Bad Boy (Robert Gordon album)

Bad Boy
Studio album by
Robert Gordon
Released1980
GenreRockabilly
LabelRCA
ProducerRichard Gottehrer, Robert Gordon
Robert Gordon chronology
Rock Billy Boogie
(1979) 		Bad Boy
(1980) 		Are You Gonna Be the One
(1981)

Bad Boy is an album by the American musician Robert Gordon, released in 1980.[1][2] It peaked at No. 150 on the Billboard 200.[3] The cover of Joe Brown's "A Picture of You" was released as a single in England.[4]

Production

The album was produced by Richard Gottehrer and Gordon, who also wrote "Born to Lose".[5][6] Gordon was backed by his bands the Wildcats and the New Cats, which included Tony Garnier on upright bass.[7][8] He used a double echo on some of the tracks.[9] "Bad Boy" is a cover of the Marty Wilde song.[10] "Crazy Man Crazy" was written by Bill Haley.[11] "Sweet Love on My Mind" is a version of the Johnny Burnette song.[12] "Torture" was written by John D. Loudermilk.[8] "Uptown" is a cover of the Roy Orbison song.[13] "Is It Wrong (For Loving You)" is a version of the song made famous by Warner Mack.[14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[15]
Robert ChristgauC+[16]
The Columbian[17]
Daily Times-Advocate8/10[18]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[19]
Houston Chronicle[20]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[21]
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteC+[11]
The New Rolling Stone Record Guide[22]

The Lincoln Journal Star called Gordon "too posed and studied to come across with any emotional affect, which, after all, is the main attraction of rockabilly."[12] The Columbian admired the playing of guitarist Chris Spedding.[17] The Hartford Courant praised the title track, saying that "it has a kind of shy charm that makes it one of the record's best tunes."[23] The Houston Chronicle noted that Gordon "seems more like the real thing, and less like an imitator."[20] The Daily Record opined that, "if he hasn't reached a musical dead end yet, he's almost there."[24] The Kansas City Star said that "Gordon delivers most of the songs with all the feeling of a wooden dummy."[25] Robert Christgau concluded, "As our increased familiarity and his increased facility reduce his dependence on ironic context, he becomes unnecessary—totally unnecessary, I mean."[16]

Dave Marsh, in The New Rolling Stone Record Guide, considered Gordon to be "well-intentioned but inept."[22] The Trouser Press Record Guide panned the "schlockier songs".[26]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Sweet Love on My Mind" 
2."The Worrying Kind" 
3."Bad Boy" 
4."A Picture of You" 
5."Torture" 
6."Crazy Man Crazy" 
7."Born to Lose" 
8."Nervous" 
9."Uptown" 
10."Is It Wrong (For Loving You)" 
11."Need You" 

References

  1. ^ Dregni, Michael (2011). Rockabilly: The Twang Heard 'Round the World: The Illustrated History. Voyageur Press. p. 199.
  2. ^ Tuber, Keith (April 1980). "Music". Orange Coast. Vol. 6, no. 4. p. 77.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2001). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955-2001. Record Research. p. 341.
  4. ^ "New albums". Sandwell Evening Mail. March 1, 1980. p. 11.
  5. ^ Cromer, Ben (February 15, 1980). "'Bad Boy' good, and no museum piece". The Roanoke Times. p. C4.
  6. ^ Brennan, Brian (March 1, 1980). "Records in review". Calgary Herald. p. D12.
  7. ^ O'Neil, Tom (January 27, 1980). "Record Reviews". Fanfare. The Commercial Appeal. p. 12.
  8. ^ a b Lawson, Terry (February 9, 1980). "Pop". The Journal Herald. Vol. 173, no. 35. p. 22.
  9. ^ McNally, Joel (February 22, 1980). "Robert Gordon's 'splendid junk music from the 50s'". Argus-Courier. Vol. 144, no. 161. p. 8B.
  10. ^ Perone, James E. (2008). Mods, Rockers, and the Music of the British Invasion. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 20.
  11. ^ a b Kalina, Mike (February 1, 1980). "Records". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 19.
  12. ^ a b Becker, Bart (January 23, 1980). "Matter of Record". Lincoln Journal Star. p. 28.
  13. ^ Paulson, Ken (February 3, 1980). "Robert Gordon: Rockabilly balladeer". Fort Meyers News-Press. p. 3E.
  14. ^ Claypool, Bob (February 22, 1980). "Rock". The Houston Post. p. 12E.
  15. ^ "Bad Boy Review by Bruce Eder". AllMusic. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  16. ^ a b "Robert Gordon". Robert Christgau. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  17. ^ a b Seegmuller, Fred (February 8, 1980). "Records". The Columbian. p. 64.
  18. ^ Ravago, Steve (February 7, 1980). "Record Reviews". Daily Times-Advocate. p. B5.
  19. ^ Larkin, Colin (1998). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. III. Macmillan. p. 2217.
  20. ^ a b Pratt, Chuck (February 10, 1980). "Records". Zest. Houston Chronicle. p. 11.
  21. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 493.
  22. ^ a b The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1983. p. 202.
  23. ^ McNulty, Henry (February 10, 1980). "Rockabilly, Songs of Love, Hate". Hartford Courant. p. 6G.
  24. ^ Bohen, Jim (February 17, 1980). "Short Cuts". Daily Record. p. J14.
  25. ^ Rice, Gary (February 19, 1980). "Countrysides". The Kansas City Star. p. 6.
  26. ^ The Trouser Press Record Guide (4th ed.). Collier Books. 1991. p. 285.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.