Warm Leatherette is the fourth studio album by Jamaican singer Grace Jones, released on 9 May 1980 by Island Records. The album features contributions from the reggae production duo Sly and Robbie and is a departure from Jones's earlier disco sound, moving towards a new wave-reggae direction.

Background and production Although having established herself as a performer with a string of club hits in the US and a large gay following, Jones had only achieved very modest commercial success with her first three disco albums. For Warm Leatherette, Jones went through a musical and visual reinvention. The singer teamed up with producers Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin, and Sly and Robbie, Wally Badarou, Barry Reynolds, Mikey Chung and Uziah "Sticky" Thompson, aka the Compass Point Allstars, for a record that would be a total departure from disco and an exploration of new wave music, blending reggae and rock.

In her 2015 memoir, Grace looked back at this time period as one of reinvention. She commented "Disco was squeezing me into a room that was looking tackier and tackier, and I was worried I was going to be trapped. Meeting Jean-Paul and Chris Blackwell helped me follow my own route". Grace felt that her first three albums produced by Tom Moulton – Portfolio (1977), Fame (1978) and Muse (1979) – were "becoming his vision more than mine" and "all followed the same formula". She described the songs from her previous albums as "souvenirs of the Studio 54 era".

Warm Leatherette was the first of three albums recorded at the Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas. According to John Doran of BBC Music, Warm Leatherette is a "post-punk pop" album that, "delved into the worlds of disco, reggae and funk much more successfully than most of her 'alternative' contemporaries, while still retaining a blank-eyed alienation that was more reminiscent of David Bowie or Ian Curtis than most of her peers." David Bowie influences were also noted by Joe Muggs of Fact.

The album includes covers of songs by The Normal, The Pretenders, Roxy Music, Smokey Robinson, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Jacques Higelin. Blackwell intended to make a record with "a harsh sound that was heavy with Jamaican rhythm". For Jones's version of "Breakdown", Tom Petty specially wrote a third verse for the song. The album also includes one song co-written by Jones, "A Rolling Stone", and one French track, "Pars" (French for "Leave"), a reggae re-imagining of Jacques Higelin's song. "Bullshit" is an original by Barry Reynolds. Reynolds would later write or co-write several tracks for Jones: "Art Groupie", "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)", the entire B-side of the Living My Life album, and "Well Well Well". "Pull Up to the Bumper" was also recorded during the sessions for Warm Leatherette, but its R&B sound was found not fitting in the rest of the material and so it appeared on Jones's next album, Nightclubbing in 1981.

The vinyl LP release of the album included shorter versions of some of the songs, due to limited capacity of the vinyl format. Most compact disc editions included extended 12" mixes of selected tracks that had originally appeared on the single-sided chrome audio cassette.

Artwork Warm Leatherette was the first Jones album with cover art designed by her then-boyfriend, Jean-Paul Goude, which presented the singer's androgynous look for the first time. It featured a black and white photograph of Jones pregnant, with her signature flattop haircut, sitting with her arms crossed. Chris Blackwell praised it as "a very powerful image".

After the commercial success of Nightclubbing, Island Records re-released the Warm Leatherette album with new artwork, replacing Jean-Paul Goude's original cover with a picture of Jones performing "Walking in the Rain", taken from her 1982 concert video A One Man Show. The image featured on the back cover was a snapshot of Jones singing "Warm Leatherette", also from A One Man Show. Some subsequent CD releases would adopt the new artwork with the original studio portrait included in the inner sleeve.

Singles Three singles received a wider, international release: "Love Is the Drug", "Private Life" and "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game". Notable is that the first two were not released in North America, although they are considered two of Jones's signature songs.

"A Rolling Stone" was released as the lead single in the UK, but did not garner much attention. "Love Is the Drug" quickly followed, but did not make any chart impact - until six years later, when a remixed version became a minor hit in the UK, peaking at No. 35. The most successful single off the album, and Grace Jones's breakthrough song, was "Private Life", which entered the top 20 of singles chart in the UK, becoming her first chart entry in that country, and has since become one of her signature songs. "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" was released as the fourth single.

For the North American market "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" was chosen as the first single. It failed to enter mainstream charts, but made it to the R&B chart in the US. "Warm Leatherette" reached the top 20 on the dance chart, on the strength of being the lead track on a 12" album promo sampler. "Breakdown" was released as a single only in the US. "Pars", sung in French, was a single in Canada and France.

Critical reception

AllMusic critic Ron Wynn wrote that "the overall album had more energy and production gloss than previous LPs that had been aimed completely at the club market." Music critic Robert Christgau thought that "with Smokey Robinson and Chrissie Hynde scripting adventures in dominance and fellow Jamaicans Shakespeare and Dunbar adding cyborgian oomph, the theoretical allure of her persona is finally made flesh."

Billboard noted that "daring disco diva Jones abandons her Studio 54 styled gladrags for the punk/reggae scene" but also stated that "unfortunately, Jones has chosen to rework songs [...] instead of emphasizing her more original work which is more satisfying". The song "Bullshit" was chosen by the magazine as the album's best track, but was "unplayable on radio because of its offensive title and lyrics" though "would work well in a disco setting". "Pars" and "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" was also selected as highlights from the album.

Commercial performance Warm Leatherette charted only in Australia, the UK and the US. Although it remains one of the least successful Grace Jones albums in terms of sales and chart performance, it holds the credit for being her breakthrough record in the UK. It is also one of the highest-rated of all her studio releases.

Track listing Original LP release

Cassette and CD releases The original cassette release included extended versions of all songs on the album except "A Rolling Stone", "Bullshit" and "Breakdown". When the album was released on Compact disc, it used the extended version of the album.

2016 deluxe edition Warm Leatherette was released as a deluxe box set on 17 June 2016. It was available on 2CD, 2LP and Blu-Ray audio formats with a range of bonus tracks and previously unreleased material. The Blu-Ray audio release included five additional bonus tracks.

The deluxe edition was the first time that the original short LP version was made available on Compact disc. The B-side "She's Lost Control" was also included on this release.

Personnel Grace Jones – vocals, background vocals Barry Reynolds – guitar Mikey Chung – guitar Wally Badarou – keyboards Robbie Shakespeare – bass guitar Sly Dunbar – drums Uziah "Sticky" Thompson – percussion Technical Chris Blackwell – production, engineering, mixing Alex Sadkin – production, engineering, mixing Ted Jensen – mastering engineer Kendal Stubbs – assistant engineering Jean-Paul Goude – artwork

Charts + Chart performance for Warm Leatherette Chart (1980) Peakposition Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 47

+ Chart performance for Warm Leatherette (2016 deluxe edition) Chart (2016) Peakposition

Release history +Release dates and formats for Warm LeatheretteRegionDateLabel(s)Format(s)Cat. No.United KingdomMay 1980Island RecordsUnited StatesJune 1980Europe & United States17 June 2016

References

External links Warm Leatherette on Discogs