Big Thing is the only album by Lisa Stansfield's band, Blue Zone. It was released by Arista Records in June 1988. The songs were written by Blue Zone members: Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, and produced by Paul Staveley O'Duffy. The album also includes one cover, "Jackie," co-produced by Ric Wake. Big Thing spawned three singles: "On Fire," "Thinking About His Baby" and "Jackie." A remastered and expanded deluxe 2-CD set was released in the United Kingdom on 18 November 2016; it was the album's first release in the band's native country.
Background Blue Zone was formed in 1984 and consisted of Lisa Stansfield on vocals, and Ian Devaney and Andy Morris on instruments. In 1986, the trio released their first two singles: "Love Will Wait" and "Finest Thing." In 1987, they started working on their first album which was released in November 1988 but did not include "Love Will Wait" and "Finest Thing." The record company postponed the album many times and finally released it in Europe, North America and Australia in November 1988 and in Japan in early 1989. However, the album wasn't released in the United Kingdom until the 2016 deluxe edition.
Content The album includes eleven songs (ten on the US edition) written by Lisa Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, except for "Jackie" written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. "Jackie" was originally recorded by Elisa Fiorillo in 1987 for the Summer School soundtrack. The album was produced by Paul Staveley O'Duffy, except for "Perfect Crime" produced by Blue Zone. Ric Wake co-produced "Jackie" and "Perfect Crime." The US edition contains the full intro of "Perfect Crime," which was cut on other versions of the album.
Singles The first single from the album, "On Fire" was released on 26 October 1987 and peaked at number ninety-nine in the United Kingdom. The second single, "Thinking About His Baby" was issued on 25 January 1988 and reached number seventy-nine in the UK. On 26 July 1988, "Jackie" was released as a single in the United States and peaked at number fifty-four on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number thirty-seven on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
Track listing
Credits and personnel
Nat Augustin – backing vocals Jocelyn Brown – backing vocals Tim Cansfield – guitar Ian Devaney – trombone, keyboards, guitar, backing vocals Lance Ellington – backing vocals Brandon Fields – saxophone Big George – bass Gary Grant – trumpet Jerry Hey – trumpet Dan Higgins – saxophone Kim Hutchcroft – saxophone Luís Jardim – percussion Dee Lewis – backing vocals Shirley Lewis – backing vocals Charlie Loper – trombone Dolette McDonald – backing vocals Andy Morris – trumpet, flugelhorn, keyboards, backing vocals Tessa Niles – backing vocals Paul Staveley O'Duffy – producer Phil Palmer – guitar Tom Peterson – saxophone Martyn Phillips – programming Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone Frank Ricotti – percussion Kevin Whitehead – drums Chris Whitten – drums Marcus Williams – bass Paul Wickens – keyboards
Release history Region Date Label Format Catalog Europe 1988 Arista LP 209 229 CD 259 229 United States LP AL-8552 CD ARCD-8552 Australia LP VPL1 7637 Japan 1989 CD A32D-75
References