Living My Life (CD - 1982)

Personnel: Grace Jones (vocals); Barry "White" Reynolds, Mikey "Mao" Chung (guitar); Wally Badarou (keyboards); Robbie Shakespeare (bass); Sly Dumbar (drums); Uzziah "Sticky" Thompson (percussion) .

Recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas.

One of Jones' best post-disco albums, recorded in Nassau, Bahamas, with a truly remarkable studio band, including the legendary reggae rhythm team of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, along with Marianne Faithful collaborator Barry Reynolds on guitar (who co-wrote most of the songs here with Jones herself). The songs are generally arranged in an innovative, ahead-of-their-time way (echoey yet spare, with lots of deep bass) that owes a bit to dub and in any case provides a perfect backdrop for Jones' Queen of the Undead vocals. Highlights include "Everybody Hold Still," a funny litany of urban horrors that's as close to straight rock as Jones ever gets) and a satisfyingly funky cover of Melvin Van Peeble's proto-rap "The Apple Stretching." minimize