Mad Love (Linda Ronstadt album)

Mad Love is the tenth studio album by singer, songwriter and producer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1980. It debuted at #5 on the Billboard album chart, a record at the time and a first for any female artist, and quickly became her seventh consecutive album to sell over one million copies. It was certified Platinum and nominated for a Grammy.

Mad Love
Studio album by Linda Ronstadt
Released	February, 1980
Recorded	October 24, 1979 - January 10, 1980
Studio	Record One, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Rock new wave[1]
Length	31:09
Label	Asylum
Producer	Peter Asher
Linda Ronstadt chronology
Living in the USA (1978) Mad Love (1980) Greatest Hits, Volume 2 (1980)
Singles from Mad Love
"How Do I Make You" Released: January 1980 "Hurt So Bad" Released: March 1980 "I Can't Let Go" Released: June 1980

The album contains versions of Elvis Costello's "Party Girl", "Girls Talk" and "Talking in the Dark" as well as Neil Young's "Look Out for My Love". Three songs from The Cretones' first album, Thin Red Line, were also featured. Due to the Costello songs, and the fact one track ("Talking in the Dark") is performed in a style similar to that of Lene Lovich, Mad Love is often categorized as a new wave or even punk album.

The album had Top 10 hits in the United States with the frenetic "How Do I Make You" and the achingly pleading "Hurt So Bad". "I Can't Let Go" was the album's third hit single. Ronstadt was named Billboard's #1 Female Artist of 1980. This was her fourth time earning that honor. (She was also named the year's top woman in 1975, 1977, and 1978.) Linda was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Rock Vocal Performance Female category for the single "How Do I Make You". In the United Kingdom, this release peaked at #65.

In 2011, after 31 years, Mad Love was taken out of print. The album was reissued in 2012 as part of Warner/Rhino's "Original Album Series" a group of five classic albums packaged in a box with each individual CD in a mini-replica of the original vinyl packaging. That package has also been deleted. In 2018, Friday Music released a limited edition on pink vinyl.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Robert Christgau	B- [3]
Rolling Stone	(mixed) [4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]

Track listing

Side A

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Mad Love"	Mark Goldenberg	3:40
2.	"Party Girl"	Elvis Costello	3:22
3.	"How Do I Make You"	Billy Steinberg	2:25
4.	"I Can't Let Go"	Chip Taylor, Al Gorgoni	2:44
5.	"Hurt So Bad"	Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Weinstein, Bobby Hart	3:17

Side B

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Look Out for My Love"	Neil Young	3:29
7.	"Cost of Love"	Goldenberg	2:38
8.	"Justine"	Goldenberg	4:00
9.	"Girls Talk"	Costello	3:22
10.	"Talking in the Dark"	Costello	2:12
Total length:			31:09

Personnel

• Linda Ronstadt – lead vocals, backing vocals (4, 6)
• Bill Payne – keyboards
• Michael Boddicker – synthesizers (10)
• Dan Dugmore – electric guitar (1-6, 8, 9, 10), electric guitar solo (1, 6)
• Mark Goldenberg – electric guitar (1-4, 7-10), backing vocals (1, 3, 7), electric guitar solo (3, 4)
• Danny Kortchmar – electric guitar (5), electric guitar solo (5)
• Mike Auldridge – dobro (6)
• Peter Bernstein – acoustic guitar (9)
• Bob Glaub – bass guitar
• Russ Kunkel – drums
• Peter Asher – tambourine (4), percussion (9)
• Steve Forman – percussion (9)
• Waddy Wachtel – backing vocals (1, 7)
• Nicolette Larson – backing vocals (3, 4, 9)
• Rosemary Butler – backing vocals (4, 9)
• Kenny Edwards – backing vocals (8)
• Andrew Gold – backing vocals (8)

Production

• Peter Asher – producer
• Val Garay – recording, mixing
• Niko Bolas – recording assistant
• Mike Reese – mastering
• Doug Sax – mastering
• Mastered at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California).
• Kosh – art direction, design
• Peter Howe – photography

Charts

Chart (1980)	Peak position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[6]	37
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[7]	22
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[8]	34
US Billboard 200[9]	3

References

1. Cateforis, Theo (2011). Are We Not New Wave? : Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s. University of Michigan Press. p. 40. ISBN 0-472-03470-7.
2. Allmusic review
3. Robert Christgau review
4. Rolling Stone review
5. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 701. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone linda ronstadt album guide.
6. "Dutchcharts.nl – Linda Ronstadt – Mad Lovee" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
7. "Charts.nz – Linda Ronstadt – Mad Lovee". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
8. "Norwegiancharts.com – Linda Ronstadt – Mad Lovee". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
9. "Linda Ronstadt Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 22, 2019.