November 6th
album anniversaries

Trevor Horn produced three songs on It’s a Man’s World: “The Gunman”, “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” and “Shape of Things to Come”. Stephen Lipson, Christopher Neil and Greg Penny handled the rest of Cher’s album, which first appeared in Europe on WEA.

“Walking in Memphis” led the campaign and reached number 11 in the UK, and “One by One” followed it into the top 10. When Reprise issued the record in North America in 1996, the running order was cut to 11 tracks and five songs were remixed.

Rob Brown and Sean Booth moved their home and studio next door to the DJ and producer Jez Potter before Tri Repetae, and the album leans towards minimal, repeating rhythmic patterns. That turn drew on the glitch music of Potter and Mark Fell.

The ten tracks run for more than 72 minutes, opening with “Dael” and moving through pieces such as “Clipper” and “Rotar”. The liner notes suggest hearing it on vinyl for the surface noise. In the US it appeared in 1996 as Tri Repetae++, adding tracks from the Anvil Vapre and Garbage EPs.

Jeff Koons designed the cover of Artpop, setting a sculpted nude figure of Lady Gaga with a blue gazing ball against fragments of Bernini and Botticelli. The release also came with an app combining music, art, fashion and technology.

Gaga produced the album with collaborators including DJ White Shadow, Zedd and Madeon. “Applause” went ahead as the lead single and reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Japan received the album first, and in the US it entered the Billboard 200 at number one with 258,000 copies in its first week.

Lockdown moved much of Disco into a home studio in London, where Kylie Minogue recorded around 90 per cent of the album and engineered most of her own vocals, first in GarageBand and then in Logic Pro. Sky Adams, Teemu Brunila, Biff Stannard and Jon Green were among her collaborators.

“Say Something” and “Magic” were issued ahead of release, and “Real Groove” followed in December. The album entered the UK chart at number one, making Minogue the first female artist with a number one album in five consecutive decades. A livestream concert, Infinite Disco, came the following day.

Most of Confetti was finished before the 2020 lockdowns, so Little Mix completed it by visiting the studio one at a time, a change from earlier albums made together. MNEK, TMS, Goldfingers and Oliver Frid are among the producers.

“Break Up Song” and “Holiday” prepared the way, and “Sweet Melody” became the group’s fifth UK number one. The album entered the chart at number two. A remix of the title track with Saweetie later reached the UK top 10, and about a month after release Jesy Nelson announced she was leaving the group.

Toronto’s Air Canada Centre is the setting for Return to Greendale, taken from a show on 4 September 2003 during the tour for the studio album Greendale. Neil Young plays guitar, organ and harmonica alongside Crazy Horse’s Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina, with Frank “Poncho” Sampedro on Wurlitzer electric piano.

The Mountainettes, Pegi Young among them, add backing vocals as the set runs from “Falling From Above” to “Be the Rain”, with “Bandit” and “Grandpa’s Interview” along the way. A concert film was issued with the CD and vinyl after the planned June release was delayed.