After Midnight (Janie Frickie album)

Janie Frickie was considered among country music's most successful artists during the mid 1980s. She had a string of number one and top ten country singles in North America that ranged in musical style.[3][4] Beginning with 1986's Black & White, Frickie teamed up with producer Norro Wilson and together they fused country with blues music.[2] The pair would record in a similar fashion fior 1987's After Midnight. The album was recorded in December 1986 at Music City Hall, a studio located in Nashville, Tennessee. Wilson served as a producer on most of the project, with the exception of "From Time to Time", which was produced by Chip Young.[5] After Midnight consisted of ten tracks.[1]

A majority of the recordings were new material including "Baby You're Gone", "My Eternal Flame" and "I Hurt". Another new track was a duet with Larry Gatlin (and his brothers) called "From Time to Time (It Feels Like Love Again)".[5] The song first appeared on Gatlin's 1986 album titled Partners.[6] Two covers of songs previously recorded by other artists are also featured on the project. The lead album track "Are You Satisfied"[5] was a cover of the pop single by Rusty Draper.[7] The disc's second cover was of the song "If I Didn't Care". The song was originally recorded by The Ink Spots and became a popular hit for the group in 1939.[8]

After Midnight was originally released in April 1987 on Columbia Records. The disc marked Frickie's twelfth studio recording of her career. It was originally distributed as a vinyl LP, cassette and a compact disc.[5][9][10] In later decades, it was re-released to digital platforms including Apple Music.[11] Due to constant mispronunciations of her last name, Columbia changed the spelling from "Fricke" to "Frickie" beginning in 1986.[12] After Midnight also included the same spelling.[5][9][10] The album spent 19 weeks on the Billboard Top Country Albums, climbing to the number 29 spot in mid 1987. To date, it is Frickie's last album to reach a top 40 position on a Billboard chart.[13] Frickie's vocal performance on her 1986 and 1987 albums were highlighted by writer Kurt Wolff in his book Country Music: The Rough Guide. Wilson described her voice as "gutsy" and "bluesy" in these two album releases.[2]

A total of three singles were spawned from After Midnight. Its first single released was Frickie's cover of "Are You Satisfied", which was issued in February 1987.[14] The single made the top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, reaching number 32.[15] In April 1987, "From Time to Time" was released as the album's next single.[16] The song spent 12 weeks on the Billboard country chart and peaked at the number 21 position. It was Frickie's final top 40 single on the chart.[15] In August 1987, "Baby You're Gone" was spawned as the album's final single.[17] The single spent four weeks on the Billboard country list and reached number 63 in late 1987.[15] All three singles also charted on Canada's RPM Country survey. "Are You Satisfied" was the highest-peaking release in Canada, climbing to the number 25 position.[18]