White on Blonde

White on Blonde is the fourth studio album by Scottish rock band Texas, released by Mercury Records on 3 February 1997. The album was the band's first number one, and became their biggest seller. It has been certified 6x Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments of over 1.8 million copies, and has sold 1.65 million as of January 2017.[3]

White on Blonde
Studio album by
Texas
Released3 February 1997
StudioChateau De La Rouge Motte, France
The Church Studios, London
Abbey Road Studios, London
Love Net, Shar's House
Parklane Studios, Glasgow, Scotland
Length47:06
LabelMercury
Producer
Texas chronology
Ricks Road
(1993)		 White on Blonde
(1997)		 The Hush
(1999)
Alternate cover
Japanese bonus cover
Singles from White on Blonde
  1. "Say What You Want"
    Released: 6 January 1997
  2. "Halo"
    Released: 7 April 1997
  3. "Black Eyed Boy"
    Released: 28 July 1997
  4. "Put Your Arms Around Me"
    Released: 3 November 1997
  5. "Insane" / "Say What You Want (All Day, Every Day)"
    Released: 9 March 1998
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Guardian[2]

Background and release

The album includes five UK Top Ten singles: "Say What You Want" (UK #3), "Halo" (UK #10), "Black Eyed Boy" (UK #5), "Put Your Arms Around Me" (UK #10) and "Insane" (UK #4), the latter released as a double A-sided single with "Say What You Want (All Day, Every Day)", a new version of the 1997 hit featuring additional rap vocals by the Wu-Tang Clan.

White on Blonde has been certified 6x Platinum in the UK, which indicates sales of over 1.8 million copies in that territory.[4] The album was also a major success in various European countries, such as France where it peaked at #2 on the French Album Charts. The album was produced by the band themselves, along with Mike Hedges and former Eurythmics star Dave Stewart.[5]

Honours

White on Blonde has received many honours since its release in 1997. It was voted the 86th greatest album of all time by Q magazine readers in 1998.[6] The album is also ranked #34 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime,"[5] included in Q magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s," and included in Q magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1997."[5]

White on Blonde became the first Texas album to top the UK Album Charts and is one of only two Texas albums (along with The Greatest Hits) to be certified 6x Platinum in the United Kingdom.

In 2010, White on Blonde was nominated in the BRIT Awards Best Album in the past 25 years.

On the other hand, White on Blonde was voted the worst Scottish album ever in a 2007 online poll of music fans.[7][8]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."0.34" (Introduction)Johnny McElhone, Sharleen SpiteriTexas0:34
2."Say What You Want"McElhone, SpiteriTexas3:53
3."Drawing Crazy Patterns"McElhone, SpiteriTexas3:52
4."Halo"McElhone, SpiteriTexas, Mike Hedges4:10
5."Put Your Arms Around Me"McElhone, Spiteri, Dave Stewart, Robert HodgensDave Stewart, Texas4:33
6."Insane"McElhone, SpiteriTexas, Hedges4:45
7."Black Eyed Boy"McElhone, Spiteri, Eddie Campbell, Richard Hynd, HodgensTexas3:10
8."Polo Mint City"McElhone, SpiteriTexas1:37
9."White on Blonde"McElhone, SpiteriTexas3:46
10."Postcard"McElhone, SpiteriTexas4:00
11."0.28" (Interlude) Texas0:28
12."Ticket to Lie"McElhone, Spiteri, HodgensTexas3:31
13."Good Advice"McElhone, Spiteri, Mark Rae, Steve ChristianTexas, Rae & Christian4:50
14."Breathless"McElhone, SpiteriTexas, Hedges3:55
15."Sunday Is the Saddest Day" (Japanese bonus track)  4:11
Japanese Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Say What You Want" (Mary Anne Hobbs acoustic session)  
16."Halo" (808 mix)  
17."Black Eyed Boy" (Neo-Northern Bossa Nova mix)McElhone, Spiteri, Campbell, Hynd, Hodgens 
18."Sorry"  
19."Say What You Want" (Rae & Christian mix)  
Interactive Songbook bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Say What You Want" (Music video) 
2."Halo" (Music video) 
3."Black Eyed Boy" (Music video) 
4."Put Your Arms Around Me" (Music video) 
5."Sing Along" 
6."Riff Guide" 
7."Chords" 
8."Three Level Quiz" 

Personnel
Texas
Other Personnel
  • Roger Ward – Guitar
  • Paul Taylor – Programming
  • Alex Silva – Programming, Keyboards
  • Terry Disley – Programming, Keyboards
  • Martin Greene – Strings (Arrangement)
  • Claire Miles – Strings
  • Anne Stephenson – Strings
  • Sally Herbert – Strings
  • Claire Orsler – Strings
  • Susan Dench – Strings
  • Gini Ball – Strings
  • Chris Pitsillide – Strings
  • Steven Granville – Backing vocals

Charts

Charts
Chart (1997) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[9] 25
Austrian Albums Chart 32
Dutch Albums Chart 21
French Albums Chart 2
German Albums Chart 44
New Zealand Albums Chart 36
Norwegian Albums Chart 17
Spanish Albums Chart 4
Swedish Albums Chart 12
Swiss Albums Chart 25
UK Albums Chart 1

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Belgium (BEA)[10] Gold 25,000*
France (SNEP)[11] Platinum 500,000[12]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[13] Gold 7,500^
Sweden (GLF)[14] Gold 40,000^
Spain — 200,000[15]
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[16] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] 6× Platinum 1,652,100[18]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[19] 3× Platinum 3,000,000*
Worldwide N/A 4,000,000 [20]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "White on Blonde – Texas". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  2. Sullivan, Caroline (31 January 1997). "Texas: White on Blonde (Mercury)". The Guardian.
  3. Copsey, Rob (5 January 2017). "20 classic albums that turn 20 years old in 2017". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  4. "Texas - White on Blonde". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  5. "Texas - White On Blonde". CD Universe. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  6. "The 100 Greatest Albums in the Universe", Q, February 1998
  7. "Texas Album is 'Worst Scottish Record'". Daily Record. 23 October 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  8. "Texas top chart.. of bad CDs". TheFreeLibrary.com. Mirror. 23 October 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  9. "australian-charts.com > Texas discography". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  10. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 1997". Ultratop. Hung Medien.
  11. "Les Certifications depuis 1973: Albums". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 18 December 2019. (select "Texas" from drop-down list)
  12. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (17 April 1999). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 88 – via Internet Archive. White on Blonde texas album sales. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  13. "New Zealand album certifications – Texas – White on Blonde". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  14. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  15. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (4 March 2000). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 74 – via Internet Archive. texas the hush album sales. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  16. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Texas; 'White on Blonde')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  17. "British album certifications – Texas – White on Blonde". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type White on Blonde in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  18. Jones, Alan (28 April 2017). "Official Charts Analysis: Ed Sheeran makes it eight weeks on top of the albums chart". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  19. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2003". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  20. Alcaraz, Bruno. "Texas On Line - The 99 'Total Guitar' Article". balcar.free.fr.
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