Warm Leatherette - Grace Jones

Advantages: The excellent U.K Top 20 hit, Private Life
Disadvantages: The dated, album track, Bulls***

...mainstream recognition with the superb Warm Leatherette album. Grace Jones shifted musical direction for the Warm Leatherette (1980) project, divulging into a diverse blend of sounds and styles ranging from Reggae, Rock, New Wave, Funk and Soul. The finished results were some of Jones most compelling recording work. This album was not least aided by the excellent production skills of Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin as well as the startling muscians ...
...The title track Warm Leatherette is an electric affair combining a striking mixture of Rock, New Wave and Reggae. Jones sounds even a little playful on the tracks chrous consisting of thrashing guirtar riffages. Jones fantastic cover version of The Pretenders, Private Life is given a more definitive and unique working over where Jones seemingly scowls through the duration of each verse whilst then singing gently in that raw (though narrow) vocal ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent hits
Disadvantages: None

...on the sleeve of her Warm Leatherette album in 1980. The petulant authority of Grace’s countenance on the cover was reflected by the music, which was spare and commanding. Island Records’ boss Chris Blackwell had decided to involve himself in shaping her future, calling in the crack reggae rhythm section of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare. Whereas her previous records had featured comatose camp standards like Send In The Clowns, ...
...funk and reggae interpretations of songs by adventurous modern songwriters such as Bryan Ferry (Love Is The Drug) and the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde (Private Life). Grace no longer sounded like a closet Shirley Bassey, but adopted a sneering, monotone delivery that was both ironic and sinister - nowhere more so than on the title track, originally a B-side by UK synthesiser wizard Daniel Miller’s alter ego The Normal, that pondered the joy of having ... Read review

Advantages: The funky Pull Up To The Bumper
Disadvantages: None that really springs to mind

...Following the excellent Warm Leatherette (1980) album, her debut on the Island Records label which saw her rewarded with more commercial acceptance, the outrageous and off-the-wall diva, Grace Jones returned to the recording studios in early 1981 for the unforgetable Nightclubbing project. Grace Jones second album on Island Records is possibly the greatest of her considerably short recording career and captured Jones at her artistic peak. It features a series of remarkable recordings, encapsulating a multitude of styles such as New Wave, Reggae, Funk, Jazz and Soul. She was again aided by the fabulous production skills of those reggae kings, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. Nightclubbing (1981)begins with the curiously compelling, Walking In The Rain, which sets a dark, atmospheric tone for the duration of the project... Read review

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