Airborne (Curved Air album)

Airborne is the sixth studio album by Curved Air and was recorded in 1976. Like their last few releases, it was not a significant commercial success. After a follow-up non-album single, "Baby Please Don't Go" b/w "Broken Lady", the group disbanded. Drummer Stewart Copeland went on to form The Police, while violinist Darryl Way and lead singer Sonja Kristina both pursued solo careers. Bassist Reeves and guitarist Jacques both later became members of the semi-pro band Big Chief.

The Police covered "Kids to Blame" in their early performances, using a stripped-down punk arrangement of the song. Stewart Copeland also reused a guitar riff from "Desiree" in his hit solo single "Don't Care".

Background and recording

The album sessions marked the debut of Stewart Copeland as a songwriter. Around the release of Midnight Wire, he was informed about publishing royalties for songwriters, and responded by churning out compositions until the band accepted a few of his contributions.^[1]

Producer Dennis McKay quit the project midway through recording, leaving the remaining four tracks to be produced by Curved Air themselves.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[2]

Allmusic described Airborne as an overlooked record and "a strong summation of all that made the group so important in the first place." While appraising the album as a whole as weaker than their first three, claiming it veers towards generic 1970s rock, they regarded "Desiree" and "Heaven (Never Seemed So Far Away)" as equal to anything on the band's strongest releases.^[2]

Track listing

Music and lyrics credits per original issue on BTM records.

Side one
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Desiree"	Stewart Copeland, Sonja Kristina	Mick Jacques, Stewart Copeland	3:12
2.	"Kids to Blame"	Norma Tager	Copeland	3:19
3.	"Broken Lady"	Kristina	Tony Reeves	3:13
4.	"Juno"	Darryl Way	Darryl Way	3:23
5.	"Touch of Tequila"	Kristina	Jacques, Reeves	3:49

Side two
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
6.	"Moonshine"	Way	Way	11:36
7.	"Heaven (Never Seemed So Far Away)"	Copeland, Stuart Lyons	Copeland	3:18
8.	"Hot and Bothered"	Tager	Jacques	2:53
9.	"Dazed"	Way	Way	4:17

Bonus track on CD issues
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
10.	"Baby Please Don't Go"	Big Joe Williams	Big Joe Williams	2:31

Personnel

Curved Air

Sonja Kristina – vocals
Darryl Way – violin, keyboards
Tony Reeves – bass, keyboards, double bass on "Broken Lady"
Stewart Copeland – drums
Mick Jacques – guitars

Guest musicians

Robin Lumley – piano on "Broken Lady"
Alan Skidmore – saxophone on "Hot & Bothered"
Henry Lowther – trumpet on "Hot & Bothered"
Frank Ricotti – congas
Jack Emblow – accordion on "Broken Lady"
Bob Sargeant – organ on "Desiree" and "Kids to Blame"

Additional credits

Tracks 3-5, 7, and 8 produced by Dennis McKay
Tracks 1, 2, 6, and 9 produced by Curved Air
Track 10 produced by Tony Reeves

References

↑ Sutcliffe, Phil & Fielder, Hugh (1981). L'Historia Bandido. London and New York: Proteus Books. ISBN 0-906071-66-6. p. 16.
1 2 Thompson, Dave. Airborne at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-06-18.

Curved Air

Sonja Kristina Florian Pilkington-Miksa Kirby Gregory Chris Harris Robert Norton Paul Sax Darryl Way Francis Monkman Rob Martin Ian Eyre Mike Wedgwood Eddie Jobson Jim Russell Phil Kohn Stewart Copeland Mick Jacques Tony Reeves Alex Richman Andy Christie Kit Morgan

Studio albums	Air Conditioning Second Album Phantasmagoria Air Cut Midnight Wire Airborne Lovechild North Star

Live albums	Live Live At The BBC Alive, 1990

Hit single	"Back Street Luv"

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