Red Hot Rhythm and Blues is the seventeenth studio album by American R&B singer Diana Ross, released on May 8, 1987, by RCA Records and EMI Records. It was Ross' last of six albums released by the label during the decade. It was produced by veteran Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd with one track contributed by Luther Vandross.
Overview
The album charted in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, as well as reaching the Top 20 in Sweden and Norway. It was Ross's final album for RCA Records, after a six-year stint with the label since Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1981). In the US, the album peaked at No. 73 on the Billboard 200.
The album included "Dirty Looks" (US R&B No. 12, UK No. 49), originally recorded by Motown outfit Warp 9, and the retro-flavoured "Shockwaves" which was released as a Shep Pettibone remix in the UK and peaked at No. 76.
A number of major contemporary songwriters contributed new songs to the project including Luther Vandross who also produced "It's Hard for Me to Say" (and later cut the track for his 1996 album Your Secret Love). It also included the first recording of Leonard Cohen's "Summertime" as well as Mick Hucknall's "Shine" (also released on Simply Red's concurrent album Men and Women).
The tracks "Mr. Lee" and "Tell Mama" were not included on the US version of the album and the mix of "Dirty Looks" on the UK version differs from the mix on the US version.
The album was remastered and re-released in September 2014 by Funky Town Grooves, as an "Expanded Edition" with bonus material on a second CD.[2] This reissue was licensed from RCA, which owns rights to the album in the U.S. and Canada and is available in these countries (plus, through imports from Solid Records, also in Japan, even when actually Warner Music owns rights here[3]).
