Peter Cetera "You're the Inspiration: A Collection (USA, River North Records, 51416 1250 2)"

You're the Inspiration: A Collection is the sixth solo album by Peter Cetera released in 1997. It was the second album released by Cetera for River North Records. The album is a collection of previously recorded duets, a few new songs and a few re-recordings of old Chicago hits.

Following the release of One Clear Voice in 1995, Peter Cetera and his label began the task of creating a "greatest hits" type package to release. This proved to be challenging as many of Cetera's charting singles were from the four albums he had released under former label, Warner Brothers. Compounding the problem further, he had charting duet singles on albums by Agnetha Fältskog and Cher, which were the property of their record labels. In addition, many of his hits from his career as a member of the band Chicago were the property of either Warner Brothers or his old band mates. When River North approached Chicago and their self-run record label, Chicago Records, about licensing the master recordings, the band refused outright. In 1997 and 1998, Chicago Records used the songs on two The Heart of Chicago greatest hits packages put out in a partnership between Chicago Records and Warner Brothers.

While the label sorted out the licensing his duet hits with Warner, Geffen and WEA, Cetera stepped into the studio to record five songs for the compilation. The first two were original songs, "Do You Love Me That Much?" and "She Doesn't Need Me Anymore". The latter was a song about Cetera's daughter Claire, who turned 14 shortly after the album was released. The other three were new recordings of Cetera's Chicago hits, "If You Leave Me Now", "Baby, What a Big Surprise" and "You're the Inspiration". The song keys were lowered a whole step down to suit Cetera's loss of range. "You're the Inspiration" sounded country flavored while "Baby, What a Big Surprise" had a harder edge electric guitar than the original due to the lower keys and was missing the final verse.

In the end, the album featured all of Cetera's hit duets, along with two new songs and three re-recorded songs.

Unlike One Clear Voice, You're the Inspiration: A Collection made the Billboard Top 200 album charts, peaking at #134, higher than his last two studio albums and higher than his first solo album from 1981. The first single, "Do You Love Me That Much?" made the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart, hitting #6. This was followed by "She Doesn't Need Me Anymore", which hit #27 AC.

For the third single, the label remixed the new version of "You're the Inspiration" with backing vocals from R&B vocal group Az Yet. The group had scored a hit single remaking Cetera's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" a year earlier, featuring Cetera's vocals at the end. An ocean side video was filmed featuring Cetera and the group, as well as Cetera's newborn daughter Senna in some scenes. The single peaked at #77 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #29 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Cetera did not go on tour in support of the album. When he finally returned to live concerts in 2002, he performed the original Chicago arrangements of the songs.

The album sold approximately 250,000 copies as of 1999 - a commercial disappointment by some standards, but was one of the top selling albums released on the small record label.

Track listing

1. "If You Leave Me Now" (Peter Cetera) (original key: B) (re-recording: A) – 4:21
2. "The Next Time I Fall" (with Amy Grant) (Bobby Caldwell, Paul Gordon) – 3:40
3. "Do You Love Me That Much" (Liz Hengber, Will Robinson) – 3:38
4. "Feels Like Heaven" (with Chaka Khan) (Mark Goldenberg, Kit Hain) – 4:47
5. "You're the Inspiration" (Cetera, David Foster) (original key: G#) (re-recording: G) – 4:06
6. "I Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)" (with Agnetha Fältskog) (Mark Mueller, Aaron Zigman) – 4:04
7. "She Doesn't Need Me Anymore" (Cetera, Walt Aldridge) – 4:30
8. "Baby, What a Big Surprise" (Cetera) (original key: C) (re-recording: Bb) – 3:30
9. "(I Wanna Take) Forever Tonight" (with Crystal Bernard) (Eric Carmen, Andy Goldmark) – 4:34
10. "After All" (with Cher) (Tom Snow, Dean Pitchford) – 4:04
11. "S.O.S." (with Ronna Reeves) (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson) – 4:05

Peter Cetera "Solitude - Solitaire (2010 Reissue, Remastered, Forever Young Series, Japan, Warner-Pioneer/Fullmoon, WPCR-75548)"

Solitude/Solitaire is the second solo album by former Chicago bassist and vocalist Peter Cetera, and his first album after leaving the band in 1985. It was released in June 1986. The album includes the hits "Glory of Love" and "The Next Time I Fall" (with Amy Grant); both reached the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Solitude/Solitaire was produced by Michael Omartian, who later co-produced Cetera's 2001 album, Another Perfect World.

Cetera co-wrote eight of the nine songs on the album, "The Next Time I Fall" being the exception. Because Cetera had been a prominent songwriter for Chicago, many of the songs on Solitude/Solitaire were rumored to originally have been slated for Chicago 18, especially "Big Mistake" and "Daddy's Girl".

While "Big Mistake" was due to be the first single from the album, "Glory of Love", co-written by Cetera, David Foster, and Diane Nini, was released instead. That song, from the film The Karate Kid Part II, topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, and helped Solitude/Solitaire to eventually go platinum. The follow-up single, "The Next Time I Fall", was also a major success and topped the charts. Later singles released from the album included "Big Mistake" and "Only Love Knows Why", which was co-written by the producer Michael Omartian and George Bitzer and reached No. 24 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The song, "Daddy's Girl," is part of the soundtrack for the 1987 American comedy film, Three Men and a Baby.

The album was Cetera's greatest solo success, peaking at No. 23 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was certified platinum by the RIAA, selling over one million copies in the U.S.

Solitude/Solitaire marked a high point in Cetera's career, where he achieved success for the first time on his own. It sold more copies than Chicago 18, Chicago's first album without Cetera, which peaked at No. 35.

Track listing

1. "Big Mistake" (Peter Cetera, Amos Galpin) – 5:39
2. "They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To" (Cetera, Erich Bulling) – 4:04
3. "Glory of Love" (Cetera, David Foster, Diane Nini) – 4:19
4. "Queen of the Masquerade Ball" (Cetera, Michael Omartian) – 3:50
5. "Daddy's Girl" (Cetera, Mark Goldenberg) – 3:46
6. "The Next Time I Fall" (with Amy Grant) (Bobby Caldwell, Paul Gordon) – 3:43
7. "Wake Up to Love" (Cetera, David Wolinski, Omartian) – 4:29
8. "Solitude/Solitaire" (Cetera, Omartian) – 4:58
9. "Only Love Knows Why" (Cetera, George Bitzer, Omartian) – 4:29

Recording information:

Michael Omartian – producer

Terry Christian – engineer, mixing

John Guess – engineer, mixing

Britt Bacon – second engineer

Khaliq Glover – second engineer

Laura Livingston – second engineer

Ray Pyle – second engineer

Lion Share Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California – recording and mixing location

Lighthouse Studios, Studio City, California – recording location

Skyline Studios, New York, New York – recording location

Steve Hall – mastering at Future Disc, Hollywood, California

Herb Ritts – photography

Jeri McManus – art direction and design

Paula Abdul "Greatest Hits (Brazil, Virgin Records, 848980-2)"

Greatest Hits is the second greatest hits album by American singer Paula Abdul. Released on September 26, 2000 by Virgin Records.

The album contains all of Abdul’s singles from her three studio albums with the exception of "Will You Marry Me?" and "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up". It does, however, include "Crazy Love" which was previously only available on the Japanese version of Head over Heels, "Bend Time Back 'Round" which was included on the Beverly Hills, 90210 soundtrack, and the previously unreleased "Megamix Medley". By January 2006, the album had sold 138,000 copies in the United States.

Track listing

1. "Straight Up" (from Forever Your Girl, 1988) 3:52
2. "Cold Hearted" (from Forever Your Girl) 3:37
3. "Forever Your Girl" (from Forever Your Girl) 4:13
4. "The Way That You Love Me" (from Forever Your Girl) 4:01
5. "Knocked Out" (from Forever Your Girl) 3:32
6. "Opposites Attract" (with The Wild Pair) (from Forever Your Girl) 3:50
7. "Bend Time Back 'Round" (from Beverly Hills 90210: The Soundtrack, 1992) 3:57
8. "Rush Rush" (from Spellbound, 1991)  4:21
9. "The Promise of a New Day" (from Spellbound) 4:16
10. "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" (from Spellbound)  4:18
11. "Vibeology" (from Spellbound) 3:20
12. "My Love Is for Real" (R&B Remix featuring Ofra Haza) (from Head over Heels, 1995) 4:03
13. "Crazy Cool" (from Head over Heels) 4:02
14. "If I Were Your Girl" (from Head over Heels) 3:55
15. "Megamix Medley" 9:24
16. "Crazy Love" (from Head over Heels) (Japanese edition) 4:30

Paula Abdul "The Promise Of A New Day (Cassette Single & Video, USA, Virgin America, 4-98752)"

"The Promise of a New Day" is a song by American singer and entertainer Paula Abdul, recorded for her second studio album Spellbound (1991) and services as the album's opening track. The track, written by Abdul, Peter Lord, Sandra St. Victor, and V. Jeffrey Smith and produced by Lord and Smith, was released as the album's second official single in July 1991 in the United States. The song lyrically finds the singer singing optimistically about a relationship, with a vague sub-context of improvement of the world. It was also her first single released under her own label, Captive Records.

Despite mixed critical reception, "The Promise of a New Day" became another hit single for Abdul. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 in September 1991, becoming Abdul's sixth and final number-one song as of 2025. Internationally, the track entered the top 10 in Canada, the top 20 in Finland, and the top 40 in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden.

In an interview with Songfacts, when asked how the song came to be, co-writer Peter Lord said, "Paula had an idea for the title and feel for the song and we built it from there."

The video was directed by Big TV!, a duo made up of Andy Delaney and Monty Whitebloom and of which would be the first of multiple times of Abdul working with them. The live waterfall and tropical footage were filmed on location in Hawaii, but Abdul was unable to attend filming due to prior commitments. Filming and production took place on July 8, 1991, in which Abdul and a number of background dancers filmed on a sound stage in Los Angeles, in which it would be edited in the video through green screen. The video would be released on August 17, 1991 on MTV as an exclusive, where it was shortly placed on heavy rotation.

The video attracted controversy due to the fact that special lenses were used to film the video. This method was in order so that editors could fit in more dancers but unintentionally made Abdul taller and a lot more thinner than what she actually was. The video was later mocked on In Living Color, where it was parodied as "Promise of a Thin Me" and took jabs at Abdul's singing voice and also fat-shamed her.

Tracklist:

Side A

1. The Promise Of A New Day (7" Edit)
2. The Promise Of A New Day (West Coast 12")

Side B

1. The Promise Of A New Day (7" Edit)
2. The Promise Of A New Day (West Coast 12")

All tracks appear on both sides.

Paula Abdul "Spellbound (Germany, Virgin America, CDVUS 33)"

Spellbound is the second studio album by American singer Paula Abdul, released on May 14, 1991, via Virgin Records and Captive Records. Production was handled by Peter Lord, Paisley Park, V. Jeffrey Smith, Don Was, and Jorge Corante.

The album, although receiving mixed reviews citing that it showcased her limitations as a singer, became a commercial success and topped the US Billboard 200, alongside cracking the top-ten in Australia, Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Six singles in total were released, including the Billboard Hot 100 number one singles "Rush Rush" and "The Promise of a New Day", the latter becoming her sixth and to-date final number one single. Other singles included the US top-ten hit "Blowing Kisses in the Wind", "Vibeology", which Abdul performed at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards, "Will You Marry Me?", and the Canada exclusive single "Alright Tonight". The album is currently certified 3x platinum in the United States.

Following the release of the album, Abdul embarked on her first world tour, entitled "Under My Spell Tour", between 1991 and 1992.

Spellbound won a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. The album art was art directed by Melanie Nissen, designed by Inge Schaap, and lettered by Margo Chase.

Writing for Entertainment Weekly, David Browne gave the album a C+ and remarked that its overproduction only highlights Abdul's limitations as a singer. In a retrospective review for Slant Magazine, Eric Henderson gave the album four out of five stars. He commented that, despite being uneven, the album makes Abdul "sound like a human being". In 2003, Slant Magazine included Spellbound in its list of "50 Essential Pop Albums".

The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 in its first week and rose four spots to number one the following week. It stayed at the summit for two consecutive weeks, selling 88,000 and 89,000 units respectively. The album distinguished itself by becoming the lowest selling number-one album in the Nielsen SoundScan era at the time of its release—a distinction it held until 2004, when Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below sold 86,000 copies while at number one. This was primarily due to the newly implemented SoundScan tracking system, which had not been implemented into every major music chain, thus sales were not entirely accurate. Nevertheless, the album became a best-seller and emerged as the best selling album for the month of June, spending 16 weeks within the top 10, and was certified three-times platinum by the RIAA in January 1992. Overall, the album spent 70 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and was ranked as the 18th best-charting of the year 1991 (and 40th best-charting of the year 1992).

Tracklist:

1. "The Promise of a New Day"  4:32
2. "Rock House" 4:11
3. "Rush Rush"  4:52
4. "Spellbound"  4:48
5. "Vibeology" 5:16
6. "Will You Marry Me?" 4:24
7. "U"  4:05
8. "My Foolish Heart" 4:10
9. "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" 4:41
10. "To You" 3:31
11. "Alright Tonight" 4:28
12. "Good Night, My Love (Pleasant Dreams)" (bonus track; Jesse Belvin cover) 3:14