Winger (album)
Winger is the debut studio album by American rock band Winger. The album was released through Atlantic Records in 1988 and was produced by Beau Hill.
Background
The music was radio-friendly, but with a progressive twist. The lyrics, however, were typical of the age and genre.The name "Sahara" appears in the lower right hand section of the album cover. The band initially wanted to call themselves "Sahara", but that name was taken by another band at the time. Though they ultimately chose the name Winger, "Sahara" remained on the cover.
A number of radio and video hits were extracted from the album, including "Headed for a Heartbreak" and "Seventeen", peaking at No. 19 and No. 26 at the Billboards single chart. On February 11, 1989, the album peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200, and after that stayed on the chart for 63 weeks. It achieved platinum status in the United States and went gold in Canada and Japan.
In support of the album, Winger toured for over a year with bands like Bad Company, Scorpions, Cinderella, Bon Jovi, Poison, Skid Row and Tesla.
Promotional videos were shot for the four singles "Madalaine", "Seventeen", "Headed for a Heartbreak" and "Hungry".
Track listing
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.; Winger
- Kip Winger – bass, lead vocals, keyboards, string arrangements
- Reb Beach – guitars, backing vocals
- Paul Taylor – keyboards, backing vocals
- Rod Morgenstein – drums, backing vocals
- Dweezil Zappa – left side guitar solo on "Purple Haze"
- Beau Hill, Ira McLaughlin – additional vocals
- Sandra Park, Rebecca Young, Hae Young Ham, Maria Kitsopoulos – strings
- Beau Hill - producer, engineer
- Noah Baron, Jimmy Hoyson - assistant engineers
- Bob Schwall, Bob Caputo - technicians
- Stephen Benben - digital editing
- Ted Jensen - mastering at Sterling Sound, NYC
- Brad Miskel, Ron Feddor - additional input
- Dan Hubp - cover art and design
- Steven Selikoff - photography
Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
| 1988 | Billboard 200 | 21 |
| 1989 | RPM100 | 96 |
; Singles
| Year | Title | Chart | Position |
| 1988 | "Madalaine" | Mainstream Rock | 27 |
| 1989 | "Seventeen" | Billboard Hot 100 | 26 |
| 1989 | "Seventeen" | Mainstream Rock | 19 |
| 1989 | "Headed for a Heartbreak" | Billboard Hot 100 | 19 |
| 1989 | "Headed for a Heartbreak" | Mainstream Rock | 8 |
| 1989 | "Headed for a Heartbreak" | RPM100 Singles | 77 |
| 1989 | "Hungry" | Billboard Hot 100 | 85 |
| 1989 | "Hungry" | Mainstream Rock | 34 |