City of Angels (album)

City of Angels is an album by the Motown soul group The Miracles, released on Motown Records' Tamla label in September 1975. The group's fourth album recorded after replacing lead singer Smokey Robinson with Billy Griffin in 1972, City of Angels is a concept album, depicting of a man from "Anytown, U.S.A." who follows his estranged girlfriend Charlotte to Los Angeles, where she has gone in hopes of becoming a star. All of the tracks on the album were written by Billy Griffin and Miracles bass singer Pete Moore. Freddie Perren and Moore served as the album's producers.

City of Angels
Studio album by
The Miracles
ReleasedSeptember 17, 1975
Recorded1975
GenreSoul, disco
Length51:47
LabelTamla
ProducerFreddie Perren, Pete Moore
The Miracles chronology
Don't Cha Love It
(1975)		 City of Angels
(1975)		 The Power Of Music
(1976)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB[2]

The album's first single, "Love Machine", peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 6, 1976, and was a multi-million-selling Platinum single,[3] becoming the most successful single of The Miracles' career. Its success coincided with the rise of the disco craze of the late 1970s. Another song on City of Angels, "Ain't Nobody Straight in L.A.", caused controversy due to addressing the subject of homosexuality: "Ain't nobody straight in L.A./It seems that everybody is gay."[4]

Life imitates art

The album's cover depicted The Miracles' "star" on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, although the group actually did not have such a star back in 1976. However, life eventually did imitate art, as The Miracles were honored with just such a star in Hollywood on March 20, 2009.[5][6]

City of Angels reached 33 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States, and peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Black Albums chart.[7] The Miracles' City Of Angels was also a Platinum album with over one million records sold.[3]

The song "Overture" from that album, co-written by Moore and Billy Griffin, was used as the official theme on Radio Monte Carlo in France from 1978 to 1979.[8] While not available on CD in the U.S. until more recently, City of Angels was available in its entirety on the Motown import release, The Miracles – The Essential Collection.[9]

In 2010, Motown released City Of Angels album on CD in the U.S. for the first time – on Hip-O Select's "Motown Select" website, with the extended 12 inch version of "Love Machine" as a bonus track. Along with a never-before released essay by writer David Nathan it included commentary by Miracles Pete Moore and Billy Griffin, the album's composers.[10]

Legacy

Rapper/producer Danny! reinterpreted the plot of "Poor Charlotte" for his 2006 album Charm.[11]

Track listing

All songs written by William Griffin and Warren "Pete" Moore.

Side one

  1. "Overture" – 3:10
  2. "City Of Angels" – 4:50
  3. "Free Press" – 3:15
  4. "Ain't Nobody Straight In L.A." – 3:48
  5. "Night Life" – 4:27

Side two

  1. "Love Machine" – 6:52
  2. "My Name is Michael" – 3:00
  3. "Poor Charlotte" – 6:05
  4. "Waldo Roderick DeHammersmith" – 3:06
  5. "Smog" – 5:16

Personnel

The Miracles

Additional

Charts

Weekly charts
Year Album Chart positions[12]
US US
R&B		 AUS[13]
1975 City Of Angels 33 (1976) 29 81

Singles
Year Singles Chart positions[14]
US US
R&B		 US
Dance		 AUS[13]
1976 "Love Machine" 1 5 1 (1975) 89
1976 "Night Life" - 60 - -

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen. "City of Angels- The Miracles". All Music. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. "WBMM Pete Moore Awards". Gbelv.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
  4. Erlewine, Stephen. "City of Angels- The Miracles". Billboard. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  5. "LIFE". LIFE. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
  6. "The Miracles Hollywood Star". Varley. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  7. Erlewine, Stephen. "City of Angels- The Miracles". All Music. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  8. "WBMM Warren "Pete" Moore". Gbelv.com. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
  9. "The Miracles, The Essential Collection: The Miracles: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
  10. "HIPO". Hip-oselect.com. 2010-01-29. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
  11. Richardson, Mark. "Danny!: Biography". Artistdirect. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  12. "The Miracles US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
  13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 202. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. "The Miracles US singles chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
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