Prisoner

Prisoner (originally called Mirror Image ) became Cher's second album in 1979 and was released nine months after Take Me Home .

Prisoner was Cher's latest album, produced by Bob Estee, who, along with Michelle Aller, wrote several songs for the album. Compared to the Take Me Home disco album, Prisoner also displayed the sound of new wave . It was also the first time Cher released an album with songs written specifically for her.

The producer in his interests wanted to use the image of Cher and the increased media attention to her. On the cover of Cher's album is nude, only her hair covers her breasts. Chains and a metal collar around her neck are draped over her. Her wrists and ankles are also chained. The cover was condemned by some women's rights organizations, which perceived it as an image of a “sexual slave.”

The album was originally titled Mirror Image , pointing to Cher's famous style and the disco style she found. Since Cher didn’t want to record such music (she wanted to record something in rock style), she refused the many songs offered to her and added songs close to her to the album. So, the pop-rock song “Boys & Girls” was included in the album exactly Cher. Since almost nothing was left of the original idea by the time the album was released, the name was changed to Prisoner .

Prisoner was released on CD along with the first Casablanca Records Take Me Home album, entitled The Casablanca Years .

The only single from the album was the song "Hell on Wheels", written by Bob Esty and Michele Aller. According to Randy Taborelli's book, the song was recorded since Cher was a big fan of the videos. The single’s bi-site was the song “Git Down (Guitar Groupie)” from the album Take Me Home , both songs are presented in 12-inch versions that have not yet been released on CD. In 1979, the song was also included on the Roller Boogie soundtrack. In this regard, the single was re-released in Japan with a new design, and the song “Theme from Roller Boogie” became the bi-side. Despite the world release, the song did not succeed, reaching only 59th place on the Billboard Hot 100 . The song was greeted by mixed ratings of critics, but many noted that this is the best track on the Prisoner album.

To promote the new single, Casablanca Records made a short film, which also became Cher's first music video. The shooting of the videos was very difficult for her, because she had to ride roller skates all day on steep and mountainous roads, despite the fact that her arm was broken. In the video, Cher skates away from the truck that is chasing her. She convinces a lot of people with various vehicles to follow her. “Hell on Wheels” became the singer’s first professional video. Many see Take Me Home as her first professional video, but the clip was cut from her successful show Cher ... and Other Fantasies. Hell on Wheels was one of the first MTV -style music videos (even before MTV itself existed) and one of the first modern music videos in the world. The premiere of the video took place at night on the NBC channel in the show "The Midnight Special". Despite the fact that this is her first video, Cher never included it in the collections of her video clips.

The rare Holdin 'Out For Love promo single has also been released in Japan.

As part of the album’s promotional campaign, Cher performed at the American TV show with the songs “Shoppin '” and “Holdin' Out For Love”. She also shot her exclusive Cher ... and Other Fantasies show with sketches that featured unreleased songs from the album: Like a Number, the new version of More than You Know, and the song Ain't Nobody's Business, later performed at Take Me Home Tour .

• Cher - vocals
• Bob Estee - music producer , author , piano, synthesizer, backing vocals
• Richard T. - Organ
• Jeff Porcaro - Drums
• Kim Hudcroft - flute and saxophone
• John Pierce - bass player
• David Williams robbie Krieger steve Lucater - guitar
• Tom Snow - keyboards
• David Pinech - Piano
• John Hobbs - piano, organ
• Victor Fieldman - Timpani, Tambourine
• Paulinho Da Costa - drums
• Michelle Aller - author, backing vocals
• Gary Langon - photo