Café Racers
1983 studio album by Kim Carnes From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1983 studio album by Kim Carnes From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Café Racers is the eighth studio album by American singer Kim Carnes, released in October 1983 by EMI.
Café Racers | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 1983 | |||
Recorded | 1983 | |||
Genre | Pop rock | |||
Length | 43:10 | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Producer | Keith Olsen | |||
Kim Carnes chronology | ||||
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Singles from Café Racers | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The album spawned three chart singles in the United States, "Invisible Hands", "You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That's All That Matters)", and "I Pretend" which charted on various Billboard charts. "The Universal Song" was also released as a single in West Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.
The song "I'll Be Here Where the Heart Is" was included on the chart-topping, six times Platinum Flashdance soundtrack which received a Grammy Award for Best Album Of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture at 26th Annual Grammy Awards. It was also released as a single in Germany, Netherlands, Spain and France.
The album was not as successful as Mistaken Identity (1981) or Voyeur (1982), peaking at No. 97 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Following Mistaken Identity (1981) and Voyeur (1982), Carnes intended to continue working with producer Val Garay for her third album with EMI. Garay was occupied producing Little Robbers for The Motels, so Carnes approached Keith Olsen, who had recently produced her hit "I'll Be Here Where the Heart Is" for the Flashdance soundtrack.[3]
Café Racers was released in October 1983.
"Invisible Hands" was released as the album's lead single in October 1983. It spent a total of twelve weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart,[4] peaking at no. 40 for two consecutive weeks.[5] It peaked slightly higher on the Cash Box Top 100 chart at no. 34.[6] In Canada, "Invisible Hands" peaked at no. 44.[7] "You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That's All That Matters)" followed as the album's second single in January 1984. It peaked at no. 54 on the Billboard Hot 100,[8] and no. 15 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.[9] "I Pretend" was released as the album's third single in May 1984. It peaked at no. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100,[10] and no. 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[11] "The Universal Song" was released exclusively in the Netherlands,[12] where it peaked at no. 40 in January 1984.[13] "Young Love" was released exclusively in Canada,[14] and a remix of "Hurricane" by Rusty Garner was released in the United States.[15]
Billboard opined that Café Racers was "superior" to Carnes' previous album Voyeur, and that it "captures both sides of Carnes' music – the trendy and the timeless".[16]
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Café Racers as "a snapshot of the various styles and sounds of mainstream radio circa 1983". He proposed that the album's commercial failure was due to a lack of hit record material, and suggested that the abundance of single remixes that were sent to radio stations added "an air of desperation" to Café Racers.[1]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That's All That Matters)" |
| 4:35 |
2. | "Young Love" | Gary O'Connor | 4:14 |
3. | "Met You at the Wrong Time of My Life" |
| 5:21 |
4. | "Hurricane" |
| 4:30 |
5. | "The Universal Song" |
| 3:52 |
6. | "Invisible Hands" |
| 3:12 |
7. | "I Pretend" |
| 5:20 |
8. | "Hangin' On by a Thread (A Sad Affair of the Heart)" | Carnes | 2:51 |
9. | "A Kick in the Heart" | Mark Goldenberg | 4:32 |
10. | "I'll Be Here Where the Heart Is" |
| 4:43 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
11. | "You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That's All That Matters)" (Extended version) |
| 6:07 |
12. | "Hurricane" (Extended vocal version) |
| 5:13 |
13. | "Invitation to Dance" (Vocal Dance Mix) |
| 6:30 |
Chart (1983) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard 200[17] | 97 |
Musicians
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