CoronaVinyl Day 369 (J): Heartbeat by Don Johnson

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "J," and I went with Don Johnson's 1986 debut album, Heartbeat.

The Decade of Decadence was a time when Hollywood actors decided they needed to record some music, and many of them had pretty big results on the Billboard Hot 100.  Eddie Murphy had a #2 hit in 1985 with "Party All the Time" (written and produced by Rick James).  There was Patrick Swayze's #3 song "She's Like the Wind," released in 1987.  Bruce Willis's 1987 duet with June Pointer of The Pointer Sisters, covering The Staple Singers' "Respect Yourself," reached #5.

In 1986, Miami Vice star Don Johnson decided to give the music game a try, releasing the album Heartbeat.  Like the others, Johnson's foray into music was brief, but successful.  The album went to #17 on the Billboard album chart and the Top 10 on the album charts in five European countries.  The title track went to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and another song from the album, "Heartache Away," went to #56.

All in all, the album isn't that bad.  It's definitely a mid '80s pop rock album, with plenty of synth, sax, and solos.  Johnson co-wrote a few songs on the album, and he's not a bad singer, channeling Kenny Loggins.  He also had a lot of pretty fantastic help.  In addition to his backing band of Charles Judge on keyboards, Mark Leonard on bass, Chas Sandford on guitar, and Curly Smith on drums, here's the list of contributors:

• Tom Petty and Bob Seger each wrote a song on the album.
• Stevie Ray Vaughan plays guitar on two songs.
• Willie Nelson plays guitar and sings harmonies on a song.
• Bonnie Raitt sings backing vocals or harmonies on two songs.
• Dickie Betts and Dweezil Zappa both play guitar on a song.
• Ron Wood plays guitar and/or provides harmonies on two songs.
• Chicago guitarist and sometimes lead singer Bill Champlin and his wife, singer-songwriter Tamara Champlin, sing backing vocals on five songs, while Bill plays keyboards or organ on three songs.
• Rock singer and the guy who played Murdoc on MacGyver, Michael Des Barres, sings backing vocals on "Coco Don't."
• Legendary harmonica player and longtime Willie Nelson collaborator Mickey Raphael plays harmonica on a song.
• Longtime SNL band members Earl Gardner and Lenny Pickett play horns on two songs.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "The Last Sound Love Makes"
This one is part new wave, part rock, all '80s.  Dweezil Zappa plays the guitar solo, and the Champlins provide backing vocals.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Gotta Get Away"
For all the big names on the album, my favorite song on Side 2 is just the regular band.  This is a nice little rock song that very much sounds like it could be the background music in an '80s movie when the characters are driving out of the city to the coast in a convertible.