Rockbird

Rockbird
Studio album by Debbie Harry
Released November 15, 1986
Recorded 1986
Genre Pop, rock
Length 36:09
Label Geffen/Chrysalis
Producer Seth Justman
Debbie Harry chronology

KooKoo
(1981)		 Rockbird
(1986)		 Once More into the Bleach
(1988)
Singles from Rockbird
  1. "French Kissin' in the USA"
    Released: November 1986
  2. "Free to Fall"
    Released: 1987
  3. "In Love with Love"
    Released: May 1987
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau B[2]

Rockbird is the second solo album by American singer and actress Debbie Harry, released in November 1986 on Geffen Records.

Album information

Rockbird was Harry's second solo album, and came four years after the split of Blondie in 1982. Harry had largely put her music career on hold during the mid-1980s in order to look after boyfriend Chris Stein who had been diagnosed with a serious illness. The album was produced by Seth Justman, a key member of the J. Geils Band. Released in November 1986, there were five variations of the album artwork with the lettering in either green, orange, purple, pink and yellow.

The album peaked at #32 in the UK, and remained in the charts for 11 weeks. Although one of her lowest charting solo albums in the UK to date, it was ironically the highest selling and was certified "Gold" by the BPI in January 1987 for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. Due to lack of record company promotion, the album was far less successful in the US, peaking at #97 on Billboard's album charts.

A stylised version of the album's cover photo features on the cover of some editions of the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

Singles

Three singles were released from the album, "French Kissin' in the USA", which reached #8 in the UK, and is Harry's only solo top 10 single in that territory, as well as "In Love With Love" and "Free To Fall", which reached #45 and #46 respectively. "French Kissin'" also reached #57 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and #3 in Australia.

Track listing

Side A:

  1. "I Want You" (Deborah Harry, Toni C.) - 4:28
  2. "French Kissin' in the USA" (Chuck Lorre) - 5:14  Listen 
  3. "Buckle Up" (Deborah Harry, Seth Justman) - 3:46
  4. "In Love with Love" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) - 4:34  Listen 

Side B:

  1. "You Got Me In Trouble" (Deborah Harry, Seth Justman) - 4:18
  2. "Free to Fall" (Deborah Harry, Seth Justman) - 5:31  Listen 
  3. "Rockbird" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) - 3:09
  4. "Secret Life" (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein) - 3:46
  5. "Beyond the Limit" (Deborah Harry, Nile Rodgers) - 4:37

Personnel

Production

References

  1. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. Rockbird at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Robert Christgau review