Walk Under Ladders is the seventh studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released on 4 September 1981 by A&M Records. The album peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. The album peaked at No. 16 in Australia.[5] Two minor hits from the album both fell just short of cracking the UK Top 40: "I'm Lucky", which peaked at No. 46, and "No Love", which peaked at No. 50.[6]

Walk Under Ladders
Studio album by
Released4 September 1981 (1981-09-04)[1]
RecordedJuly 1981
StudioThe Town House (London)
Genre
Length35:16
LabelA&M
ProducerSteve Lillywhite
Joan Armatrading chronology
Me Myself I
(1980)
Walk Under Ladders
(1981)
The Key
(1983)
Singles from Walk Under Ladders
  1. "I'm Lucky"
    Released: August 1981
  2. "When I Get It Right"
    Released: October 1981
  3. "No Love"
    Released: January 1982
  4. "I Wanna Hold You"
    Released: February 1982
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Record GuideB−[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]

Background

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The album was produced by Steve Lillywhite. Five tracks from the album were released as singles; "I'm Lucky", "When I Get It Right", "No Love", "I Wanna Hold You" and "The Weakness in Me". Thomas Dolby plays most of the synthesizer parts on the album and Andy Partridge of XTC provides guitar on two tracks from the album.

The album was reissued by Cherry Pop in 2010 featuring three bonus tracks.

Track listing

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All tracks composed by Joan Armatrading.

Side one

  1. "I'm Lucky" – 3:05
  2. "When I Get It Right" – 3:03
  3. "Romancers" – 3:48
  4. "I Wanna Hold You" – 3:46
  5. "The Weakness in Me" – 3:33

Side two

  1. "No Love" – 3:58
  2. "At the Hop" – 3:26
  3. "I Can't Lie to Myself" – 3:23
  4. "Eating the Bear" – 2:59
  5. "Only One" – 4:15

Bonus tracks on the 2010 reissue

  1. "Shine" – 3:48
  2. "Dollars" – 3:28
  3. "Crying" – 3:23

Personnel

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Credits are adapted from the Walk Under Ladders liner notes.[7]

Production and artwork

  • Steve Lillywhite – producer
  • Steve Brown – engineer
  • George Chambers – assistant engineer
  • Michael Ross – art direction
  • Michael Ross – cover design
  • Simon Ryan – cover design
  • Tony McGee – front cover; inner sleeve photography
  • Graham Hughes – back cover; inner sleeve portrait

Sales and certifications

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Certifications for Walk Under Ladders
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Netherlands (NVPI)[8] Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "Releases". Record Mirror: 29. 15 August 1981. Retrieved 3 March 2021 – via flickr.com.
  2. ^ a b Ruhlmann, William. "Joan Armatrading – Walk Under Ladders". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "A". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 16 August 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  4. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.
  5. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 19. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. ^ "Official Charts: Joan Armatrading". Official Charts.com. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  7. ^ Walk Under Ladders (CD booklet). Joan Armatrading. A&M Records. 1981.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Joan Armatrading – Walk Under Ladders" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 16 July 2022. Enter Walk Under Ladders in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1984 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
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