Strange Kind of Love

Strange Kind of Love is the second studio album by Scottish band Love and Money, released in 1988.

The album's lead single "Halleluiah Man" reached number 63 in the UK Singles Chart and number 75 on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[1]^[2] The following singles, "Strange Kind of Love", "Jocelyn Square" and "Up Escalator" were all released in 1989 and reached number 45, number 51 and number 79 respectively in the UK Singles Chart.^[1]

Strange Kind of Love was reissued by Cherry Red Records in 2010. The reissue includes six demo recordings from 1987 plus new sleeve notes written by Katz, with recollections from band members James Grant and Paul McGeechan.^[3]

Background

For the recording of Strange Kind of Love, Love and Money relocated from Scotland to New York City for half a year to work with American producer Gary Katz.^[4] With the departure of the band's drummer Stuart Kerr, session drummer Jeff Porcaro played on the album, reducing Love and Money to a trio of vocalist and guitarist James Grant, keyboardist Paul McGeechan and bassist Bobby Paterson.^[5]

In 1993, Grant revealed his mixed feelings for the album, "It's a good set of songs, but we didn't go the whole way. It still clung on to a rock/funk sort of thing [as heard on the band's 1986 debut album All You Need Is...]. The sessions dragged on and on, and the songs were already a year and a half to two years old by the time we got to work with Katz. He was a really lovely guy but he made me feel I couldn't sing. Some of the tracks we did 30 times and at the end of the day we were dropping in on syllables. Parts of it were really enjoyable, but in retrospect I've had this paranoia about my voice ever since."^[4]

Critical reception

In the United States, Billboard described the album as "Simply Red meets Steely Dan or a funkier Danny Wilson", with the "unmistakable production" of Katz. They concluded that the "dark-themed tunes play better as a suite than individual tracks", but singled out the title track and "Jocelyn Square" as two potential singles.^[7] In a retrospective review, Michael Sutton of AllMusic noted the mixture of funk, blues, jazz, and country, and added that the album is "distinctly American in style". He considered the songs to be "moody but never boring", with Grant's lyrics "often more miserable than the music suggests". He added that the album "takes its time to unfold" with "repeated spins needed for Love & Money's bar band grooves to be keenly felt".^[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by James Grant except "Jocelyn Square" by Grant and Bobby Paterson, and "Avalanche" by Grant and Paul McGeechan

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the Strange Kind of Love booklet.^[8]

Love and Money

James Grant – lead vocals (1–11), backing vocals (1, 3–4, 6, 9–10), electric guitar (1–11), acoustic guitar (4, 6, 8, 10), wah guitar (5), dobro (5), horn arrangement (8–9)
Paul McGeechan – keyboards (1–8, 10–11), piano (2–5, 7, 10), organ (9)
Bobby Paterson – bass (1–11), backing vocals (3, 9–10), horn arrangement (9)

Additional musicians

Jeff Porcaro – drums (1–11)
Ronnie Goodman – percussion (1, 3–4, 7–11)
Paul Griffin – clavinet (1, 9), Rhodes piano (10), keyboard bass (11)
Frank Floyd – backing vocals (1, 3–4, 7)
Lani Groves, Dennis Collins – backing vocals (1)
Beatrice Colin – backing vocals (3, 6, 8, 10)
Leroy Clouden – additional drums (3, 5)
Tim Schmidt – backing vocals (5)
Zak Sanders – backing vocals (7)
Dave Tofani – horns (8, 9)
Lou Marini – solo (8)
Colin Tully – horn arrangement (8)
Don Brooks – harmonica (9)
Ronnie Cuber, Dave Bargeron, Lou Sollof – horns (9)
Merle Miller, Kati McGunigle – backing vocals (9)
Rick Derringer – slide guitar (9)
Dave Chesky – horn arrangement charting (9)
Eric Weissberg – pedal steel guitar (10)

Production

Gary Katz – producer
Wayne Yurgelun – engineer
Bill Price – mixing
Bob Ludwig – mastering
Eric Eckley – assistant engineer
Fred Tenny, Stan Katayama, Mike Harlow, K. K. Nodots, Ron Skies – additional assistants

Other

Stylorouge – design, art direction
Avid Images – photography

Charts

References

^ a b "LOVE & MONEY; full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
^ "The Hot 100 - Week of March 18, 1989". Billboard. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
^ "Love and Money: Strange Kind of Love". Cherry Red Records. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
^ a b Hogg, Brian (2017). All That Ever Mattered: The History of Scottish Rock and Pop. Guinness Publishing. pp. 264–265. ISBN 978-0851127231.
^ Richliano, Jim (25 February 1989). "New on the charts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 101, no. 8. p. 33. Retrieved 14 April 2022 – via World Radio History.
^ a b Sutton, Michael. "Strange Kind of Love - Love and Money; Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
^ "Album Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 101, no. 7. 18 February 1989. p. 80. Retrieved 14 April 2022 – via World Radio History.
^ Strange Kind of Love (UK/European album CD booklet). Love and Money. Fontana Records. 1988. 836 498-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ "ARIA Albums Chart w/c 1-5-1989". Retrieved 13 April 2022 – via Imgur.
^ "Love and Money | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
^ "Top Pop Albums" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 101, no. 15. 15 April 1989. p. 83. Retrieved 13 April 2022 – via World Radio History.