Chicago 16

Chicago 16 is the thirteenth studio album by the American band Chicago, released on June 7, 1982. It is considered their "comeback" album because it was their first album to go platinum since 1978's Hot Streets,[2] it made it into the top ten of the Billboard 200,[3] and it produced their second number one single in the United States, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry."[4]:202 The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in August, 1982, two months after its release, and platinum in December, 1982, six months after its release.[5] The song, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.[6]

Chicago 16
Studio album by
Chicago
ReleasedJune 7, 1982 (1982-06-07)
RecordedJanuary–April 1982 in Los Angeles, California
GenreRock
Length41:51
LabelFull Moon/Warner Bros.
ProducerDavid Foster
Chicago chronology
Greatest Hits, Volume II
(1981)		 Chicago 16
(1982)		 If You Leave Me Now
(1983)
Singles from Chicago 16
  1. "Hard to Say I'm Sorry"
    Released: May 17, 1982
  2. "Love Me Tomorrow"
    Released: September 13, 1982
  3. "What You're Missing"
    Released: January 1983
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Chicago 16 is the first album in a decade-long association with new label Warner Bros. Records;[7] the band's first project to be produced by David Foster, who had been called the "key" to their comeback;[7] their first album to include some songs exclusively by composers outside of the group;[8] and it is also the first album since Chicago VII (1974) not to feature Laudir de Oliveira as a band member.[4]:132, 200 It is also the first studio album to be released two years after the previous, as every other studio album was released once per year.

Background

The band brought in Sons of Champlin founder Bill Champlin as keyboardist and singer.[8] The group also retained Chris Pinnick from the Chicago XIV sessions. Through the band's manager, Jeff Wald, and on suggestion of Danny Seraphine, producer David Foster would make contact with the band.[9]

Once they agreed to Foster producing the album (the band had considered him for 1980's Chicago XIV[10]), the producer radically redefined Chicago's sound for the 1980s, with all of the latest technologies and techniques; he also brought in outside songwriters and studio players to the sessions. Three members of Toto lent their expertise to the sessions. In 2015 former Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine defended this choice to change their sound:

David Foster really tried to maintain the integrity of the band. He wasn’t looking to diminish the musicality and the integrity of the band at all. Some people might say that he did. But he was going with what the times dictated. I’m telling you, there was word through our manager from radio stations saying they didn’t want anything with horns on it. How do you deal with that?[11]

The soft rock leanings of Peter Cetera and Foster permeate much of Chicago 16. The band was moving to a new label after an entire career at Columbia. Robert Lamm was also unavailable for the majority of the album's production because of personal issues,[8] and the once-prolific writer only shared a sole partial writing credit on the release, with no lead vocal contributions. Lamm said of this change:

I wasn't happy with the way things were going. The loss of Terry Kath was still massive. Suddenly, we have a new label who wants us to use outside musicians and songwriters, plus cut down the horns. We were a faceless band who now had a face. It wasn't what I signed up for. Also, my personal life was in turmoil at the time. I was very unhappy and came very close to leaving the band.

In an interview in 2019, Cetera described the initial songwriting efforts from band members that were presented to Foster as "pure shit," blaming alcohol and drug abuse in the band for the decline in the quality of songwriting. Eventually, Foster and Cetera collaborated to write the album's two hit singles.[12]

Percussionist Laudir de Oliveira was dismissed from the band after the Chicago XIV tour, as his Latin-American style would not fit with the "more pop-oriented sound" of the band.[4]:200

Upon its June 1982 release, Chicago 16 was a hit album, especially as "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" became the band's second number one US single,[4]:202 going to number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart[13] and the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[14] The album ultimately went platinum[5] and reached number nine on the Billboard 200 chart.[15] The single would also be included in its lengthier form "Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away" on the Summer Lovers movie soundtrack.[16][17] "Love Me Tomorrow", the second single lifted off the album, features a lengthy orchestration at the end. It went to number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[18] and number eight on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[19] A third single, "What You're Missing", was released and peaked at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[20]

The Rhino remaster does not include the full-length versions of "What You're Missing" and "Love Me Tomorrow." The former was replaced with its single edit, and the latter had one piece removed near the end. However, it does include a Bill Champlin demo, called "Daddy's Favorite Fool", as a bonus track. A subsequent international release in 2010 (included in the Studio Albums 1979-2008 box set from 2015) has the original album restored, with additional bonus tracks of the single versions of "Hard To Say I'm Sorry", "What You're Missing", and Love Me Tomorrow" as well as "Daddy's Favorite Fool."[21]

The original UK LP release contains "Rescue You" before "What Can I Say," unlike subsequent releases of this album.

Track listing
Side One
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."What You're Missing"Jay Gruska, Joseph WilliamsPeter Cetera4:10
2."Waiting for You to Decide"David Foster, Steve Lukather, David PaichCetera with Bill Champlin4:06
3."Bad Advice"Peter Cetera, Foster, James PankowChamplin with Cetera2:58
4."Chains"Ian ThomasCetera3:22
5."Hard to Say I'm Sorry" / "Get Away""Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (Cetera, Foster); "Get Away" (Cetera, Foster, Robert Lamm)Cetera5:08
Side Two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
6."Follow Me"Foster, PankowChamplin4:53
7."Sonny Think Twice"Bill Champlin, Danny SeraphineChamplin with Cetera4:01
8."What Can I Say"Foster, PankowCetera3:49
9."Rescue You"Cetera, FosterCetera3:57
10."Love Me Tomorrow"Cetera, FosterCetera5:06
Bonus track of Rhino re-release
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead VocalsLength
11."Daddy's Favorite Fool"ChamplinChamplin3:52

Outtakes

"Remember There's Someone Who Loves You" (Champlin, Lamm)[22] and "Come On Back" (Bill Gable, Lamm)[23] were recorded during the sessions and remain unreleased.

Personnel

Chicago

Additional personnel

Production
  • Produced by David Foster
  • Engineered and Mixed by Humberto Gatica
  • "Hard To Say I'm Sorry/Get Away" mixed by Bill Schnee
  • Mixing assisted by Walter Parazaider, Lee Loughnane and Jack Goudie.
  • Second Engineers – Chip Strader, Britt Bacon, Don Levy, Bobby Gerber, Phil Jamtaas, Ernie Sheesely, Jeff Borgeson, Steve Cohen and David Schober.
  • Recorded at Bill Schnee Studios and Record Plant (Los Angeles, CA); Davlen Sound Studios (Hollywood, CA); Skyline Recording (Topanga, CA).
  • Mixed at Studio 55 (Los Angeles, CA).
  • Photography by Aaron Rapoport
  • Original Art Design and Direction by John Kosh and Ron Larson
Reissue
  • A&R/Project Supervisors – Lee Loughnane, Jeff Magid and Mike Engstrom.
  • Bonus Selections mixed by David Donnelly and Jeff Magid
  • Remastering – David Donnelly
  • Editorial Supervision – Cory Frye
  • Art Direction and Design – Greg Allen
  • Project Assistance – Steve Woolard and Karen LeBlanc

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[24] 22
Austrian Albums Chart[25] 19
Canadian Albums Chart[26] 17
Dutch Albums Chart[27] 33
German Albums Chart[28] 11
New Zealand Albums Chart[29] 24
UK Albums Chart[30] 44
US Billboard 200[31] 9

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[32] Gold 50,000^
Germany (BVMI)[33] Gold 250,000^
United States (RIAA)[34] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. Chicago 16 at AllMusic. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  2. Grein, Paul (January 15, 1983). "'Firsts' Spark Platinum Albums". Billboard. Vol. 95 no. 2. USA: Billboard Publications, Inc. p. 4. Retrieved July 28, 2017 – via Google Books.
  3. Grein, Paul (January 5, 1985). "Chart Beat". Billboard. Vol. 97 no. 1. USA: Billboard Publications, Inc. p. 6. Retrieved July 28, 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. Seraphine, Danny (2011). Street Player: My Chicago Story. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-0-470-41683-9.
  5. "Gold & Platinum - RIAA:Chicago:Chicago 16". RIAA. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  6. "Chicago". GRAMMY.com. 2017-05-14. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  7. Grein, Paul (January 26, 1985). "Record of the Year: Chicago Sustaining Comeback Momentum". Billboard. Vol. 97 no. 4. New York, NY: Billboard Publications, Inc. pp. 6, 79. Retrieved July 23, 2017 – via Google Books.
  8. Van Matre, Lynn (June 13, 1982). "Revitalized Chicago Back On Road Again". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  9. Foster, David (2008). Hit Man. Pocket Books. p. 95.
  10. Ruhlmann, William James (1991). Chicago Group Portrait (Box Set) (CD booklet archived online) (Media notes). New York City, NY: Columbia Records. p. 8. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  11. Deriso, NIck (May 14, 2015). "Danny Seraphine and Bill Champlin defend 'Chicago 17'". Something Else!. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  12. Cetera, Peter (November 22, 2019). "Finding Your Summit - With Mark Pattison, 126: Peter Cetera". www.markpattisonnfl.com (Internet audio podcast). Interviewed by Mark Pattison. Ketchum, Idaho: Mark Pattison. At about the 36-minute mark. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  13. "Billboard Hot 100 Chart for September 11, 1982". Billboard. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  14. "Adult Contemporary for August 21, 1982". www.billboard.com. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  15. "Top 200 Albums for September 18, 1982". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  16. "Summer Lovers: Detail view of Movies Page". www.afi.com. American Film Institute. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  17. DeKNOCK, JAN (1986-08-01). "Cetera At No. 1 With 'Glory Of Love'". tribunedigital-sunsentinel. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  18. "Billboard Hot 100 Chart for December 4, 1982". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  19. "Adult Contemporary for November 12, 1982". www.billboard.com. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  20. "Billboard Hot 100 Chart for January 29, 1983". Billboard. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  21. https://smile.amazon.com/Studio-Albums-1979-2008-Vol/dp/B010HUOQ20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492549917&sr=8-1&keywords=chicago+studio+albums+vol.+2
  24. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 62. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  25. "Chicago – 16 – Austriancharts.at". Austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  26. "50 Albums". RPM. 37 (6). September 25, 1982. ISSN 0033-7064. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  27. "Dutchcharts.nl – Chicago – 16". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  28. "Album – Chicago, 16". Charts.de (in German). Media Control. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  29. "charts.nz – Chicago – 16". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  30. "Chicago | Artist | Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  31. "Chicago – Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  32. "Canadian album certifications – Chicago – Chicago 16". Music Canada. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  33. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Chicago; '16')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  34. "American album certifications – Chicago – Chicago 16". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 15, 2013. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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