Play Me Out (Helen Reddy album)

Play Me Out is the thirteenth studio album by Australian-American pop singer Helen Reddy that was released in 1981 by MCA Records. Having recorded 12 studio albums at Capitol Records over a 10-year period, she felt the move was "'long overdue... For the last three years I didn't feel I was getting the support from them.'"[3] Whatever support she received from the new label was not enough to get the album onto Billboard magazine's Top LPs & Tape chart.[4]

Play Me Out
Studio album by
Helen Reddy
Released1981
Recorded1981 at
Devonshire Sound Studios
Los Angeles, CA
GenreVocal
Pop/Rock[1]
Length33:33
LabelMCA
ProducerJoel Diamond
Helen Reddy chronology
Take What You Find
(1980)		 Play Me Out
(1981)		 Imagination
(1983)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
People(negative)[2]

Single

The album includes the song that has been her last, thus far, to reach Billboard's Hot 100[5] and Adult Contemporary charts.[6] "I Can't Say Goodbye to You" made its pop chart debut in the issue of the magazine dated May 23, 1981, and peaked at number 88 during its three weeks there.[5] That same issue also marked its first appearance on the Adult Contemporary chart, where it spent four weeks and got as high as number 42.[6] It also reached number 43 on the UK singles chart.[7]

The album's producer, Joel Diamond, had helmed a recording of "Save Me" by Donna McDaniel in 1977[8] that got as high as number 90 on the Hot 100,[9] but MCA did not release Reddy's cover from this album as a single. Country artist Louise Mandrell did, however, have a number six Country hit with it two years after the release of this album, in 1983.[10]

Track listing

Side 1

  1. "Optimism Blues" (Allen Toussaint) – 3:10
  2. "Do It Like You Done It When You Meant It" (Howard Greenfield, Neil Sedaka) – 3:28
  3. "I Can't Say Goodbye to You" (Becky Hobbs) – 3:46
  4. "Save Me" (Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett) – 3:10
  5. "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" (Pino Donaggio, Simon Napier-Bell, Vicki Wickham) – 2:43

Side 2

  1. "The Stars Fell on California" (Johnny Bristol) – 3:54
  2. "I Don't Know Why (I Love That Guy)" (Becky Hobbs) – 2:35
  3. "When I Dream" (Sandy Mason) – 3:54
  4. "Let's Just Stay Home Tonight" (Lotti Golden, Richard Scher) – 3:09
  5. "Play Me Out" (Lesley Gore, Carol Hall) – 3:07

Personnel
  • Helen Reddy – vocals
  • Joel Diamond – producer; rhythm track arranger; arranger and conductor for strings, horns and background vocals ("Play Me Out")
  • Artie Butler – arranger and conductor for strings, horns and background vocals ("I Can't Say Goodbye to You", "Save Me")
  • Charles Calello – arranger and conductor for strings, horns and background vocals ("Optimism Blues", "You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me", "I Don't Know Why (I Love That Guy)", "Let's Just Stay Home Tonight")
  • Gene Page – arranger and conductor for strings, horns and background vocals ("Do It Like You Done It When You Meant It", "The Stars Fell on California", "When I Dream")
  • Bill Halverson – recording engineer
  • Russell Schmitt – assistant engineer
  • Doug Kirkland – photography
  • George Osaki – art direction
  • Michael Kevin Lee – graphics
  • Jeff Wald – management
  • Denise Maynelli – background vocals
  • Marti McCall – background vocals
  • Myrna Matthews – background vocals
  • Julia Waters Tillman – background vocals
  • Maxine Waters Willard – background vocals
  • Clydene Jackson – background vocals
  • Oren Waters – background vocals
  • Luther Waters – background vocals
Rhythm Players
  • recorded at Devonshire Sound Studios, Los Angeles, California

Notes
  1. "Play Me Out - Helen Reddy". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  2. "Picks and Pans Review: Play Me Out". People. June 29, 1981.
  3. "Helen Reddy Moving to TV Via Sitcom". Billboard. 1981-09-19. p. 42.
  4. Whitburn 2010, p. 646.
  5. Whitburn 2009, p. 805.
  6. Whitburn 2007, p. 227.
  7. "Helen Reddy". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  8. (1977) "Save Me/I Must Be Doing Something Right" by Donna McDaniel [7-inch single]. New York: RCA Records MB-11005.
  9. Whitburn 2009, p. 638.
  10. Whitburn 2002, p. 211.
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References
  • Whitburn, Joel (2002), Joel Whitburn's Top Country Singles, 1944-2001, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-151-9
  • Whitburn, Joel (2007), Joel Whitburn Presents Billboard Top Adult Songs, 1961-2006, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-169-1
  • Whitburn, Joel (2009), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955-2008, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-180-2
  • Whitburn, Joel (2010), Joel Whitburn Presents Top Pop Albums, Seventh Edition, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-183-7
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