Chicago 17
Chicago 17 is the fourteenth studio album by American band Chicago, released on May 14, 1984. It was the group's second release for Full Moon/Warner Bros. Records, their second album to be produced by David Foster and their last with founding bassist/vocalist Peter Cetera.
Four singles were released from the album, all of which placed in the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The success of the singles propelled Chicago 17 to achieve an RIAA certification of six times platinum. Chicago 17 remains the biggest-selling album in the band's history.
In 1985 the album received three Grammy Awards. David Foster won for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, Humberto Gatica won for Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical, and David Foster and Jeremy Lubbock won for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal for "Hard Habit to Break" which was also nominated for Record of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals and Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices. In his review of the album for AllMusic, music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine says Chicago 17 is "the pinnacle of craft and one of the best adult contemporary records of the '80s," and one of the most influential albums "within its style."
In 2006, Rhino Entertainment remastered and reissued the album, using the original analog versions of "Please Hold On" and "Prima Donna" and adding a Robert Lamm demo, "Here Is Where We Begin" as a bonus track.
Artwork, packaging
In keeping with the majority of their albums up to that time, the traditional "Chicago" logo, designed by John Berg and Nick Fasciano, is the main feature of the album cover of the vinyl LP record and the cover does not feature any photos of individuals in the group. In a 2020 article for Muse by Clio, it was listed among "9 Great Album Covers, Chosen by Gregory Sylvester." Sylvester describes the cover as, "... an illusion of a package within a package... brown kraft paper, twine and a faux red stamp." The vinyl LP album cover looks like a package wrapped in brown paper tied with twine and secured with tape. On the front, the "Chicago" logo appears to be in bas-relief, covered by the wrapping paper. The number "17," in Arabic numerals rather than the Roman numerals used by the group formerly, appears to be stamped on the wrapping paper below the logo. In the upper left-hand quadrant of the cover back, a pink "receipt form" is depicted, tucked underneath the "twine," with the "Chicago" logo stamped on it near the top in purple ink and, below the logo, a "DESCRIPTION OF PACKAGE" lists the tracks on side one and side two. The bottom of the "receipt form" shows production and engineering credits and the Warner Bros. logo "stamped" on the slip. On the inner dust sleeve, a large group photo of the band appears on one side: Lee Loughnane, Bill Champlin, James Pankow, Walt Parazaider, Robert Lamm, Danny Seraphine, Peter Cetera. The reverse side of the dust sleeve gives track listings, song lyrics, and song and album credits, including credits for artwork and packaging: Art Direction/Design, Simon Levy; Album Cover Art, Larry Vigon; Photography, Harry Langdon, James Goble.Track listing
For tracks one through ten: track titles, track order, side, writers and lengths from.Some songs were recorded during the Chicago 17 sessions but not released. "Good for Nothing" was later released on the We Are the World superstar charity album in 1985. This is the last released Chicago song to feature Peter Cetera on vocals.
A song called "Sweet Marie" that was supposed to be released on the Chicago 17 album has been performed by the Norwegian band called TOBB. Bill Champlin offered this song to perform with the band. It was released on May 14, 2014 by the band, the 30th anniversary of the Chicago 17 album that was released on May 14, 1984. It was performed by Chicago on rare occasions back in 1984, and has surfaced online from VHS recordings of some of their performances.
A subsequent international release in 2010 has the original album restored, with additional bonus tracks of the alternate versions of "Only You," "You're the Inspiration," and "Prima Donna" as well as "Here Is Where We Begin." There also exists a demo version of "Hard Habit to Break".
Personnel
All information in this section from except as noted.- Peter Cetera – bass guitar on "Stay the Night"; lead and background vocals, arrangements on "Stay the Night", "Along Comes a Woman", "You're the Inspiration", and "Prima Donna"; vocal arrangements on "Remember the Feeling"
- Bill Champlin – guitars, keyboards, lead and background vocals, vocal arrangements on "Only You"
- Robert Lamm – keyboards, lead and background vocals, arrangements on "We Can Stop the Hurtin'", vocal arrangements on "Only You"
- Lee Loughnane – trumpet
- James Pankow – trombone, horn arrangements, arrangements on "Once In a Lifetime"
- Walter Parazaider – woodwinds
- Chris Pinnick – guitar
- Danny Seraphine – drums
- Jeff Porcaro – drums on "Stay the Night"
- Carlos Vega – drums on "You're the Inspiration"
- Michael Landau – guitar
- Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar
- Mark Goldenberg – guitar, additional arrangements on "Along Comes a Woman" and "Prima Donna"
- Paulinho da Costa – percussion
- David Foster – keyboards, synthesizer programming, synth basses on all tracks, additional arrangements
- John Van Tongeren – synthesizer programming
- Erich Bulling – synthesizer programming
- Marcus Ryle – synthesizer programming
- Gary Grant – trumpet
- Greg Adams – trumpet
- Kenny Cetera – background vocals on "Stay the Night", "Prima Donna", "You're the Inspiration", and "Along Comes a Woman"
- Donny Osmond – background vocals on "We Can Stop the Hurtin
- Richard Marx – background vocals on "We Can Stop the Hurtin
- David Pack – duet vocals on "Here Is Where We Begin"
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart | Peak position |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 4 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 25 |
| UK Albums Chart | 24 |