Wild Things Run Fast

Wild Things Run Fast
Studio album by Joni Mitchell
Released	October 1982
Recorded	1981-1982
Genre	Folk jazz, Pop/Rock
Length	36:05
Label	Geffen
Producer	Joni Mitchell
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B) link Rolling Stone link
Joni Mitchell chronology
Shadows and Light (1980) Wild Things Run Fast (1982) Dog Eat Dog (1985)

Wild Things Run Fast is Joni Mitchell's eleventh studio and her first for Geffen Records. Released in 1982, it represents her departure from jazz to a more 80s pop sound.

The resulting world tour took Mitchell through the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia. A video of the tour was released in 1983, entitled Refuge of the Roads, which has since been released on DVD.

Mitchell claimed that her inspiration for the album came from hearing the music of popular bands such as Steely Dan, Talking Heads and The Police at a discotheque during a trip to the Caribbean in 1981. She said that hearing The Police, especially, affected her sound, saying, "their rhythmic hybrids, and the positioning of the drums, and the sound of the drums, was one of the main calls out to me to make a more rhythmic album".^[1]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Joni Mitchell; except where indicated

1. "Chinese Café/Unchained Melody" – 5:17 (Mitchell, Alex North, Hy Zaret)
2. "Wild Things Run Fast" – 2:12
3. "Ladies' Man" – 2:37
4. "Moon at the Window" – 3:42
5. "Solid Love" – 2:57
6. "Be Cool" – 4:12
7. "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care" – 2:36 (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller)
8. "You Dream Flat Tires" – 2:50
9. "Man to Man" – 3:42
10. "Underneath the Streetlight" – 2:14
11. "Love" – 3:46

Personnel

• Joni Mitchell - vocals, acoustic guitar, piano
• Larry Klein - bass
• Michael Landau - guitar
• Steve Lukather - guitar
• John Guerin - drums
• Vinnie Colaiuta - drums
• Larry Williams - Prophet synthesizer, tenor saxophone
• Russell Ferrante - Oberheim synthesizer
• Wayne Shorter - soprano saxophone
• Larry Carlton - guitar on "Ladies' Man"
• Victor Feldman - percussion on "Man to Man"
• Kim Hutchcroft - tenor saxophone on "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care"
• Lionel Ritchie, James Taylor, Charles Valentino, Howard Kinney, John Guerin, Joni Mitchell, Kenny Rankin, Robert De La Garza, Skip Cottrell - backing vocals

References