappraisal

• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic later wrote that the first effort did not quite gel into a cohesive album
• Kiedis and Flea have said over the years that they prefer the demo versions of most of the songs
• Those demos were recorded with the original lineup featuring Slovak and Irons
• The band acknowledged in various books that Sherman's knowledge of funk music and music theory was instrumental to its development, a contribution that was not present with Slovak
• In a June 2023 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Flea said he always regrets the way the first album was made
• Flea said he had often wanted to go back and re-record the album

Records

• Peaked at No. 201 on the Billboard 200
• Bubbled under the main album chart for eight weeks in the autumn of 1984
• Received college airplay and MTV rotation, which built the band's fan base
• Sold about 300,000 copies worldwide as of 2007

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Gwen Dickey, better known as Rose Norwalt, was the singer of the 1970s group Rose Royce and sang backing vocals on "Mommy Where's Daddy?"
• In live performances of that song, Flea performs Dickey's lines
• Songs from this album were played live dozens of times in the 1980s, but nearly all had left the setlist by the 1990s
• One-off live performances came later: "You Always Sing the Same" in 2011, "Police Helicopter" in 2019, and "Out in L.A." in 2023
• Flea was among the members who said they preferred the demo versions of most of the songs

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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