Take Me Home (album Cher)

After four failed releases on Warner Bros. Records contract Cher with this label was completed in 1978 year. Shortly thereafter, she concludes a new contract with the label Casablanca Records , which recorded the disco queen Donna Summer .

Take Me Home was her first album on the new label. The album was produced by Bob Esty and Ron Dante , and most of the songs were written by Michele Aller and Bob Esty. The album noted the short appearance of Cher in disco music. Later, Cher noted that she was under strong pressure when recording a disc in this genre. Scher included in the album the ballad “My Song (Too Far Gone)” written by her about the unsuccessful marriage with Gregg Allman. The album is dedicated to "Butterfly".

The album’s good sales were probably contributed to by its scandalous cover, on which almost nude Cher poses in a Viking costume. Take Me Home also became her first CD, for which three remixes were recorded: Take Me Home "(12" Mix), "Wasn't it Good" (12 "Mix) and" Git Down (Guitar Grupie) "(12" Mix), later presented on the single " Hell on Wheels ". Gene Symons , her boyfriend at the time, participated in the recording of the song "Git Down (Guitar Grupie)".

Take Me Home was released on CD along with her second album on Casablanca Records under the title The Casablanca Years in 1993 and reissued in 1996 with a different cover.

The first single from the album Take Me Home was released the same song. The single became her first top 10 single in the last 5 years, after Dark Lady, and the last in the top 10 before 1987. The song took 8th place on the Billboard Hot 100 , 21st on the Hot Soul Singles chart and 2nd on the Hot Dance Club Play . The song also reached the top 10 in the charts of Canada and Norway. In 1979, Cher received a gold certification for an album with sales of more than 500 thousand copies and certification for a single with sales of more than 1 million copies. A video was shot for the song, it was shown in the show “Cher ... and Other Fantasies”. Cher also sang a song on The Mike Douglas Show along with other tracks from the album: “Love & Pain” and “Happy Was the Day We Met”.

The song "Wasn't It Good" was chosen as the second single. The song was officially released in the US, but in other countries, including Canada and the UK, the song was released only as a promo. The song entered Billboard Hot 100 , but had a rather modest success, reaching the peak position No. 49. Unlike the previous single “Take Me Home”, which reached the 2nd line in Hot Dance Club Play , “Wasn't It Good” was released as a single in clubs. Remixes for the song do exist, some were released on a 12-inch single, one of them can be found on various compilations of the 90s.

The third single was “It's too Late (to Love Me Now)” - a cover version of the song Charly McClain . The song was published on 7- and 12-inch format and still remains the only single Cher for country radio. However, “It's too Late (to Love Me Now)” had little success on the Hot Country Singles chart, where the song hit the 87th place. The single was one of the last releases of the decade on Casablanca Records .

Despite the fact that both “Wasn't It Good” and “It's Too Late (To Love Me Now)” were released as official singles from the album, music videos were not made for them. Instead, the videos for “Take Me Home” and “Love & Pain” were released, which were presented at the successful show “Cher ... and Other Fantasies”.

As part of the album's promo campaign, Cher went on a take-me-home tour. The first show of the tour took place on July 9th, 1979 in Las Vegas, it was produced by Joe Layton, who previously worked with Bette Midler and Diana Ross . It was her first world tour as a solo artist. As part of the tour she visited North America, Europe and Australia. The concert was filmed on May 10, 1980 in Monte Carlo and later in 1981 in Las Vegas for a TV broadcast.

Cher had three backing vocalists, six dancers, two transvestites as Bette Midler and Dayana Ross . A mechanical bull and twelve different costumes were used. Cher herself described the concert as "a mix of Sonny & Cher , cabaret, disco and rock and roll." The concerts included various elements of her own shows, The Cher Show , Cher ... Special and Cher ... and others Fantasies . During Cher's dressing, transvestites Kenny Sacha (like Bette Midler ) and JC Gaynor (like Diana Ross ) performed on the songs "In the Mood" and "I'm Coming Out", respectively. At the end of the number, Cher went out to them and they sang “Friends” together.

• Cher - vocals , author
• Bob Esty - Music Producer , Author
• Ron Dante - Music Producer
• John Haney - Recording and Mixing
• Larry Emerin - Engineer
• Richard Bowles - Engineer
• Jay Graydon - Guitar
• Gene Simmons - Backing Vocals
• Janice Solid - project coordinator
• Barry Levin photo