Nightclubbing

There is so much more to Grace Jones than the chat-show host-slapping Bond girl of popular myth, and Nightclubbing remains the reason she will never be forgotten as a performer. Jones managed in 1981, with an incredible team of people working around her, to create something that truly lasted. Without her acute magic, her presence, her delivery, the recordings would not be being talked about and celebrated way into the 21st century.

Nightclubbing, Grace Jones' fifth studio album, was released in May 1981 on Island Records ILPS 9624. With its nine tracks including club and chart smash 'Pull Up To The Bumper', it was an immediate critical hit, with positive reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. The sleeve for Nightclubbing became one of popular music's most striking. Painted from a photograph taken by Jean Paul Goude. Pop had been used to men looking like women for a decade, but was less used to seeing women dressing like men.

Jones made a strange, alien music; a fusion of reggae, funk, soul and new wave which seemed radical yet chimed perfectly with the times: akin to a sleek panther treading wet streets in the glare of neon signs. Continuing the selection of covers and originals that had formed such a remarkable template for her Compass Point debut, Warm Leatherette, Jones set to work to cut Nightclubbing, using some leftovers from the previous sessions and recording new material. The sound was further bolstered by the occasional contributions of T-Connection guitarist Monte Browne and backing vocals were provided by Island artist Jess Roden, Tyrone Downie from the Wailers, and Masai Delon. Recording tracks such as 'Pull Up To The Bumper', 'I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)' and 'Walking In the Rain', the sessions exceeded expectations.

Nightclubbing remains the high water mark of Grace Jones' time at Compass Point, the album on which her musical legacy rests, a sophisticated mêlée of sound, astute A&R'ing, a perfect example of artist and musicians working in complete accord. And here it is again. It is simply one of the irresistible highlights of the early 80s.