Don Johnson - Heartbeat (1986)

"Heartbeat" is an album released by American television actor Don Johnson in 1986 on the Epic/CBS Records label. In the United States, the album reached #17 on the Billboard 200 album chart in October 1986. One can't really discuss the 80s without discussing Don Johnson, and one can't really love the 80s without loving the actor who defined the decade. Realistically, it's a sturdy, serviceable corporate pop/rock record. It's obvious the record company wanted to cash in on the Vice craze in a big way. This album boasts big-name talent like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Ron Wood and others on vocals and backing tracks, and more big-name talent like Bog Seger and Tom Petty helping out with songwriting. The sound has an eighties production sheen, but avoids the cheesy keyboards and actually sounds pretty muscular on tracks like "Last Sound Love Makes" and "Gotta Get Away." The one indulgence I will allow myself, as a DJ fan, is to go over the top in my description of the album closer, "Can't Take your Memory." A beautiful piano-driven ballad, Don delivers a vocal of striking power and emotion. I really believe you could play this track in a "blind" test, and most folks would herald the dude singing it as a major undiscovered talent. But, alas, he is Don Johnson. A joke to many, a hero to some and a major talent nonetheless.

Track List:
01. "Heartbeat" (Eric Kaz, Wendy Waldman) - 4:20
02. "Voice on a Hotline" (Bill LaBounty, K. Wakefield) - 4:00
03. "The Last Sound Love Makes" (J. Capek, S. Egorin, T. Sciuto) - 4:29
04. "Lost in Your Eyes" (Tom Petty) - 4:30
05. "Coco Don't" (Peter Kaye) - 3:31
06. "Heartache Away" (S. Cochran) - 4:50
07. "Love Roulette" - 5:19
08. "Star Tonight" (Bob Seger) (feat. backing vocals by Willie Nelson) - 2:54
09. "Gotta Get Away" (Chas Sandford) - 4:26
10. "Can't Take Your Memory"(Don Johnson, Curly Smith) - 4:28

Release Date: Oct. 1986
Label: CBS
Genre: Rock
Playtime: 43:07
Producers: Keith Diamond, Chas Sandford
Engineers: David Axelbaum, Acar S. Key, Gary McGachan, Peter Robbins, Bob Ross
Mixing: Gary McGachan, Chas Sandford
Mastering: Stephen Marcussen
Strings Arranged By: Leon Pendarvis
Horns Arranged By: Leon Pendarvis, Lenny Pickett, Danny Wilensky

Personnel:
Vocals - Don Johnson
Drums - Omar Hakim, John Keane, J.T. Lewis, Terry Silverlight, Curly Smith
Percussion - Keith Diamond, Bashiri Johnson, Acar S. Key
Bass - Wayne Braithwaite, Keith Diamond, Mark Leonard, Larry Russell
Keyboards - Bill Champlin, Keith Diamond
Guitars - Dickey Betts, Kennan Keating, Paul Pesco, David Resnik, Chas Sandford, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ron Wood, Dweezil Zappa
Saxophone - Lenny Pickett, Danny Wilensky
Harmonica - Mickey Raphael
Horns - Chris Botti, Joseph J. Sheply, George Young