Released July 13, 1987 Length 47:11 Release date 13 July 1987 | Recorded 1986-1987 Artist Sananda Maitreya Label CBS Records International | |
 | ||
Producer Martyn Ware, Terence Trent D'Arby and Howard Grey Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby
(1987) Neither Fish Nor Flesh
(1989) Genres Soul music, Funk, Rhythm and blues, Funk rock Awards Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance Similar Sananda Maitreya albums, Rock music albums | ||
Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby is the debut studio album by Terence Trent D'Arby. It was released in July 1987 on Columbia Records, and became an instant number one smash in the UK, spending a total of nine weeks (non-consecutively) at the top of the UK Albums Chart. It was eventually certified 5 x Platinum (for sales of 1.5 million copies). Worldwide, the album sold a million copies within the first three days of going on sale. The album's success was slower in the U.S. It was released there in October 1987, eventually peaking at number four on May 7, 1988 – the same week that the single "Wishing Well" hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It did peak higher on the Billboard R&B Albums chart at #1 around the same time.
Contents
Other singles from the album included "If You Let Me Stay", which was a top ten hit in the UK, and "Sign Your Name", which reached #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #2 in the UK. A fourth single, "Dance, Little Sister", reached the UK Top 20 as well. As was common for big-selling artists at that time, the singles were released in a plethora of limited editions on multiple formats. These were bolstered by a multitude of non-album studio and live tracks.
Track listing
All songs were written by D'Arby, except where noted.
- "If You All Get to Heaven" – 5:17
- "If You Let Me Stay" – 3:14
- "Wishing Well" (lyrics: D'Arby; music: D'Arby, Sean Oliver) – 3:30
- "I'll Never Turn My Back on You (Father's Words)" – 3:37
- "Dance Little Sister" – 3:55
- "Seven More Days" – 4:32
- "Let's Go Forward" – 5:32
- "Rain" – 2:58
- "Sign Your Name" – 4:37
- "As Yet Untitled" – 5:33
- "Who's Loving You" (William "Smokey" Robinson) – 4:24
Personnel
Awards and nominations
Legacy
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2012, the BBC said the album was crystallized "as his moment, a soundtrack to the turning point when the 80s turned from austerity to prosperity. It’s as central to that decade as the much-seen image of the city trader waving his wad of banknotes to the camera. It remains one big, infectiously glorious record."
Songs
1If You All Get to Heaven5:17
2If You Let Me Stay3:14
3Wishing Well3:32