Bryan Ferry "Bête Noire"

Bête Noire is the seventh solo studio album by the English singer Bryan Ferry. The album was released in November 1987 on Virgin Records in the United Kingdom and E.G. in the United States. The album was a commercial and critical success, peaking at No. 9 in the UK and was certified Gold by the BPI.

The first single, "The Right Stuff" (a collaboration with Johnny Marr and is adapted from The Smiths' instrumental B-side "Money Changes Everything") was the album's only top 40 hit in the UK, peaking at No. 37. The second single, "Kiss and Tell", narrowly missed the UK top 40, but made the U.S. top 40 (becoming Ferry's only solo single to chart in the U.S. Top 40). The song also appeared in the film Bright Lights, Big City. The third and final single, "Limbo", peaked at No. 86 in the UK. The promotional video for the single "Kiss and Tell" features the models Mandy Smith (who is also featured on the single's cover photograph), Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies.

After the success of Ferry's previous album, Boys and Girls (1985), he decided that it was time for a change of style in his career. In an attempt to give his music a more danceable sound, he joined forces with Patrick Leonard who was famed for having worked with Madonna. Leonard went on to co-write five of the album's songs. Guesting on the album would be Pink Floyd's former guitarist, David Gilmour, session musicians Guy Pratt, David Williams, Abraham Laboriel, Roxy Music's former guitarist Neil Hubbard and drummer Andy Newmark.

Fans have often speculated that his song "Kiss and Tell", was Ferry's response to Jerry Hall's tell-all book about their relationship published a couple of years earlier.

Prior to the release of the album, Ferry claimed that his recording agreement with the label, E.G. ended in March 1987, and that he was in a position to sell his new album to any company. E.G. said that he was in breach of a 15-year contract which gave them exclusive rights to market the album in Canada and the United States. The action was heard at the High Court of Justice in London, and in a preliminary hearing, the parties agreed that if the album was to be released before the main hearing, Ferry was to pay a third of the royalties into a joint account with E.G. – which they would receive if they were to win the case. E.G. later won the case and they marketed the album in Canada and the United States.

The album was released in the United States by Reprise Records. Reprise Records 25598 debuted on the Billboard chart 11/21/1987 and spent 31 weeks on the chart peaking at #63.

Ferry toured Australia, Japan, United States, and Europe to promote the album. The Edge from U2 joined Ferry on stage at the Dublin show to perform the Irish folk song, "Carrickfergus" (which Ferry had previously recorded in 1978) and Johnny Marr joined the backing band for "The Right Stuff" at the Manchester show. Former Roxy Music musician Andy MacKay also joined the backing band for a few numbers at the London Palladium and Wembley Arena dates.

Several of the songs from the Glasgow show were included on several Bryan Ferry CD singles between 1993–95.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bryan Ferry and Patrick Leonard, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Limbo" 5:00
2. "Kiss and Tell" Ferry 4:57
3. "New Town" Ferry 4:50
4. "Day for Night" 5:35
5. "Zamba" 3:00

Side two

1. "The Right Stuff" Ferry, Johnny Marr 4:25
2. "Seven Deadly Sins" Ferry, Chester Kamen, Guy Pratt 5:10
3. "The Name of the Game" 5:28
4. "Bête Noire" 4:53

Total length: 43:18

Note: The LP's sleeve notes includes "Vive la Résistance" to a list of musicians. Only their names are mentioned; their instruments and the exact songs on which they play are not. The following list merely tentatively mentions the instruments the same musicians have played on other Ferry records.

Bryan Ferry – lead vocals, keyboards, acoustic piano

Additional musicians

Patrick Leonard – keyboards, synthesizers

David Gilmour – guitars

Neil Hubbard – guitars

Dann Huff – guitars

Chester Kamen – guitars

Johnny Marr – guitars

Bill Rupert – guitars

David Williams – guitars

Abraham Laboriel – bass

Marcus Miller – bass

Guy Pratt – bass

Vinnie Colaiuta – drums

Andy Newmark – drums

John Robinson – drums

Rhett Davies – drum machines

Paulinho da Costa – percussion

Jimmy Maelen – percussion

Courtney Pine – saxophone

Dan Wilensky – saxophone

Mario Abramovich – violin

José Libertella – bandoneon

Luis Stazo – bandoneon

Tawatha Agee – backing vocals

Michelle Cobbs – backing vocals

Yanick Etienne – backing vocals

Siedah Garrett – backing vocals

Paul Johnson – backing vocals

Albert Sanchez – backing vocals

Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals

• All songs produced by Bryan Ferry and Patrick Leonard; Except "Kiss and Tell", "New Town", "The Right Stuff" and "Seven Deadly Sins" produced by Bryan Ferry, Patrick Leonard and Chester Kamen.
• Recording Engineers – Ian Eales, Steve Jackson and Kevin Killen.
• Mixed by Bruce Lampcov and Alan Meyerson
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk (New York, NY).
• Tracks 1, 4, 5, 8 and 9 published by Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd. and Johnny Yuma Music.
• Tracks 2 and 3 published by Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd.
• Track 6 published by Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd. and Warner Brothers Music Ltd.
• Track 7 published by Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd., Warner Brothers Music Ltd. and Copyright Control.