Living My Life (album)

Background

Jones had already recorded two reggae-oriented albums with the Compass Point Allstars at the Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, with the most recent, Nightclubbing, becoming her most successful record to date. She went back into the studio in 1982 to record an album which would be her final offering in the unofficial Compass Point trilogy. This time around, Jones recorded only one cover, "The Apple Stretching", which was originally written by Melvin Van Peebles and used in the Broadway show Waltz of the Stork. "Nipple to the Bottle" was co-written with Sly Dunbar, while, apart from "My Jamaican Guy", the other tracks were collaborations with Barry Reynolds.

The title track "Living My Life", despite receiving a limited single release, was ultimately left off the album. Further outtakes included the track "Man Around the House" (written by Jones and Barry Reynolds), and a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". Both tracks were released on the 1998 compilation Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions.

The album was a commercial success, reaching the top 20 in five countries. In March 1983 Billboard magazine reported that the sales of the album had surpassed 400,000 copies worldwide.

Artwork

The Living My Life cover picture has been described as famous as the music featured on the record itself. Like majority of Jones' artworks at that time, this one was created by her then partner Jean-Paul Goude, this time with an additional contribution from Rob O'Connor. It features the singer's disembodied head cut out from the original photograph and pasted onto a blank white background in a way that gives her head and face an angular shape. A piece of tape, or a plaster, has been pasted over her left eyebrow, and her forehead is covered with drops of water, or sweat. This cover, as many other Goude's designs for Jones, has won critical acclaim and has been an inspiration for other artists ever since.

The picture was re-used for the cover of the 2006 compilation Colour Collection, a re-release of The Universal Masters Collection.

Singles

The urban-flavoured "Nipple to the Bottle" and reggae-oriented "The Apple Stretching" were released simultaneously as lead singles. "Nipple to the Bottle" received a worldwide release, becoming a highly popular dance track in the USA, as well as a top 3 hit in New Zealand. The latter was not released in the North America and achieved only moderate success in Europe.

Three more singles were then simultaneously released in January 1983, of which "My Jamaican Guy" turned out the most successful. "Cry Now, Laugh Later", released only in the USA and Canada, and "Unlimited Capacity for Love" did not chart.

In 2010 "Inspiration" was remixed to a 7:14 "Leroc Sportif Edit" and released as a one-track digital only single in February.

Personnel