Café Racers
Studio album by
Kim Carnes
ReleasedOctober 1983
Recorded1983
GenrePop rock
Length43:10
LabelEMI
ProducerKeith Olsen
Kim Carnes chronology
Voyeur
(1982)		 Café Racers
(1983)		 Barking at Airplanes
(1985)
Singles from Café Racers
  1. "Invisible Hands"
    Released: October 1983
  2. "You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That's All That Matters)"
    Released: January 1984
  3. "The Universal Song"
    Released: January 1984
  4. "I Pretend"
    Released: May 1984
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]

Café Racers is the eighth studio album by American singer Kim Carnes, released in October 1983 by EMI.

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.

Background

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]

Release and promotion

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]

Critical reception

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]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That's All That Matters)"
  • Kim Carnes
  • Dave Ellingson
  • Martin Page
  • Brian Fairweather
4:35
2."Young Love"Gary O'Connor4:14
3."Met You at the Wrong Time of My Life"
  • Paul Wilson
  • B.P. Hurding
5:21
4."Hurricane"
  • Carnes
  • Bill Cuomo
4:30
5."The Universal Song"
  • Cuomo
  • Carnes
  • Ellingson
3:52
6."Invisible Hands"
  • Page
  • Fairweather
3:12
7."I Pretend"
  • Page
  • Fairweather
5:20
8."Hangin' On by a Thread (A Sad Affair of the Heart)"Carnes2:51
9."A Kick in the Heart"Mark Goldenberg4:32
10."I'll Be Here Where the Heart Is"
4:43
2001 re-issue
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That's All That Matters)" (Extended version)
  • Carnes
  • Ellingson
  • Page
  • Fairweather
6:07
12."Hurricane" (Extended vocal version)
  • Carnes
  • Cuomo
5:13
13."Invitation to Dance" (Vocal Dance Mix)
  • Carnes
  • Ellingson
  • Page
  • Fairweather
6:30

Charts

Chart (1983) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[17] 97

Personnel

Musicians

  • Kim Carnes – lead vocals, backing vocals (3, 6, 7, 9, 10)
  • Bill Cuomo – keyboards (1, 2, 4, 5, 7-10), synthesizers (3), keyboard solo (6)
  • Steve Porcaro – keyboards (2)
  • David Paich – acoustic piano (3), keyboard bass (6)
  • Duane Hitchings – keyboards (10)
  • Chas Sandford – guitars (1, 4, 5), backing vocals (1, 4, 5)
  • Steve Lukather – guitar solo (1), guitars (2, 3, 6, 7, 9)
  • Waddy Wachtel – guitars (2, 3, 10), backing vocals (2)
  • Mark Andes – bass guitar (2, 3, 6, 7, 9)
  • Dennis Carmassi – drums (1-7, 9, 10)
  • Brian Fairweather – Simmons drums (6), backing vocals (5, 6, 7)
  • Craig Krampf – drums (8)
  • Keith Olsen – percussion (3)
  • Jerry Peterson – saxophone (3, 4, 7)
  • Martin Page – backing vocals (5, 6, 7), Roland Jupiter 8 (6)
  • Kevin Chalfant – backing vocals (7)
  • John Waite – backing vocals (8)
  • Daniel Moore – backing vocals (10)
  • Dave Ellingson – backing vocals (10)

Production

  • Keith Olsen – producer, engineer
  • Dennis Sager – engineer
  • Greg Fulginiti – mastering
  • Susan McGonigle – production coordinator
  • John Kosh – art direction, design
  • Ron Larson – art direction, design
  • Robert Blakeman – cover photography
  • Jackie Sallow – sleeve photography
  • Michael Brokaw (Kragen & Co.) – direction
Studios

References

  1. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Café Racers – Kim Carnes". AllMusic. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  2. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  3. ↑ Grein, Paul (December 17, 1983). "Kim Carnes Racing Ahead Two Years After "Eyes"". Billboard. New York City.
  4. ↑ "Billboard 200 – December 31, 1983". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Billboard 200 – December 3, 1983". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending DECEMBER 17, 1983". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  7. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4439". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Billboard 200 – February 25, 1984". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Dance Club Songs – March 31, 1984". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Billboard 200 – June 9, 1984". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Adult Contemporary – June 9, 1984". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  12. ↑ The Universal Song (sleeve). Netherlands: EMI America. 1983. 1A 006-1868347.
  13. ↑ "Dutch Single Top 100 – 21/01/1984" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  14. ↑ Young Love (sleeve). Canada: EMI America. 1983. 77012.
  15. ↑ Hurricane (Extended Vocal Version) (sleeve). United States: EMI America. 1983. V-7829.
  16. ↑ "Billboard's Top Album Picks Survey" (PDF). Billboard. November 5, 1983. p. 52. Retrieved January 1, 2023 – via World Radio History.
  17. ↑ "Chart listing for Cafe Racers". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
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