Strange Angels is the title of singer Laurie Anderson

Laurie Anderson

Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...

's fifth album, released by Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

 in 1989.

With this release, Anderson attempted to move away from her previous image as a performance artist into a more musical realm. Although music had always been part of her performance, it was never brought to the fore as much as it was on Strange Angels.

Completion of this album was delayed for nearly a year when Anderson decided that she needed to take singing lessons; in the process she discovered that she was a mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano

A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

.

The album includes contributions from vocal artist Bobby McFerrin

Bobby McFerrin

Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...

. Its striking cover photo was shot by Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and nude men...

. One of the songs on this album, "The Dream Before" (also known as "Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel

"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...

 Are Alive and Well") had been introduced several years earlier in her short film What You Mean We?

What You Mean We?

What You Mean We? is the title of a 1987 American made-for-television musical short film starring singer Laurie Anderson, who also wrote and directed the piece.-Overview:...

while she had performed "Babydoll" and "The Day the Devil" years previously on Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

.

Reaction to Anderson's new direction was mixed, with some critics praising her new style, while some accused her of abandoning her performance art roots, even though Anderson soon began work on a major piece titled The Nerve Bible. Her next album would not be released for five years.

Strange Angels received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album

Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album

The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative rock genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...

.

Beautiful Red Dress was covered in Portuguese by the Brazilian singer Marina Lima

Marina Lima

Marina Correia Lima is a Brazilian singer and songwriter. She is a prominent female pioneer of Brazilian rock music.-Career:From the age of five to twelve, Marina lived in the United States and learned to read first in English and then in Portuguese. She gained attention in 1977 when popular...

, on her 2006 album 'La nos Primordios', titled "Vestidinho Vermelho" (Little Red Dress).

Track listing

All tracks composed by Laurie Anderson except where indicated

1. "Strange Angels" – 3:51
2. "Monkey's Paw" – 4:33
3. "Coolsville" – 4:34
4. "Ramon" – 5:03
5. "Babydoll" – 3:38
6. "Beautiful Red Dress" – 4:43
7. "The Day the Devil" (Laurie Anderson/Peter Laurence Gordon) – 4:00
8. "The Dream Before" – 3:03
9. "My Eyes" – 5:29
10. "Hiawatha" – 6:53

Personnel

• Laurie Anderson - vocals, keyboards, drums on "Coolsville"
• Chris Spedding
  Chris Spedding
  Chris Spedding is an English rock and roll and jazz guitarist, best known for his session work. Allmusic states - "Spedding is one of the UK's most versatile session guitarists, and has had a long career on two continents that saw him tackle nearly every style of rock and roll, as well as...
  
   - guitar
• Jimi Tunnell - guitar
• Peter Scherer - bass, keyboards, and drum programming
• Mark Dresser
  Mark Dresser
  Mark Dresser is an American double bass player and composer.-Biography:He has performed and recorded with many of the luminaries of "new" jazz composition and improvisation. For ten years he performed with the Anthony Braxton Quartet, as well as diverse groups led by Ray Anderson, Tim Berne,...
  
   - bass
• Sue Hadjopoulus - percussion
• Joey Baron
  Joey Baron
  Joey Baron is an American avant-garde jazz drummer probably best known for his work with Bill Frisell, Stan Getz, Steve Kuhn, and John Zorn...
  
   - drums
• Cyro Baptista
  Cyro Baptista
  Cyro Baptista is a Brazilian musician, teacher, and recording artist specializing in percussion in the genres of jazz and world music....
  
   - percussion
• Alex Foster
  Alex Foster
  Alexander Dwight Foster is an American professional ice hockey forward currently playing with HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga. He is the son of former NHL player Dwight Foster and nephew of former NHL player Wes Jarvis. Prior to advancing to the professional ranks, Foster played both junior...
  
   - alto saxophone
• Bobby McFerrin
  Bobby McFerrin
  Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...
  
   - vocals
• Steve Gadd
  Steve Gadd
  Steve Gadd is an American session and studio drummer, notable for his work with popular musicians from a wide range of genres.-Biography:...
  
   - drums
• Anton Fier
  Anton Fier
  Anton Fier, , is an American drummer, composer and bandleader. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.Fier was an early member of The Lounge Lizards and The Feelies. He was in The Lodge , worked with Pere Ubu, was briefly in the Voidoids and founded The Golden Palominos...
  
   - drums
• Naná Vasconcelos
  Naná Vasconcelos
  Naná Vasconcelos is a Brazilian Latin jazz percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, most notable for his works with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, and Gato Barbieri....
  
   - percussion
• Tony Levin
  Tony Levin
  Tony Levin is an American progressive rock musician, specializing in bass guitar, Chapman stick and upright bass ....
  
   - Chapman stick
• Jimmy Bralower - drum programming
• Lenny Pickett - tenor saxophone and horn arrangements
• David Van Tieghem - percussion
• Leon Pendarvis - drum programming
• David Spinozza
  David Spinozza
  David Spinozza is an American musician , who worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing Taylor's album Walking Man....
  
   - guitar
• Dave Lebolt - keyboards, synthesizers
• Ray Phiri
  Ray Phiri
  Raymond Chikapa Phiri is an African jazz, fusion and mbaqanga musician born in Mpumalanga. He became founding member of the Cannibals in the 1970's...
  
   - guitar
• Bakithi Khumalo
  Bakithi Khumalo
  Bakithi Kumalo is a South African bassist, composer and vocalist who has worked with a wide variety of diverse artists including Gloria Estefan, Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, Harry Belafonte, Cyndi Lauper and Paul Simon...
  
   - fretless bass
• Mark Egan
  Mark Egan
  Mark Egan is an American jazz bass guitarist and trumpeter, arguably best known for his membership in the Pat Metheny Group from 1977 to 1980, and the Gil Evans Orchestra...
  
   - bass
• Tom "T-Bone" Wolk - accordion
• Hugh McCracken
  Hugh McCracken
  Hugh McCracken is a rhythm guitar player and session musician, arranger and producer based in New York.Especially in demand in the 60s, 70s and 80s, he appears on many recordings by Steely Dan, as well as albums by Donald Fagen, Jimmy Rushing, Billy Joel, Roland Kirk, Roberta Flack, B. B...
  
   - harmonica
• Gib Wharton - pedal steel guitar
• Louis Del Gatto - baritone saxophone
• Manolo Badrena
  Manolo Badrena
  Manolo Badrena is a percussionist most noted for his work with Weather Report from 1976 to 1977. He has made contributions to over 100 recordings that span jazz, world music, pop, and Latin music...
  
   - percussion
• Ian Ritchie - drum programming
• Gene Tyranny
  Gene Tyranny
  Blue' Gene Tyranny is an avant-garde composer and pianist. He was born in San Antonio, Texas, the adopted son of Dorothy and Meyer Sheff. He studied piano with Meta Hertwig and Rodney Hoare, and composition with Otto Wick and Frank Hughes...
  
   - keyboards
• Lisa Fischer
  Lisa Fischer
  Lisa Fischer is an American R&B singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in 1991 with her debut album So Intense, which produced the Grammy Award winning hit single "How Can I Ease the Pain". Known for her high notes, which extends into the whistle register, Fischer has been recognized as one of...
  
   - backing vocals
• Bennie Diggs - backing vocals
• B.J. Nelson - backing vocals
• Yolanda Lee - backing vocals
• Phil Ballou - backing vocals
• Angela Clemmons-Patrick - backing vocals
• Paulette McWilliams - backing vocals
• Darryl Tookes - backing vocals
• Diane Wilson - backing vocals
• Earl Gardner - trumpet
• Laurie Frink - trumpet
• Steve Turre
  Steve Turre
  Steve Turre is a trombonist, recording artist, arranger, and educator. In 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2006 he won the Down Beat Reader's Poll for best trombonist....
  
   - trombone, conch shell
• Robby Kilgore - keyboards
• Errol "Crusher" Bennett - percussion
• John Selolwane - guitar
• Arto Lindsay
  Arto Lindsay
  Arthur Morgan Lindsay is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He is a 1974 graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida....
  
   - guitar
• Mike Thorne - keyboards, drum programming
• Bill Buchen - percussion
• The Roches
  The Roches
  The Roches are a female vocal group of three songwriting Irish-American sisters from Park Ridge, New Jersey, known for their "unusual" and "rich" harmonies, quirky lyrics, and casually comedic stage performances.The Roches have been active as performers and recording artists since the mid-1970s,...
  
   - backing vocals
• Meat Loaf
  Meat Loaf
  Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
  
  - backing vocals, chant

"Babydoll"

The lyrics to this song appeared on the liner for the vinyl recording the words centered and formatted into the shape of a doll.