Chicago "Chicago 13"

Chicago 13 is the eleventh studio album by the American band Chicago, released in 1979. As the follow-up to Hot Streets, Chicago 13 would be the band's final release featuring lead guitarist Donnie Dacus, who had followed the late founding member, guitarist Terry Kath. All band members would contribute to the songwriting (one of only two albums where this is the case, with the other being Chicago VII).

After recording sessions in Morin-Heights, Quebec and Hollywood, Chicago 13—which saw the band return to numbering its albums and displaying its logo—was released in August 1979, and was preceded by Donnie Dacus's "Must Have Been Crazy" as lead single. Chicago 13 is the first Chicago album to bear no significant hit singles.

Despite negative reviews, Chicago 13 reached No. 21 and went gold. Although it was the band's first album to miss the Top 20 and was then the lowest charting release since their debut album. Shortly after the tour to support the album ended, Dacus was fired from the band without explanation.

In 2003, Chicago 13 was remastered and reissued by Rhino Records with a B-Side, featuring Dacus's "Closer to You" (an outtake from the Hot Streets sessions), and the 12-inch single mix of "Street Player" as bonus tracks.

The opening track, the disco-fueled extended jam "Street Player" was also released as a single but it failed to chart, making it the band's first single to miss the charts altogether. The songs "Street Player" and "Closer to You" had previously been released by other artists: "Street Player" by Rufus, who originally recorded it before Chicago, and "Closer" by Stephen Stills, though with Donnie Dacus on lead vocals. "Street Player" did eventually reach hit status, being sampled for both the 1995 hit "The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall into My Mind)" by The Bucketheads, the 2009 hit "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" by Pitbull and the 2013 remix by dance music producer "Tradelove".

Track listing

Side One

1. "Street Player" Daniel Seraphine, David Wolinski Peter Cetera 9:11
2. "Mama Take" Cetera Cetera 4:14
3. "Must Have Been Crazy" Donnie Dacus Dacus 3:26
4. "Window Dreamin'" Walter Parazaider, Lee Loughnane Cetera 4:11
5. "Paradise Alley" Robert Lamm Dacus 3:39

Side Two

1. "Aloha Mama" Seraphine, Wolinski Cetera 4:11
2. "Reruns" Lamm Lamm 4:29
3. "Loser with a Broken Heart" Cetera Cetera 4:43
4. "Life Is What It Is" Laudir de Oliveira, Marcos Valle Cetera 4:37
5. "Run Away" James Pankow Cetera and Dacus 4:18

Bonus Tracks on Rhino Re-issue

1. "Closer to You" Dacus, Stephen Stills, Warner Schwebke Dacus 4:54
2. "Street Player" (Dance mix) Seraphine, Wolinski Cetera 8:44

Produced by Phil Ramone and Chicago

Production Assistant – Michele Slagter

Engineered and Mixed by Jim Boyer

Assistant Engineers – Nick Blagona, Roger Ginsley, John Beverly Jones, Bradshaw Leigh, Peter Lewis and Robbie Whelan.

Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound (New York City, NY).

Cover Design Concept – Tony Lane

Logo Design – Nick Fasciano

Back Cover and Sleeve Photography – Gary Heery