Red Hot Rhythm & Blues


Red Hot Rhythm and Blues is the seventeenth studio album by American entertainer Diana Ross released via EMI and RCA labels in May of 1987. It was produced by veteran Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd with one track contributed by Luther Vandross.

Overview

The album made the charts in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, as well as reaching the top 20 in Sweden and Norway. It was Ross's final album for RCA Records, after a six-year stint with the label. The album peaked inside the top eighty of the Billboard 200 album chart, reaching the number 73 position.
The album included "Dirty Looks", originally recorded by Motown outfit Warp 9, and the retro-flavoured "Shockwaves" which was released as a Shep Pettibone remix in the UK and peaked at number 76.
A number of major contemporary songwriters contributed new songs to the project including Luther Vandross who also produced "It's Hard For Me To Say". It also included the first recording of Leonard Cohen's "Summertime" as well as Mick Hucknall's "Shine".
The album also included cover versions of several R&B classics, including the Bobbettes' "Mr. Lee", Jackie Ross' "Selfish One", Etta James' "Tell Mama", and the Drifters' "There Goes My Baby".
The album was promoted with a TV special that aired on ABC on May 20, 1987 titled Diana Ross: Red Hot Rhythm and Blues. The special featured guests such as Etta James, Little Richard, Billy Dee Williams, Leslie Nielsen, LL Cool J, Bernadette Peters and Wolfman Jack.
The tracks "Mr Lee" and "Tell Mama" were not included on the US version of the album and the mix of "Dirty Looks" on the UK version differs from the mix on the US version.
The cover photography was by Herb Ritts.

Re-release in 2014

The album was remastered and re-released in September 2014 by Funky Town Grooves, as an "Expanded Edition" with bonus material on a second CD. This reissue was licensed from RCA, which owns rights to the album in the U.S. and Canada and is available in these countries.

Track listing

Personnel