Boys and Girls (album)

Boys and Girls is the sixth solo studio album by the English singer and songwriter Bryan Ferry, released in June 1985 by E.G. Records. The album was Ferry's first solo album in seven years and the first since he had disbanded his group Roxy Music in 1983. The album was Ferry's first and only number one solo album in the UK.[2] It was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry and contains two UK top 40 hit singles. It is also Ferry's most successful solo album in the US, having been certified Gold for sales in excess of half a million copies there.

For the Alabama Shakes album, see Boys & Girls (album).
Boys and Girls
Studio album by
Bryan Ferry
Released3 June 1985 (1985-06-03)
Recorded1983–1985
StudioAIR Studios, Hampstead, London; Compass Point Studios, New Providence, The Bahamas; Effanel Mobile; RPM Studios, New York; Sarm West Studios, London; The White House, New South Wales, Australia; The Power Station, New York[1]
GenreSophisti-pop
Length38:24
LabelE.G.
Producer
Bryan Ferry chronology
The Bride Stripped Bare
(1978)		 Boys and Girls
(1985)		 Bête Noire
(1987)
Singles from Boys and Girls
  1. "Slave to Love"
    Released: April 1985
  2. "Don't Stop the Dance"
    Released: August 1985
  3. "Windswept"
    Released: November 1985

The album contained the track "Slave to Love", which became one of Ferry's most popular solo hits. The single was released on 29 April 1985 and spent nine weeks in the UK charts in 1985, peaking at number 10, along with the other (modestly successful) singles "Don't Stop the Dance" and "Windswept".

The guitar solo at the end of "Slave to Love" featured Neil Hubbard[3] and the album featured other famous guitarists such as the Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler, Pink Floyd's guitarist David Gilmour, Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers and Bryan Adams' guitarist Keith Scott.

The eponymous closing track Boys and Girls was used in the season 2 episode Bushido of the television series Miami Vice.

The album was remastered and re-released in 2000, and was also re-released on the SACD format in 2005.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Robert ChristgauB−[5]
Rolling Stone(equivocal)[6]
Smash Hits(6/10)[7]

Writing retrospectively for AllMusic, critic Ned Raggett complimented the track "Slave to Love" and wrote "As a whole, Boys and Girls fully established the clean, cool vision of Ferry on his own to the general public. Instead of ragged rock explosions, emotional extremes, and all that made his '70s work so compelling in and out of Roxy, Ferry here is the suave, debonair if secretly moody and melancholic lover, with music to match."[8]

Critic Robert Christgau wrote "His voice thicker and more mucous, his tempos dragging despite all the fancy beats he's bought, he runs an ever steeper risk of turning into the romantic obsessive he's always played so zealously."[5]

The 1992 edition of the Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album three and half stars out of five: "Set in the richly synthesized mode of Avalon, Ferry's sixth album envelopes the listener in emotional subtleties and sonic nuance. Then it's over like a pleasant dream. Boys and Girls could stand a couple of more tunes along the memorable lines of "Slave to Love" or "Don't Stop the Dance."[9] The 2004 New Rolling Stone Album Guide repeated the three-and-a-half star rating; "Boys and Girls, his first solo album after Roxy Music broke up, was his disco-friendly bid for solo stardom, and while it's too fluffy, it does have one of his greatest love songs ever, the hypnotic slow-dance "Slave to Love."[10]

In the 1985 Pazz and Jop Critics Poll by the Village Voice it was voted the 31st best album of the year.[11]

2006 surround-sound remix

In 2006, Virgin reissued Boys and Girls on Hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) with a new 5.1-channel surround sound remix by the original production team of Rhett Davies (the producer) and Bob Clearmountain (the mixing engineer). The original 1985 stereo mix is left intact and is the same for the CD layer and for the HD layer, allegedly being transferred from analogue master tapes to DSD and processed in DSD throughout.

Track listing

All songs written by Bryan Ferry except as noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sensation" 5:07
2."Slave to Love" 4:26
3."Don't Stop the Dance"Bryan Ferry, Rhett Davies4:19
4."A Waste Land" 1:02
5."Windswept" 4:31
6."The Chosen One" 4:51
7."Valentine" 3:47
8."Stone Woman" 4:56
9."Boys and Girls" 5:25
Total length:38:24

Personnel
A promotional poster for the album.

Additional personnel

Engineering

  • Rhett Davies – recording engineer
  • Bob Clearmountain – recording engineer, mixing engineer
  • Neil Dorfsman – recording engineer
  • Femi Jiya – recording engineer
  • Dominick Maita – recording engineer
  • Brian McGee – recording engineer
  • Andy Lydon – recording engineer
  • Benjamin Armbrister – assistant engineer
  • Carb – assistant engineer
  • Steve Churchyard – assistant engineer
  • Randy Ezratty – assistant engineer
  • Dave Greenberg – assistant engineer
  • Kevin Killen – assistant engineer
  • Heff Moraes – assistant engineer
  • Peter Revill – assistant engineer
  • Kendal Stubbs – assistant engineer
  • Robert Ludwig – mastering engineer
  • Simon Puxley, Bryan Ferry – art direction
  • Antony Price – photography

Charts

Album

Chart (1985) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[12] 13
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[13] 15
Canadian Top Albums (RPM)[14] 11
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] 4
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 9
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] 3
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[18] 3
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 9
UK Albums Chart[2] 1
US Billboard 200[21] 63

Singles

Year Single Chart Peak
position
1985 "Slave to Love" UK Singles Chart[2] 10
1985 "Slave to Love" US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks[22] 19
1985 "Don't Stop the Dance" UK Singles Chart[2] 21
1985 "Don't Stop the Dance" US Billboard Adult Contemporary[22] 26
1985 "Don't Stop the Dance" Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[22] 30
1985 "Windswept" UK Singles Chart[23] 46

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[24] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[26] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Boys and Girls". These Vintage Years. Archived from the original on 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
  2. "UK Top 40 Hit Database". Retrieved 2008-08-27.
  3. "Roxy Music - Welcome To VivaRoxyMusic.com - on VivaRoxyMusic.com". vivaroxymusic.com.
  4. AllMusic review
  5. "Robert Christgau: Consumer Guide Dec. 3, 1985". robertchristgau.com.
  6. Rolling Stone review
  7. Anthony, Lisa (19 June 1985). "Album Reviews)". Smash Hits. EMAP Metro. 7 (15): 20.
  8. Ned Raggett. "Boys and Girls". AllMusic.
  9. DeCurtis, Anthony (Ed.). "Bryan Ferry". Rolling Stone Album Guide. 1992. pg. 243
  10. Brackett, Nathan. "Bryan Ferry". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. November 2004. pg. 297
  11. "Robert Christgau: Pazz & Jop 1985: Critics Poll". robertchristgau.com.
  12. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. "Austriancharts.at – Bryan Ferry – Boys and Girls" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  14. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
  15. "Dutchcharts.nl – Bryan Ferry – Boys and Girls" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Bryan Ferry – Boys and Girls" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  17. "Charts.nz – Bryan Ferry – Boys and Girls". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  18. "Norwegiancharts.com – Bryan Ferry – Boys and Girls". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  19. "Swedishcharts.com – Bryan Ferry – Boys and Girls". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  20. "Swisscharts.com – Bryan Ferry – Boys and Girls". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  21. "Bryan Ferry Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  22. "Bryan Ferry Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  23. "Bryan Ferry | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  24. "New Zealand album certifications – Bryan Ferry – Boys And Girls". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  25. "British album certifications – Bryan Ferry – Boys And Girls". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 June 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Boys And Girls in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  26. "American album certifications – Bryan Ferry – Boys And Girls". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 10 June 2019. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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