Hot Streets
Encyclopedia
Hot Streets is the 12th album
by American
rock
band Chicago
and released in 1978. In many ways, Hot Streets marked the beginning of a new era for the band. It was also first album with all-new material released by the band that didn't have a numbered title.
After working with James William Guercio since their 1969 debut
, Chicago decided to part ways with him following the release of Chicago XI
in 1977, finding him too controlling. But undeniably the biggest change was the death of guitarist Terry Kath
in January 1978, who unintentionally shot himself at a roadie's house party. Chicago was devastated by his death, and considered breaking up. Kath was one of the key players who most defined the rhythmic sound of the band, and could not easily be replaced. After the immediate shock waned, they decided they still had something to offer, and carried on.
Phil Ramone
, who had mixed some of their earlier albums, was called upon to co-produce their new effort. But before Chicago could begin recording, they had to contend with the difficult process of finding a new guitarist. Donnie Dacus
, who had previously worked with Roger McGuinn
and Stephen Stills
, was chosen, being an accomplished guitarist who would bring his own distinctive style to the group.
Recording that spring took place - after years of work at Guercio's Caribou Ranch
in Colorado
- in Miami
and Los Angeles
and by the sessions' end, Chicago felt as though they were a still a strong musical proposition after losing Kath. The Miami sessions featured a guest appearance by the Bee Gees
, as the Gibb brothers were recording their album Spirits Having Flown
next door at the time with their backup band, which included keyboardist
Blue Weaver
. They added vocals to the song "Little Miss Lovin'" and Weaver added synthesized strings to "No Tell Lover
" and "Show Me The Way", while the Chicago horn section played on Spirits Having Flown, most notably on the hit single "Too Much Heaven
".
To mark this new beginning, the band decided to break with tradition by giving their album a proper title, Hot Streets, and feature themselves prominently on the cover with a picture of the band (shot by photographer Norman Seeff
) rather than the famous logo. A later marketing study confirmed the fact, however, that the public expected to see the logo on the cover, and it would return in the form of a high-rise building for the following "Chicago 13
."
Released in October 1978, and preceded by the defiant "Alive Again
" as lead single, Hot Streets - distinguished by its lean sound - was another hit for the group, who had been concerned that the public might not accept them without Kath. Although it went platinum, and they scored a second top twenty hit in "No Tell Lover
", Hot Streets was the first Chicago album since their debut that failed to reach the US Top 10. The album peaked at #12, signaling that, with the advent of punk music and disco
, Chicago's current heyday had perhaps passed. However, in the music world, many things are cyclical, and the 1980s would eventually see a commercial rebirth for the group.
After the release of Chicago 13, and at the end of the Christmas 1979 tour, Dacus would be fired from the group, bringing his short tenure with Chicago to an abrupt end.
In 2003, Hot Streets was remastered and reissued by Rhino Records with an alternate version of Lamm's "Love Was New" sung by Dacus as a bonus track.
Additional personnel
Singles - Billboard (North America)
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
and released in 1978. In many ways, Hot Streets marked the beginning of a new era for the band. It was also first album with all-new material released by the band that didn't have a numbered title.
After working with James William Guercio since their 1969 debut
The Chicago Transit Authority (album)
The Chicago Transit Authority is the eponymous debut album by the Chicago-based rock band The Chicago Transit Authority, who would later be known as Chicago. It was recorded and released in 1969.-History:...
, Chicago decided to part ways with him following the release of Chicago XI
Chicago XI
Chicago XI is the 11th album by American rock band Chicago and was released in 1977. As the successor to Chicago X, the album marked the end of an era for Chicago in more ways than one...
in 1977, finding him too controlling. But undeniably the biggest change was the death of guitarist Terry Kath
Terry Kath
Terry Alan Kath , born in Chicago, Illinois, was the original guitarist and founding member of the rock band Chicago...
in January 1978, who unintentionally shot himself at a roadie's house party. Chicago was devastated by his death, and considered breaking up. Kath was one of the key players who most defined the rhythmic sound of the band, and could not easily be replaced. After the immediate shock waned, they decided they still had something to offer, and carried on.
Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone is a South-African violinist, composer, recording engineer, and record producer.-Biography:As a young child in South Africa, Ramone was a musical prodigy, beginning to play the violin at age three and performing for Queen Elizabeth II at age ten...
, who had mixed some of their earlier albums, was called upon to co-produce their new effort. But before Chicago could begin recording, they had to contend with the difficult process of finding a new guitarist. Donnie Dacus
Donnie Dacus
Donnie Dacus is a musician best known for his work in the band Chicago and his role as Woof Daschund in the 1979 movie Hair.-Early life:Don Dacus was born in Galena Park, Texas on October 12, 1951....
, who had previously worked with Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
and Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
, was chosen, being an accomplished guitarist who would bring his own distinctive style to the group.
Recording that spring took place - after years of work at Guercio's Caribou Ranch
Caribou Ranch
Caribou Ranch was a recording studio built by producer James William Guercio in 1972 in a converted barn on ranch property in the Rocky Mountains near Nederland, Colorado, on the road that leads to the ghost town of Caribou...
in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
- in Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
and Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and by the sessions' end, Chicago felt as though they were a still a strong musical proposition after losing Kath. The Miami sessions featured a guest appearance by the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
, as the Gibb brothers were recording their album Spirits Having Flown
Spirits Having Flown
Spirits Having Flown is the Bee Gees' fifteenth original album, released in 1979. It was the group's first album after their collaboration on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The album's first three tracks were released as singles which all went to no.1 in the US...
next door at the time with their backup band, which included keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Blue Weaver
Blue Weaver
Blue Weaver is a British keyboard player, session musician, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:...
. They added vocals to the song "Little Miss Lovin'" and Weaver added synthesized strings to "No Tell Lover
No Tell Lover
"No Tell Lover" is a song written by Peter Cetera, Lee Loughnane, and Danny Seraphine for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Hot Streets , with Cetera and Donnie Dacus singing lead vocals. The second single released from that album, it reached #14 on the U.S...
" and "Show Me The Way", while the Chicago horn section played on Spirits Having Flown, most notably on the hit single "Too Much Heaven
Too Much Heaven
"Too Much Heaven" is a song by the Bee Gees, which was the band's contribution to the "Music for UNICEF" fund. They performed it at the Music for UNICEF Concert on 9 January 1979. The song later found its way to the group's thirteenth original album, Spirits Having Flown...
".
To mark this new beginning, the band decided to break with tradition by giving their album a proper title, Hot Streets, and feature themselves prominently on the cover with a picture of the band (shot by photographer Norman Seeff
Norman Seeff
Norman Seeff was born March 5, 1939 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since moving to the United States in 1969, his work as a photographer and filmmaker has been focused on the exploration of human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creative process....
) rather than the famous logo. A later marketing study confirmed the fact, however, that the public expected to see the logo on the cover, and it would return in the form of a high-rise building for the following "Chicago 13
Chicago 13
Chicago 13 is the 13th album by American rock band Chicago and was released in 1979. The follow-up to Hot Streets, Chicago 13 is often considered an unpopular release among Chicago's catalog, both critically and with fans...
."
Released in October 1978, and preceded by the defiant "Alive Again
Alive Again (Chicago song)
"Alive Again" is a song written by James Pankow for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Hot Streets , with Peter Cetera singing lead vocals. The first single released from that album, it reached #14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart....
" as lead single, Hot Streets - distinguished by its lean sound - was another hit for the group, who had been concerned that the public might not accept them without Kath. Although it went platinum, and they scored a second top twenty hit in "No Tell Lover
No Tell Lover
"No Tell Lover" is a song written by Peter Cetera, Lee Loughnane, and Danny Seraphine for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Hot Streets , with Cetera and Donnie Dacus singing lead vocals. The second single released from that album, it reached #14 on the U.S...
", Hot Streets was the first Chicago album since their debut that failed to reach the US Top 10. The album peaked at #12, signaling that, with the advent of punk music and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, Chicago's current heyday had perhaps passed. However, in the music world, many things are cyclical, and the 1980s would eventually see a commercial rebirth for the group.
After the release of Chicago 13, and at the end of the Christmas 1979 tour, Dacus would be fired from the group, bringing his short tenure with Chicago to an abrupt end.
In 2003, Hot Streets was remastered and reissued by Rhino Records with an alternate version of Lamm's "Love Was New" sung by Dacus as a bonus track.
Track listing
- "Alive AgainAlive Again (Chicago song)"Alive Again" is a song written by James Pankow for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Hot Streets , with Peter Cetera singing lead vocals. The first single released from that album, it reached #14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart....
" (James Pankow) – 4:08 - "The Greatest Love on Earth" (Daniel Seraphine / David WolinskiHawk WolinskiDavid J. "Hawk" Wolinski is an American keyboardist, songwriter and record producer probably best known for his work with the funk band Rufus and their lead singer Chaka Khan....
) – 3:18 - "Little Miss Lovin'" (featuring The Bee Gees) (Peter Cetera) – 4:36
- "Hot Streets" (Robert Lamm) – 5:20
- "Take a Chance" (Lee Loughnane / Stash Wagner) – 4:42
- "Gone Long Gone" (Peter Cetera) – 4:00
- "Ain't It Time" (Donnie Dacus / Daniel Seraphine / Warner Schwebke) – 4:12
- "Love Was New" (Robert Lamm) – 3:30
- "No Tell LoverNo Tell Lover"No Tell Lover" is a song written by Peter Cetera, Lee Loughnane, and Danny Seraphine for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Hot Streets , with Cetera and Donnie Dacus singing lead vocals. The second single released from that album, it reached #14 on the U.S...
" (Peter Cetera / Lee Loughnane / Daniel Seraphine) – 4:13 - "Show Me the Way" (Daniel Seraphine / David Wolinski) – 3:36
The band
- Peter CeteraPeter CeteraPeter Paul Cetera is an American singer, songwriter, bassist and producer best known for being an original member of the rock band Chicago, before launching a successful solo career...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Donnie DacusDonnie DacusDonnie Dacus is a musician best known for his work in the band Chicago and his role as Woof Daschund in the 1979 movie Hair.-Early life:Don Dacus was born in Galena Park, Texas on October 12, 1951....
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals - Laudir de Oliveira - percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
- Robert LammRobert LammRobert William Lamm is an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter who came to fame as a founding member of the pop rock band Chicago...
- keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, vocals - Lee LoughnaneLee LoughnaneLee Loughnane , born 21 October 1946 in Elmwood Park, Illinois to Juanita Wall and Philip Louis Loughnane, is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter, best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago.- Biography :...
- trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, vocals - James PankowJames PankowJames Carter "Jimmy" Pankow is an American trombone player, songwriter and brass instrument arranger best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago.-Early life:...
- tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... - Walter ParazaiderWalter ParazaiderWalter Parazaider is best known for being a founding member and saxophone player for the rock band Chicago. He also plays the flute and other woodwind instruments in the band, including clarinet. On the hit "You're Not Alone," he played backing rhythm guitar.Parazaider began playing the clarinet...
- woodwinds - Danny SeraphineDanny SeraphineDaniel Peter "Danny" Seraphine is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer and film producer, best known for being the original drummer and founding member of the rock group Chicago, a tenure which lasted from February 1967 to May 1990.-Early life:Danny Seraphine was born in...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Additional personnel
- Blue WeaverBlue WeaverBlue Weaver is a British keyboard player, session musician, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:...
- synthesizer strings on "No Tell LoverNo Tell Lover"No Tell Lover" is a song written by Peter Cetera, Lee Loughnane, and Danny Seraphine for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Hot Streets , with Cetera and Donnie Dacus singing lead vocals. The second single released from that album, it reached #14 on the U.S...
" - David "Hawk" WolinskiHawk WolinskiDavid J. "Hawk" Wolinski is an American keyboardist, songwriter and record producer probably best known for his work with the funk band Rufus and their lead singer Chaka Khan....
- Fender Rhodes on "Show Me The Way" - The Bee Gees - background vocals on "Little Miss Lovin'"
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Pop Albums | 12 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Alive Again | Pop Singles | 14 |
| 1979 | No Tell Lover | Pop Singles | 14 |
| 1979 | Gone Long Gone | Pop Singles | 73 |
| 1979 | No Tell Lover | Adult Contemporary | 5 |