Black Rose (Black Rose album)

Black Rose is the lone album by the rock band Black Rose, whose lead singer was American singer-actress Cher. The album was released on August 21, 1980, by Casablanca Records, her final project on the label. Unlike Cher's previous solo records (such as Take Me Home), the album was a commercial failure. It failed to chart and has sold only 400,000 copies worldwide.

Album information
In 1980, Cher and her part-time boyfriend Les Dudek wanted to form a band called Black Rose.

The band, before signing a contract with Casablanca Records, was an independent rock band that played in small clubs around Los Angeles and tried to make it without trading on Cher's celebrity. Besides Cher, the other band members were Les Dudek, Gary Ferguson, Michael Finnigan, Warren Ham, Rocket Ritchotte and Trey Thompson.

Black Rose, the last of Cher's albums released by the Casablanca Records, was produced by James Newton Howard. Her name never appeared on the album cover and Cher's face was only seen in a band photo on the back cover.

The album is Cher's first album with a rock sound, that would characterize her future Geffen-era albums. The album was a flop and Cher fans were unaware of the project. After the failure of the album, the band broke up the following year.

In Germany, Spectrum Records re-released the Black Rose album, completely intact, for the first time on a CD. It was packaged with a photo of Cher singing in concert and marketed as a Cher album, instead of as a Black Rose album.

In August 2020, a remastered version was released on Rock Candy Records for the album's 40th anniversary. It was remastered by Jon Astley.

Unreleased songs and second untitled album
Two unreleased songs appear to have been recorded at Westlake Audio Studios in early March of 1980. The first one, "Ain’t Got No Money", was a song they performed live in their mini-tour. The other song, "James Tune", has no other information about it, and might be instrumental.

There were rumors about a subsequent album, recorded during 1980 and 1981, which would have contained some songs sung live in their mini-tour, "The Black Rose Show", such as the before mentioned "Ain’t Got No Money" and "Dirty Old Man" (a cover of 'Twas Brilling), but the project was cancelled. "Don't Trust That Woman" written by Cher and Les Dudek, was written for the album but was dumped. Dudek recorded the song for his album, and a song with the same lyrics was later recorded by Elton John.

Promotion
The album was promoted on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and the band performed "Never Should've Started" and "Julie" but both lip-synched. The album was also promoted at the Midnight Special with four performances: "Never Should've Started", "Julie", "You Know It" and the Frankie Miller cover "Ain't Got No Money" all the songs were sung live. Videos of the performance have been available on YouTube since March 2009. The album was also promoted on The Merv Griffin Show.

The Black Rose Show
To support the album and to lift sales in 1980, the Black Rose band and Cher did a mini tour called The Black Rose Show performed only in North America. The setlist for the show contained: "Never Should've Started", "Julie", "You Know It", "Ain't Got No Money", a little band introduction, and "Dirty Old Man". For six East Coast concert dates, Black Rose was the opening act for Hall & Oates. The costumes for the show were designed by Bob Mackie. The band performed in Pennsylvania, Central Park, Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel Township and elsewhere.

Set list

 * 1) "Intro"
 * 2) "Never Should Have Started"
 * 3) "Julie"
 * 4) "Take it from the Boys"
 * 5) "88 Degrees"
 * 6) "Déjà Vu (Da Voodoo's In You)"
 * 7) "Fast Company"
 * 8) "Ain't Got No Money"

Source:

Critical reception
The reviews were mixed, many critics questioning Cher's credibility and drawing comparisons to other New Wave rock groups, particularly Blondie. Billboard magazine said that "[...] it shapes a New Wave style that fits the midtempo rock mode with which the main group members are associated" and about Cher "especially well done though Cher's vocals are emotional and full of life on the entire disk". People magazine said that "Cher's quivering, over-mannered vocals on this LP need all the help they can get, and she gets more than she deserves" and "This album could be vastly improved, rerecorded by the Group with No Singer".

Personnel

 * Cher - lead vocals
 * Les Dudek - guitars, vocals
 * Ron "Rocket" Ritchotte - guitars, background vocals
 * Phil Brown - additional guitar on "88 Degrees"
 * Mike Finnigan - keyboards, background vocals
 * James Newton Howard - record producer, synthesizer, keyboards
 * Michael Boddicker - synthesizer, keyboards
 * Steve Porcaro - synthesizer, keyboards
 * David Paich - keyboards, background vocals
 * Trey Thompson - bass
 * Gary Ferguson - drums
 * Max Gronenthal - background vocals
 * Warren Ham - background vocals


 * John Townsend - background vocals
 * Anne Streer - production coordinator
 * Mick Mizausky - engineer
 * Tom Knox - engineer
 * Dana Latham - engineer
 * Bob Schaper - engineer
 * Skip Sailor - engineer assistance
 * Gene Meros - engineer assistance
 * Terry Christian - engineer assistance
 * Bill Schnee - mixing
 * Mike Reese - mastering
 * Kosh - art direction, design
 * Aaron Rapoport - photography