Gordon (album)
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| Gordon | ||
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| Studio album by Barenaked Ladies | ||
| Released | July 28, 1992 | |
| Recorded | Spring 1992 | |
| Genre | Alternative rock | |
| Length | 58:15 | |
| Label | Reprise | |
| Producer(s) | Barenaked Ladies, Scott Dibble, Michael Phillip Wojewoda, Robin Billinton | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Barenaked Ladies chronology | ||
| Variety Recordings: Barenaked Ladies (1991) |
Gordon (1992) |
Maybe You Should Drive (1994) |
| Alternate cover | ||
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| Original album cover (1992-1996) | ||
Gordon was the debut album and first major-label release by Barenaked Ladies. It was released in 1992 in Canada and went double platinum in record time. Many of the band's signature tracks appeared on the disc, including "If I Had $1000000", "Be My Yoko Ono", "What A Good Boy", "Grade 9" and "Brian Wilson".
The only track recorded for the album but left off the finished record is a remake of the Public Enemy song "Fight the Power" (a shorter version of this song appeared on the successful Yellow Tape). Although left off the album, it later appeared on the soundtrack for the movie The Coneheads and was later released as a promo-only single.
The album was a massive success in Canada, where it topped the album charts for 8 weeks and sold over a million copies. Although US interest was virtually nil, with Gordon never charting there at all, the album eventually did earn a gold record in America after their sudden rise to fame there in 1998.
The recording of this album also spawned a Barenaked Ladies tradition, the naked track. During the recording of the song "The King of Bedside Manor", the band felt they needed to inject some sort of raw enthusiasm into the track, and one of the band members suggested that they record this song completely in the nude. The idea worked, and began a traditition called the "naked track", where the band recorded one track on every studio album naked. This practice ended with the recording of the band's 2005 album Barenaked for the Holidays.
The album is also notable for containing a significant number of pastiches of other artists: Hello City contains an imitation of Happy Hour by the Housemartins (this is apparently a reference to early criticism of BNL sounding too much like the Housemartins). Grade 9 includes a nod to Tom Sawyer and The Spirit of Radio by Rush (Robertson and Page are good friends of Alex Lifeson), as well as the piano riff from Vince Guaraldi's Linus and Lucy also know as the Peanuts' theme. The King of Bedside Manor segues into a pastiche of Mr. Roboto by Styx. New Kid (On the Block) contains several vocal references to songs by New Kids on the Block
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "Hello City" (Page, Robertson) – 3:22
- "Enid" (Page, Robertson) – 4:07
- "Grade 9" (Creeggan, Creeggan, Page, Robertson, Stewart) – 2:53
- "Brian Wilson" (Page) – 4:47
- "Be My Yoko Ono" (Page, Robertson) – 2:45
- "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" (Creeggan, Page, Robertson) – 4:35
- "What a Good Boy" (Page, Robertson) – 3:52
- "The King of Bedside Manor" (Page, Robertson) – 2:24
- "Box Set" (Page) – 4:48
- "I Love You" (Creeggan, Creeggan, Page, Robertson) – 4:08
- "New Kid (On the Block)" (Dibble, Page, Robertson) – 4:12
- "Blame It on Me" (Page, Robertson) – 3:54
- "The Flag" (Page) – 3:53
- "If I Had $1000000" (Page, Robertson) – 4:27
- "Crazy" (Robertson, Wilson) – 4:08
- "Dat Fodder" (Hidden track, CD only - Features studio outtakes and general band goofiness).
[edit] Personnel
Barenaked Ladies
- Steven Page - synthesizer, guitar, sound effects, vocals, shaker
- Ed Robertson - synthesizer, guitar, sound effects, vocals, shaker, cowbell
- Jim Creeggan - sound effects, vocals, double bass, shaker
- Andy Creeggan - organ, piano, conga, sound effects, tambourine, triangle, vocals, claves, cuica, shaker, guiro, finger cymbals, cabasa
- Tyler Stewart - drums, sound effects, vocals, shaker
Additional Personnel
- Dave Allen - fiddle, vocals
- Mike Barber - vocals
- Gregor Beresford - vocals
- Arlene Bishop - vocals
- Chris Brown - organ, vocals
- Meryn Cadell - vocals
- Dave Clark - vocals
- Naida Creeggan - vocals
- Matt DeMatteo - vocals
- Kate Fenner - vocals
- Mike Ford - vocals
- Murray Foster - vocals
- Jian Ghomeshi - vocals
- Nic Gotham - alto saxophone, baritone saxophone
- Gene Hardy - tenor saxophone, vocals
- Sally Lee - vocals
- David Matheson - vocals
- Lewis Melville - pedal steel, steel guitar, vocals
- Jason Mercer - vocals
- Keith Nakonechy - vocals
- Blair Packham - vocals
- Steve Pitkin - vocals
- Jason Plumb - vocals
- Tannis Slimmon - vocals
- Wayne Stokes - vocals
- Martin Tielli - guitar, vocals
- Tim Vesely - vocals
- Tom Walsh - trombone
- Tim Wilson - bagpipes
- Bob Wiseman - accordion, vocals
- Michael Phillip Wojewoda - bass, keyboards, sound effects, tambourine, vocals, shaker, keyboard bass
[edit] Production
- Producers: Barenaked Ladies, Scott Dibble, Michael-Philip Wojewoda, Robin Billinton
- Engineer: Michael-Philip Wojewoda
- Remixing: Michael-Philip Wojewoda
- Mastering: Greg Calbi
[edit] Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | The Record Canadian album charts | 1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Enid" | CFTR Top Hits of 1992 | 16 |
| 1992 | "Grade Nine" | CFTR Top Hits of 1992 | 42 |
| 1992 | "Be My Yoko Ono" | CFTR Top Hits of 1992 | 48 |
