Walk Under Ladders
Walk Under Ladders is the seventh studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released in September 1981 by A&M Records. The album peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. The album peaked at No. 16 in Australia.[3] Two minor hits from the album both fell just short of cracking the UK Top 40: "I'm Lucky", which peaked at No. 46, and "No Love", which peaked at No. 50.[4]
Walk Under Ladders | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 1981 | |||
Recorded | July 1981 | |||
Studio | The Town House, London | |||
Genre | New wave, soft rock[1] | |||
Length | 35:16 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Producer | Steve Lillywhite | |||
Joan Armatrading chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B–[2] |
Background
The album was produced by Steve Lillywhite. Five tracks from the album were released as singles; "I'm Lucky", "When I Get It Right", "No Love", "I Wanna Hold You" and "The Weakness in Me". Thomas Dolby plays most of the synthesizer parts on the album and Andy Partridge of XTC provides guitar on two tracks from the album.
The album was reissued by Cherry Pop in 2010 featuring three bonus tracks.
Track listing
All tracks composed by Joan Armatrading.
Side one
- "I'm Lucky" – 3:05
- "When I Get It Right" – 3:03
- "Romancers" – 3:48
- "I Wanna Hold You" – 3:46
- "The Weakness in Me" – 3:33
Side two
- "No Love" – 3:58
- "At the Hop" – 3:26
- "I Can't Lie to Myself" – 3:23
- "Eating the Bear" – 2:59
- "Only One" – 4:15
Bonus tracks on the 2010 reissue
- "Shine" – 3:48
- "Dollars" – 3:28
- "Crying" – 3:23
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the Walk Under Ladders liner notes.[5]
- Joan Armatrading – lead vocals, acoustic guitar (on "I Wanna Hold You", "At the Hop", and "I Can't Lie to Myself"), electric piano (on "Only One")
- Hugh Burns – guitar (except on "When I Get it Right", "I Can't Lie to Myself", and "Eating the Bear")
- Mel Collins – saxophone on "When I Get it Right" and "No Love"
- Ray Cooper – percussion
- Dick Cuthell – horn on "Romancers"
- Julian Diggle – percussion on "At the Hop"
- Thomas Dolby – synthesizers (except on "No Love")
- Sly Dunbar – drums on "I Can't Lie to Myself"
- Kirby – guitar on "When I Get it Right" and "I Wanna Hold You"
- Tony Levin – bass guitar (except on "I Can't Lie to Myself"), stick on "Eating the Bear"
- Steve Lillywhite - production, backing vocals on "When I Get it Right" and "No Love"
- Jerry Marotta – drums (except on "I Can't Lie to Myself"), vocals on "No Love"
- Andy Partridge – guitar on "The Weakness in Me" and "Eating the Bear"
- Clark Peters - vocals on "Eating the Bear"
- Nick Plytas – organ, piano on "The Weakness in Me", synthesizer on "No Love"
- Rico Rodriguez – horn on "Romancers"
- Gary Sanford – guitar (on "When I Get it Right", "Romancers", "At the Hop", and "I Can't Lie to Myself"), backing vocals (on "When I Get it Right" and "No Love")
- Robbie Shakespeare – bass guitar on "I Can't Lie to Myself"
Production and artwork
- Steve Lillywhite – producer
- Steve Brown – engineer
- George Chambers – assistant engineer
- Michael Ross – art direction
- Michael Ross – cover design
- Simon Ryan – cover design
- Tony McGee – front cover; inner sleeve photography
- Graham Hughes – back cover; inner sleeve portrait
References
- Ruhlmann, William. "Joan Armatrading – Walk Under Ladders". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- Christgau, Robert (1990). "A". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 16 August 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 19. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- "Official Charts: Joan Armatrading". Official Charts.com. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- Walk Under Ladders (CD booklet). Joan Armatrading. A&M Records. 1981.CS1 maint: others (link)