Red Hot + Blue

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For other uses, see Red, Hot and Blue (disambiguation).
Red Hot + Blue
Compilation album by
various artists
ReleasedSeptember 25, 1990
Genre
Length77:03
LabelChrysalis
Producer
Red Hot Benefit series chronology
Red Hot + Blue
(1990) 		Red Hot + Dance
(1992)
Alternative cover
2006 CD/DVD re-issue
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Calgary HeraldA[2]
NME5/10[3]
Orlando Sentinel[4]
Record Mirror[5]
The Vancouver Sun[6]

Red Hot + Blue is the first compilation album from the Red Hot Organization in the Red Hot Benefit Series. It features contemporary pop performers reinterpreting several songs of Cole Porter, and the title of the album originates from Cole Porter's musical Red, Hot and Blue.[7]

Released in September 1990, the album sold over a million copies worldwide, raised nearly $1m for the activist group ACT UP, and was heralded as one of the first major AIDS benefits in the music business.[8] The accompanying ABC television special featured music videos for the songs.[7] The clips portrayed the societal effects of AIDS.

In 2006 Red Hot + Blue was re-issued as a two-disc set including the original CD remastered, and a DVD of the video collection. In 2023, Bloomsbury Publishing announced that John S. Garrison would be writing a volume on Red Hot + Blue for its newest round of books in their 33⅓ book series.[9]

Singles and promotion[edit]

Besides the television special, some of the songs were promoted as singles. Neneh Cherry's reworked version of "I've Got You Under My Skin" was released as the lead single for the album in the UK and Europe and reached No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart.[10] "Well, Did You Evah!" by Deborah Harry and Iggy Pop received a commercial release in Europe and Australia and reached No. 42 on the UK Singles Chart,[11] No. 18 in Ireland[12] and No. 106 in Australia.[13]

Although no singles were released from the album in the United States, the song "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", covered in a techno style by Thompson Twins, received regular airplay on San Francisco's Live 105 (KITS). This was one of the two songs not to have a video counterpart. U2's cover of "Night and Day" reached No. 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart,[14] and presaged the electronic sound the band would explore on Achtung Baby the following year.

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Cole Porter

No.TitleVideo directed byLength
1."I've Got You Under My Skin" (performed by Neneh Cherry)Jean-Baptiste Mondino4:28
2."In the Still of the Night" (performed by The Neville Brothers)Jonathan Demme5:18
3."You Do Something to Me" (performed by Sinéad O'Connor)John Maybury2:34
4."Begin the Beguine" (performed by Salif Keita)Zak Ove3:22
5."Love for Sale" (performed by Fine Young Cannibals) 2:49
6."Well, Did You Evah!" (performed by Deborah Harry + Iggy Pop)Alex Cox3:28
7."Miss Otis Regrets / Just One of Those Things" (performed by The Pogues + Kirsty MacColl)Neil Jordan4:40
8."Don't Fence Me In" (performed by David Byrne)David Byrne3:09
9."It's All Right with Me" (performed by Tom Waits)Jim Jarmusch4:40
10."Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" (performed by Annie Lennox)Ed Lachman3:55
11."Night + Day" (performed by U2)Wim Wenders5:21
12."I Love Paris" (performed by Les Négresses Vertes)Roger Pomphrey3:13
13."So in Love" (performed by k.d. lang)Percy Adlon4:41
14."Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" (performed by Thompson Twins) 3:18
15."Too Darn Hot" (performed by Erasure)Adelle Lutz + Sandy McLeod3:40
16."I Get a Kick Out of You" (performed by Jungle Brothers)Mark Pellington2:52
17."Down in the Depths" (performed by Lisa Stansfield)Phillippe Gautier4:27
18."From This Moment On" (performed by Jimmy Somerville)Steve McLean3:18
19."After You, Who?" (performed by Jody Watley)Matthew Rolston3:10
20."Do I Love You?" (performed by Aztec Camera)John Scarlett-Davies4:40
Total length:60:17

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute To Cole Porter". AllMusic.
  2. ^ Mayes, Alison (9 December 1990). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald.
  3. ^ Martin, Gavin (20 October 1990). "Long Play". NME. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  4. ^ Gettelman, Parry (7 December 1990). "Various Artists". Orlando Sentinel.
  5. ^ Nicholson, Tim (27 October 1990). "Albums". Record Mirror. p. 16. ISSN 0144-5804.
  6. ^ Mackie, John (3 January 1991). "Rock/Pop". The Vancouver Sun.
  7. ^ a b Holden, Stephen (October 21, 1990). "POP VIEW; Why Cole Porter Prevails – Be It Pop, Rock or Even Rap". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Farber, Jim (February 25, 2020). "POP VIEW; Red Hot at 30: how compilations used big music stars to combat Aids". The Guardian.
  9. ^ 333admin (27 January 2023). "Announcing the newest 33 1/3s". 333Sound. Bloomsbury Press. Retrieved 28 January 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "I've Got You Under My Skin". Official Charts. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Well, Did You Evah!". Official Charts. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  12. ^ "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for 'Harry' (from irishcharts.ie)". Fireball Media. Retrieved October 28, 2019 – via Imgur.com.
  13. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 125.
  14. ^ "Night And Day Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
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