Fire of Love is the debut album of the American punk band The Gun Club, released in 1981 on Ruby Records

Ruby Records

Ruby Records was a record label subsidiary of Slash Records, started in 1981.Ruby was distributed through the same independent distributors that handled its corporate parent, Slash. When Warner Bros...

. The album is considered groundbreaking in being the first of its kind to combine the hard, stripped-down sound of punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 with American roots musics

Traditional music

Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...

. In turn, this innovation helped to create the punk blues and psychobilly

Psychobilly

Psychobilly is a fusion genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. It is one of several subgenres of rockabilly which also include thrashabilly, trashabilly, punkabilly, surfabilly and gothabilly...

 styles as well as inspiring countless garage rock

Garage rock

Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...

 musicians. Several musicians have cited Fire of Love as an influence, most notably Jack White

Jack White (musician)

Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...

 of The White Stripes

The White Stripes

The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...

, who has said of this album: "Why are these songs not taught in schools?" In 2003 Enon

Enon

Enon was an indie rock band founded by John Schmersal, Rick Lee and Steve Calhoon. Currently, Enon is situated in Philadelphia, though the band is known for being part of the New York music scene.-Biography:...

 covered the song "Sex Beat". Juliana Hatfield

Juliana Hatfield

Juliana Hatfield , is an American guitarist/singer-songwriter and author from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies and Some Girls. She currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts....

's band Some Girls

Some Girls (band)

Some Girls is an American indie rock trio composed of Juliana Hatfield , Heidi Gluck and Freda Love Smith . The group's songs are generally melodic, upbeat, and lighthearted.The group released first album, Feel It, in 2003 and toured the United States...

 also covered "Sex Beat" for their 2003 album Feel It

Feel It (album)

Feel It is the debut album by Some Girls, released in 2003 .-Track listing:#"Feel It" – 4:13 #"The Prettiest Girl" – 3:14 #"Necessito" – 2:55...

. In 2006, "Sex Beat" appeared on the soundtrack to the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours

Scarface: The World is Yours

Scarface: The World Is Yours is a video game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Vivendi Universal Games. The game is based on and is a quasi-sequel to the 1983 motion picture Scarface starring Al Pacino reprising his role as Tony Montana, with André Sogliuzzo providing Montana's...

.

The Flesh Eaters

The Flesh Eaters (band)

The Flesh Eaters are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1977. They are the most prominent of the bands which have showcased the compositions and singing of their founder, punk poet Chris Desjardins, known as...

' singer Chris D.

Chris D.

Chris D., real name Chris Desjardins, is a punk poet, rock critic, singer, writer, actor and filmmaker. Chris D. is best known as the lead singer and founder of the early Los Angeles punk/deathrock band The Flesh Eaters. Desjardins was a feature writer at Slash magazine in 1977, when he formed a...

 produced five tracks on the album ("Sex Beat", "Preaching the Blues", "Fire Spirit", "Ghost on the Highway" and "Jack on Fire"). Tito Larriva

Tito Larriva

-Early life:Larriva was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, and El Paso, Texas. As a child he played the violin in the school orchestra and sang in the church and school choirs where he met his wife Janet Carroll. In 1972 Larriva snuck into Yale University for a full...

 produced the album's other six tracks. Chris D. was also credited with the cover design for the original release.

Track listing

All songs composed by Jeffrey Lee Pierce

Jeffrey Lee Pierce

Jeffrey Lee Pierce was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was one of the founding members of the 1980s punk band The Gun Club...

; except where indicated

Side A:

1. "Sex Beat"
2. "Preaching the Blues" (Robert Johnson, arranged Pierce)
3. "Promise Me"
4. "She's Like Heroin to Me"
5. "For the Love of Ivy" (Pierce, Kid Congo Powers
   Kid Congo Powers
   Kid Congo Powers is the stage name of Brian Tristan , an American rock guitarist and singer, best known as a member of The Gun Club, The Cramps and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.-Biography:...
   
   )
6. "Fire Spirit"

Side B:

1. "Ghost on the Highway"
2. "Jack on Fire"
3. "Black Train"
4. "Cool Drink of Water" (Tommy Johnson, traditional, arranged Pierce)
5. "Goodbye Johnny"

Personnel

• Jeffrey Lee Pierce
  Jeffrey Lee Pierce
  Jeffrey Lee Pierce was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was one of the founding members of the 1980s punk band The Gun Club...
  
   - vocals, slide guitar, backing vocals on "Jack on Fire"
• Ward Dotson - guitar, slide guitar, backing vocals on "Jack on Fire"
• Rob Ritter - bass
• Terry Graham - drums
• Tito Larriva
  Tito Larriva
  -Early life:Larriva was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, and El Paso, Texas. As a child he played the violin in the school orchestra and sang in the church and school choirs where he met his wife Janet Carroll. In 1972 Larriva snuck into Yale University for a full...
  
   - producer, violin on "Promise Me"
• Chris D.
  Chris D.
  Chris D., real name Chris Desjardins, is a punk poet, rock critic, singer, writer, actor and filmmaker. Chris D. is best known as the lead singer and founder of the early Los Angeles punk/deathrock band The Flesh Eaters. Desjardins was a feature writer at Slash magazine in 1977, when he formed a...
  
  - producer, backing vocals on "Jack on Fire"
• Lois Graham - backing vocals on "Jack on Fire"
• Pat Burnette - engineer
• Noah Shark - engineer