Maps of Music

What About Me? (1984)

Where the lyrics of What About Me? take you, and where it was really made.

Its title track was sung by three artists, and co-writer Richard Marx earned his first number one as a writer from it.

Key places

Recorded at Lion Share Studios (1984)

Recording site Lion Share — The source lists Lion Share Studios in Los Angeles among the recording sites for this album. The point marks the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Sunset Sound in Hollywood (1984)

Recording site Sunset Sound — The source lists Sunset Sound in Hollywood among the recording sites, alongside Ocean Way Recording. The point marks the Sunset Sound studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at The Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach (1984)

Recording site The Lighthouse — The source lists The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach as a recording site for this album. The point sits at the city center, not at the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• What About Me?: sixteenth studio album by American singer Kenny Rogers
• Released by RCA Records in 1984
• Produced by Kenny Rogers and David Foster
• Available on long playing, cassette and compact disc
• Track listing includes the title track, The Night Goes On, Dream Dancin', Two Hearts One Love, Crazy and The Stranger

Background

• Title track sung as a trio with R&B singer James Ingram and Kim Carnes
• Title track reached number one on the AC charts and was also a pop and country hit
• Co-writer Richard Marx's first number one as a writer
• Marx's second number one as a writer: Crazy, included on the album
• Two Hearts, One Love by Byron Hill
• Pickin' Up Strangers released on Johnny Lee's Lookin' for Love album
• The Stranger: story song in the vein of Rogers' earlier hits The Gambler and Lucille
• The Night Goes On: R&B influenced ballad

Recording

• Keyboards by David Foster, Randy Kerber, Jimmy Cox and others; Foster also handled arrangements
• Humberto Gatica served as engineer and mixer
• Mastering by Wally Traugott at Capitol Mastering in Hollywood, California
• Recording locations listed: Lion Share Studios in Los Angeles, Sunset Sound in Hollywood, and The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach

Cover

• Photography by Mario Casilli and Reid Miles
• Art direction by John Coulter

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Kenneth Donald Ray Rogers was born on August 21, 1938, in Houston, Texas, and began his recording career in the late 1950s with the Houston group the Scholars.
• He was an American country singer-songwriter who moved from teenage rock and roll through psychedelic rock to become a country-pop crossover artist of the 1970s and 1980s.
• In 1967 he co-founded the First Edition with former New Christy Minstrels members, later renamed Kenny Rogers and the First Edition.

Members

• The First Edition's members included Mike Settle, Terry Williams, Thelma Camacho, and Kin Vassy.
• Rogers's backing band Bloodline has toured with him since 1976.

Career

• The First Edition scored hits including "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" before the group disbanded in 1976.
• As a solo artist he charted more than 60 top-40 singles, including the number-one hits "Lady" and "Islands in the Stream".
• He recorded duets with Dottie West, Dolly Parton, and Sheena Easton, and partnered with Lionel Richie as songwriter.
• His signature song "The Gambler" won a Grammy in 1980 and was selected for the National Recording Registry in 2018.
• He sold more than 100 million records worldwide and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
• He retired from touring in 2017 and died on March 20, 2020, at age 81.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released by RCA Records in 1984 as Kenny Rogers' sixteenth studio album
• Continued Rogers' long Platinum streak, quickly selling over a million copies
• Title track sung as a trio with James Ingram and Kim Carnes
• Crazy issued as a single alongside the title track
• Album issued on LP, cassette and compact disc

Records

• Title track reached number one on the AC charts
• Title track also became a pop hit and a country hit
• Co-writer Richard Marx earned his first number one as a writer from the title track
• Marx's second number one as a writer was Crazy, included on this album
• Sales: over one million copies sold quickly after release
• Platinum status continued Rogers' long run

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Richard Marx's first and second number one hits as a writer both came from songs tied to this album.
• The Night Goes On was used as a love theme for the Eden Capwell and Cruz Castillo characters on the TV series Santa Barbara.
• The Stranger is a story song in the vein of Rogers' earlier hits The Gambler and Lucille.
• Singles taken from the album were the title track and Crazy.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact