🎵 AotW Toni Childs UNION (A&M SP 5175)

[LPJim]

A1 Don't Walk AwayWritten-By – Phil Ramacom*, Toni Childs 3:58
A2 Walk And Talk Like AngelsWritten-By – David Ricketts, Toni Childs 5:46
A3 Stop Your Fussin'Written-By – David Ricketts, Toni Childs 4:40
A4 DreamerWritten-By – David Ricketts, Toni Childs 5:01
A5 Let The Rain Come DownWritten-By – David Batteau, David Ricketts, Toni Childs 4:47
B1 ZimbabwaeWritten-By – David Ricketts, Toni Childs 6:17
B2 HushWritten-By – Toni Childs 4:04
B3 Tin DrumWritten-By – David Ricketts, Toni Childs 5:40
B4 Where's The OceanWritten-By – Toni Childs 4:41

• Phonographic Copyright (p) – A&M Records, Inc.
• Copyright (c) – A&M Records, Inc.
• Published By – Moon Skin
• Published By – Unicity Music, Inc.
• Published By – Copyright Control
• Published By – 48-11 Music
• Published By – Almo Music Corp.
• Published By – David Batteau Music
• Recorded At – Avatar, Malibu, CA
• Recorded At – Ocean Way Recording
• Recorded At – Ebusia Records
• Recorded At – Utopia Studios
• Recorded At – Studio Marcadet
• Recorded At – Ground Control (2)
• Recorded At – A&M Studios
• Lacquer Cut At – Precision Lacquer
• Pressed By – Electrosound Group Midwest, Inc.

• Art Direction – Chuck Beeson, Melanie Nissen
• Backing Vocals – Crystal Wilson, New Generation (Zambia)*, Penni Wilson, Reneé Geyer*, Sibane Semaswati Singers (Bhunya, Swaziland)*
• Backing Vocals [New Generation (Zambia)] – Andrew Zulu, Eddie Yumba, Frank Chitembwe, Justin Ndhlovu
• Backing Vocals [Sibane Semaswati Singers (Bhunya, Swaziland)] – Elliot Nhcabatsi, France Mntshali, Jabulane Ngwenya, Job Masilela, Leonard Khumalo, Richard Mabuza, Salamba Dlamin, Samuel Mbuyisa, Sipho Hlatshwako, Titus Mabuza
• Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Drum Programming [Drums Programs] – David Ricketts
• Bassoon – Paul Hanson
• Cello – Hans Christian
• Co-producer [Associate Producer] – David Ricketts
• Design – Melanie Nissen
• Drums – Rick Marotta
• Engineer [Additional] – Angus Davidson, B.K. (3), Bill Dooley, Bob Vogt, Chris Fuhrman, Clark Germain, Joe Schiff, Julie Last, Steve MacMillan
• Engineer [Assistant And Additional Recording] – Saul Raye
• Guitar – Alex Weir, Dan Huff*, David Rhodes
• Horns – The Phantom Horns*
• Horns [The Phantom Horns] – Gary Barnacle, John Thirkell, Pete Thoms*
• Keyboards – Jeff Martin (2), Steve Hogarth
• Management – M.F.C. Management, Peregrine Watts-Russell
• Mastered By – Stephen Marcussen
• Mixed By – John "Tokes" Potoker*
• Other [This Album Was Made By] – David Ricketts, David Tickle, Toni Childs
• Painting [Cover Painting] – John Howard (3)
• Percussion – Alex Acuna*
• Photography By [Photos] – Victoria Pearson (2)
• Producer – David Tickle
• Saxophone [Sax], Percussion – George Lee (3)
• Synthesizer, Programmed By [Synclavier Programs] – Gary Barlough
• Vocals, Guitar, Bass – Toni Childs

Entered by Billboard Top 200 on June 25, 1988
Charted for 45 weeks and peaked at Number 63

"Don't Walk Away" reached # 72 as a single
Available on CD


JB

 

[Mike Blakesley]

This is a CD I got as a promotional freebie. There was an ad for it in Billboard, with small print at the bottom "To receive your free promotional copy of Union, send a postcard to A&M Records...." which I did -- anything free is great, right?

I wound up liking the album a lot and still like it today. My favorite song on it is "Dreamer," which is an ethereal ballad on which Childs' unusual voice has the perfect haunting quality. My other favorite is "Tin Drum," which has a catchy chorus and a nice slow building rhythm. I don't remember DISliking any song on it. It's one of those albums you really need to be in the right mood to listen to it.

Childs' voice is off-the-wall enough that I think she is kind of an acquired taste. The sound was uncompromising and more than a little challenging...hence her A&M career path seemed to mirror Joan Armatrading's a bit -- several albums, and some pretty good reviews, but it did not translate to sales. (She also had an album cover, I think it was her second or third LP, that had "full frontal female nudity" on it, which doesn't get you a lot of display space in the stores.)

 

[Another Son]

I bought the single, 'Stop Your Fussing', shortly after it was released after pricking up my ears the first time I heard it on the radio. Not only was Toni Child's voice attention-grabbing but so was the style and energy of the song, the production, and the performance of the other musicians.

Shortly afterwards, a few friends and I went to a Toni Childs concert, which we all enjoyed. This was around 1988.

Later, I bought the 'Don't Walk Away' and 'Zimbabwe' singles.

A few of my friends had the 'Union' album and it was on high rotation at get-togethers, etc. The whole album was strong.

I bought the 'I've Got to Go Now' cd single upon release and thrashed it to death. Soon after came the 'House of Hope' single, the 'I Want to Walk With You' single and the 'House of Hope' albums, which were all favourites at the time. (In other countries, I notice that 'Heaven's Gate' was the 'A' side to 'I Want to Walk With You' but I don't think we got that single here).

'Many Rivers to Cross' was then a huge smash here for Toni Childs in the early 90s, although it had been recorded a few years earlier. I bought 'The Very Best of Toni Childs' and 'This Woman's Boat' albums and, eventually, 'Union'.

I hadn't listened to Toni Childs for years until recently, when I played 'Union' and 'House of Hope' a couple of times each, before settling upon 'The Very Best Of', which I've listened to a number of times in the last few months because it has so many well-known songs on it.

Around the time I rediscovered the Toni Childs albums, I looked on the Internet to see how successful she had been in the USA and was surprised to see that 'Union' was her only big-selling record there.

Toni Childs is one of those artists who you expect would have been a lot more successful in her home country. She has performed in my home town recently.

Toni Childs now lives in Australia.