Belinda (Belinda Carlisle album)

Belinda is the debut studio album by American singer Belinda Carlisle. It was released on May 19, 1986 by I.R.S. Records. Carlisle began work on the album in 1985 following the breakup of the Go-Go's, for whom she was the lead singer. The album was supported by four singles, with lead single "Mad About You" peaking at number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in Canada.

Composition
Some of the songs on Belinda were written by Carlisle's former bandmates in the Go-Go's Charlotte Caffey and Paula Jean Brown while the rest of the tracks were written by other songwriters such as the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs. Carlisle has a single co-writing credit on one track ("Gotta Get to You").

"Band of Gold" was a hit song for Freda Payne in 1970, which Carlisle covered for this album. Although Payne herself does not appear on the album version of the track, John Luongo overdubbed and remixed the track for a single release, which included prominent backing vocals by Payne. The 7-inch single was only issued in Canada (where it hit No. 91 on the charts), but Payne's vocals were also heard on the dance mixes of Carlisle's version of the song, which were issued on a 12-inch single in the US. The various "Band of Gold" remixes would later appear as bonus tracks on the 2003 re-release of the album.

"I Need a Disguise" was written by the team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, who co-wrote the song with Susanna Hoffs, as it was originally intended for use by the Bangles. Kelly and Steinberg also co-wrote another song for Carlisle called "Dancing in the City", which she would eventually record and would later appear on the soundtrack for the 1987 movie Burglar. "Stuff and Nonsense" is a cover of Tim Finn's song originally performed by his band Split Enz on their 1979 album Frenzy. The song "Shot in the Dark" appeared on the soundtrack for the film Out of Bounds (1986).

Commercial
The album was successful in North America, peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 and at number 24 on the Canadian Albums chart. It was moderately successful in Australia, where it peaked at number 42 and charted for 12 weeks. Belinda was certified Gold in the US and Platinum in Canada, selling over one million copies worldwide.

Critical
Upon release, Belinda was met with mixed reviews from critics. Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone wrote, "The problem with Belinda is that all the ingredients are there, but the end result just doesn't feel right." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic commented retrospectively that "The pop on Belinda may not be as infectious as the Go-Go's' finest singles, yet it fit in well with the slick formats of mid-'80s radio and managed to be more memorable than many of the mainstream hits of the time, as the ingratiating hit "Mad About You" proves."

Personnel
Musicians


 * Belinda Carlisle – lead vocals, background vocals
 * Paul Leim – drums
 * Paula Brown – bass, background vocals
 * Dennis Belfield – bass
 * Charlotte Caffey – guitar, background vocals
 * Laurence Juber – guitar
 * Andy Taylor – guitar
 * David Lindley – guitar
 * Phil Shenale – keyboards, synths
 * Bobby Martin – keyboards, synths, saxophone (6)
 * Michael Lloyd – keyboards, synths
 * Claude Gaudette – keyboards, synths
 * Nicky Hopkins – keyboards, synths
 * Jim Cox – keyboards, synths
 * Paulinho da Costa – percussion
 * John Rosenberg – trumpet (10)
 * Susanna Hoffs – background vocals
 * Tom Kelly – background vocals
 * Billy Steinberg – background vocals
 * Jane Wiedlin – background vocals
 * The Waters (Maxine Waters Willard and Julia Waters Tillman) – background vocals
 * Elisa Fior – background vocals

Technical
 * Michael Lloyd – producer, arranger
 * Carmine Rubino – engineer
 * Nathan Lam – associate producer
 * Dan Nebenzal – assistant engineer
 * William Orbit – remixer, engineer
 * Tania Hayward – assistant engineer
 * Belinda Carlisle – art direction
 * Carl Grasso – art direction
 * Matthew Rolston – cover photo
 * Bradford Bramson – sleeve photos
 * John D'Andrea – string arrangements (3, 6, 10)
 * Don Griffin – musical instruments (3, 6, 10)
 * Sid Sharp – string direction (3, 6, 10)
 * Robert Feist – additional vocal production
 * Ellen Shipley – additional vocal production