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

Agnetha Fältskog "I Stand Alone"

I Stand Alone is the third English-language solo studio album, and tenth overall, by Swedish singer and ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog. Released on 9 November 1987, the album was produced by Peter Cetera and would be her last for 17 years.

Recorded mainly in Los Angeles and Malibu, California, I Stand Alone was produced by Peter Cetera, the former singer and bass guitar player with American rock band Chicago. He duetted with Fältskog on the track "I Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)" (No. 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 19 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S.). The co-producer of the album was Bruce Gaitsch, with whom Fältskog was in a relationship at the time.

The musical style of the album was very different from the European sounds of Faltskog's previous two albums, and reflected the West Coast American influences of the producers. The album became Sweden's best-selling LP of 1988, where it remained at No.1 for eight weeks. It also reached the Top 20 in Norway and Belgium, and No.22 in the Netherlands, but fared less well on charts elsewhere, only reaching No.47 in West Germany, No.72 in the United Kingdom, No.93 in Japan and No.96 in Australia.

Fältskog also made several promo videos for singles from the album, including "The Last Time" and "Let It Shine". When the third single, "I Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)", appeared on the U.S. Billboard Chart in April 1988, Warner Music asked her to make another video immediately. Although it was a duet with Peter Cetera, he did not appear in the video.

Album track "Love in a World Gone Mad" was a cover version of a song by British pop group Bucks Fizz, from their 1986 album Writing on the Wall.

For the cover of the album and promotional interviews, Fältskog appeared with a "new" spiky blonde hair look. Fältskog made a very rare trip on an airplane to Los Angeles to record the album. After it was completed, she didn't fly again for years due to her much-publicised fear of flying. She did, however, admit that the flight was worth it.

The album was picked as a "Lost Treasure" by the Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan. "She's one of my favourite singers of all time", he explained. "It's rare that a singer can hit super-high up the register and sound really good. When I look at the pop world today, I wish we had an ABBA. They had that right combination of fun, beauty, not taking it too seriously, but being deadly in the studio. Everyone's so goddamn serious these days."

The album was re-released as Estoy Sola for the Latin American market on LP's and cassettes in 1987. Although all of the original English language song titles were translated into Spanish for the album's track listing, only two songs were actually re-recorded with Fältskog and Cetera recording new vocals in Spanish for "I Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)" (as "Yo No Fui Quién Dijo Adiós") and "The Last Time" (as "La Ultima Véz").

Track listing

I Stand Alone

Side one

1. "The Last Time" – 4:12 (Robin Randall, Judithe Randall, Jeff Law)
2. "Little White Secrets" – 4:04 (Ellen Schwartz, Roger Bruno, Susan Pomerantz)
3. "I Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)" with Peter Cetera – 4:10 (Mark Mueller, Aaron Zigman)
4. "Love in a World Gone Mad" – 4:08 (Billy Livsey, Pete Sinfield)
5. "Maybe It Was Magic" – 4:07 (Peter Brown, Pat Hurley)

Side two

1. "Let It Shine" – 3:58 (Austin Roberts, Bill LaBounty, Beckie Foster)
2. "We Got a Way" – 3:50 (John Robinson, Franne Golde, Martin Walsh)
3. "I Stand Alone" – 4:48 (Peter Cetera, Bruce Gaitsch)
4. "Are You Gonna Throw It All Away" – 4:52 (Diane Warren, Albert Hammond)
5. "If You Need Somebody Tonight" – 3:32 (Diane Warren, Albert Hammond)

Estoy Sola

Side one

1. "La Última Vez" ("The Last Time") – 4:12
2. "Pequeños Secretos Blancos" ("Little White Secrets") – 4:04
3. "Yo No Fui Quien Dijo Adiós" with Peter Cetera ("I Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)") – 4:10
4. "Amor En Un Mundo Vuelto Loco" ("Love In a World Gone Mad") – 4:08
5. "Tal Vez Eso Era Mágico" ("Maybe It Was Magic") – 4:07

Side two

1. "Déjalo Que Brille" ("Let It Shine") – 3:58
2. "Tenemos Un Modo" ("We Got a Way") - 3:50
3. "Estoy Sola" ("I Stand Alone") - 4:48
4. "¿Vas A Abandonarlo Todo?" ("Are You Gonna Throw It All Away") - 4:52
5. "Si Necesitas A Alguien Esta Noche" ("If You Need Somebody Tonight") - 3:32

Produced by Peter Cetera and Bruce Gaitsch

Engineered and Mixed by Rick Holbrook

Assistant Engineer – Britt Bacon

Mix Assistant – Karen Siegel

Recorded at Chartmaker Studios (Malibu, CA).

Additional recording at Skyline Recording (Topanga Canyon, CA), That Studio (North Hollywood, CA), Sun Valley Audio (Sun Valley, ID) and Zebra Studio (Studio City, CA).

Mixed at Lion Share Recording Studio (Los Angeles, CA).

Mastered by Wally Traugott at Capitol Mastering (Hollywood, CA).

Production Coordination – Ivy Skoff

Art Direction – Greta for Ink-a-Dinka, Inc.

Photography – Albert Tolot

Agnetha Fältskog "I Won't Let You Go (Single & Video)"

"I Won't Let You Go" is the first single from Agnetha Fältskog's second English solo-album Eyes of a Woman. The song was composed by Fältskog with lyrics by producer Eric Stewart, formerly of the group 10cc.

The track reached the Top 10 in Sweden and Belgium, but due to the lack of promotion, "I Won't Let You Go" proved unsuccessful in Britain, where it peaked at #84.

The B-side of the single, "You're There", was also written by Fältskog and was the last song written by her to be released until "I Keep Them On The Floor Beside My Bed", which was the closing track on her 2013 album, A.

In some countries a 12" single was released that featured an extended remix instead of the album version.

Agnetha Fältskog "Wrap Your Arms Around Me"

Wrap Your Arms Around Me is the first English-language solo studio album by Swedish singer and ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog, and her seventh studio album overall. It was released by Polar Music on 31 May 1983 and was produced by Mike Chapman. "The Heat Is On", "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" and "Can't Shake Loose" were released as singles to promote the album. In 2005, the album was re-released in CD format with five bonus tracks.

The first track from the album, "The Heat Is On", was issued as a single in Europe, where it is commonly regarded as Fältskog's best-known 1980s solo hit. "The Heat Is On" was successful in Europe and Scandinavia, reaching number one in Sweden and Norway and peaking at number two in the Netherlands and Belgium. The album's title track was another successful single, topping the charts in Belgium and Denmark, reaching the top 5 in Sweden, the Netherlands and South Africa, and the top 20 in Germany and France. "Can't Shake Loose" was the choice for the lead single in North America; this song became the first of only two solo singles from Fältskog to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, peaking at number 29 in October 1983. The song was written by Russ Ballard, who also wrote "I Know There's Something Going On", the only US hit by Fältskog's former ABBA companion Frida.

The track "Man" was the only song on the album written by Fältskog herself in contrast to her pre-ABBA 1960s recordings in Swedish, which were mostly self-written. The album's strings were provided by the Sveriges Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The album has sold over 1.2 million copies worldwide.

Track listing

1. "The Heat Is On" Florrie Palmer, Tony Ashton 3:53
2. "Can't Shake Loose" Russ Ballard 4:21
3. "Shame" David Clark Allen 3:36
4. "Stay" Allen 3:17
5. "Once Burned, Twice Shy" Dan Tyler, Richard Spady Brannan 3:42
6. "Mr. Persuasion" Susan Duncombe Lynch, Larry Whitman 2:41
7. "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" Mike Chapman, Holly Knight 5:12
8. "To Love" Jill Brandt, Randy Goodrum 3:52
9. "I Wish Tonight Could Last Forever" Ballard 4:12
10. "Man" Agnetha Fältskog 3:32
11. "Take Good Care of Your Children" Tomas Ledin 3:43
12. "Stand by My Side" Guido & Maurizio De Angelis, David Cowles 4:15

Total length: 46:16