Wild Things Run Fast

Wild Things Run Fast is the 11th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Her first of four releases for Geffen Records, it was released in 1982 and represents her departure from jazz to a more 1980s pop sound. This was her first album to work with bassist Larry Klein, whom she married in 1982. Klein would play bass on and co-produce her next four albums.

Wild Things Run Fast
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 1982
Studio
GenrePop rock, folk
Length36:44
LabelGeffen
ProducerJoni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell chronology
Shadows and Light
(1980)
Wild Things Run Fast
(1982)
Dog Eat Dog
(1985)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert ChristgauB[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

The resulting world tour took Mitchell through the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia. A video of the tour was released in 1983, entitled Refuge of the Roads. The recorded performances were not performed in front of a live audience, but rather recorded live in a studio once the tour had been completed, with applause dubbed-in during post-production. There was also some Super 8 footage taken by Mitchell on the road. It has since been released on DVD.

Mitchell claimed that her inspiration for the album came from hearing the music of popular bands such as Steely Dan, Talking Heads and The Police at a discothèque during a trip to the Caribbean in 1981. She said that hearing The Police, especially, affected her sound, saying, "their rhythmic hybrids, and the positioning of the drums, and the sound of the drums, was one of the main calls out to me to make a more rhythmic album".[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Joni Mitchell, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Chinese Café / Unchained Melody"Joni Mitchell / Alex North, Hy Zaret5:17
2."Wild Things Run Fast" 2:12
3."Ladies' Man" 2:37
4."Moon at the Window" 3:42
5."Solid Love" 2:57
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Be Cool" 4:12
2."(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care"Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller2:36
3."You Dream Flat Tires" 2:50
4."Man to Man" 3:42
5."Underneath the Streetlight" 2:14
6."Love" 3:46

Personnel

Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.

Technical personnel

  • Joni Mitchell – production, mixing
  • Larry Klein – mixing
  • Henry Lewy – engineering at A&M
  • Skip Cottrell – engineering at A&M
  • Clyde Kaplan – assistant engineering at A&M
  • Jerry Hudgins – engineering at Devonshire Sound
  • Larry Hirsch – mixing
  • Chase Williams – assistant mixing
  • John Golden – vinyl mastering
  • Lee Herschberg – CD mastering

Charts

Chart performance for Wild Things Run Fast
Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[6] 51
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[7] 33
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[8] 10
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[9] 14
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[10] 50
UK Albums (OCC)[11] 32
US Billboard 200[12] 25

References

  1. Ruhlmann, Robert (2011). "Wild Things Run Fast – Joni Mitchell | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  2. Robert Christgau review
  3. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Mitchell, Joni". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  4. Rolling Stone review
  5. JoniMitchell.com – Biography (1981–1984 A Solid Love)
  6. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6179a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  8. "Charts.nz – Joni Mitchell – Wild Things Run Fast". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  9. "Norwegiancharts.com – Joni Mitchell – Wild Things Run Fast". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  10. "Swedishcharts.com – Joni Mitchell – Wild Things Run Fast". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  11. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  12. "Joni Mitchell Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
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