Making Waves (The Nolans album)

Making Waves
Studio album by The Nolans
Released	17 October 1980
Recorded	Early-Mid 1980
Genre	Pop, MOR
Label	Epic
Producer	Ben Findon, Nicky Graham
The Nolans chronology
Nolan Sisters (1979) Making Waves (1980) Portrait (1982)

Making Waves is a 1980 album released by the pop group The Nolans. In the UK, the album went gold and featured four top 20 singles. Worldwide it became their biggest-selling album, being certified double platinum in Australia and reaching No.1 in Japan.^[1]

Background

The Nolans began working on Making Waves shortly after their name change in early 1980. The single "Don't Make Waves", taken from the album and released in April 1980, reached number 12 on the UK charts. In mid-1980, Anne left the group and Coleen became an official member of the group, and recorded the remainder of the songs with them for Making Waves, including "Gotta Pull Myself Together," which would later take the No.9 spot on the UK charts.

The album was released in October 1980, and tracks "Who's Gonna Rock You" and "Attention to Me" went on to be released from the album, both of them becoming UK top 20 hits.^[2] The album was a similar success, peaking at No.11 and spending 33 weeks in the charts, their longest run in the UK.^[3] It was certified gold by the BPI for sales of over 100,000.^[4] The album reached No.1 in Japan - their biggest market, where it was released as 恋のハッピー・デート (Happy Dating Love).^[5] It became the ninth biggest-selling album of 1981 there.^[6] In Australia, the album was released with an earlier single "I'm in the Mood for Dancing" included, which also featured on the Japanese version, replacing "Sexy Music", which instead was the title track to their next album (a compilation). In Australia the album was a success, being awarded double platinum.^[7]

The songs were produced separately by two producers, Ben Findon, who was responsible for the pop-orientated tracks like "Gotta Pull Myself Together" and "Attention to Me", while Nicky Graham produced the more disco-themed songs such as "Who's Gonna Rock You" and "Lead Me On". Significant other songs included "Touch Me in the Morning", a cover of the Diana Ross hit and "Sexy Music", which was released as a single in Japan after winning the 1981 Tokyo Music Festival.

Track listing

Side One

1. "Gotta Pull Myself Together" (2.42)
2. "Don't Make Waves" (3.39)
3. "Touch Me in the Morning" (4.09)
4. "Don't Stoke the Fire" (2.42)
5. "Better Late than Never" (2.56)
6. "Sexy Music" (3.31)

Side Two

1. "Who's Gonna Rock You" (3.29)
2. "Attention to Me" (3.04)
3. "Old Feelings Again" (2.30)
4. "Lead Me On" (3.00)
5. "Directions of Love" (2.50)
6. "Get Ready" (3.39)

Producers:

• Ben Findon: Side One, tracks 1,2,4,5,6, Side Two tracks 2,3,5
• Nicky Graham: Side One, track 3, Side Two, tracks 1,4,6

Chart performance

Release date	Single title																																																																UK Chart position
April 1980	"Don't Make Waves"																																																																12
September 1980	"Gotta Pull Myself Together"																																																																9
December 1980	"Who's Gonna Rock You"																																																																12
April 1981	"Attention to Me"																																																																9
Release date	Album title																																																																UK Chart position
October 1980	Making Waves																																																																11

References

1. ^ Making Waves chart info
2. ^ Chartstats.com | UK Chart discography
3. ^ Chartstats.com | Making Waves Chart details
4. ^ BPI - Certification history
5. ^ Oricon Number one albums of the 1980s
6. ^ Oricon Charts - top selling albums of 1981
7. ^ Tony Clayman.com | Bernie Nolan CV - Awards

Preceded by Koibito yo by Mayumi Itsuwa

Japanese Oricon LP Chart number-one album February 9–15, 1981 - (1 week)

Succeeded by Bucchigiri II by T.C.R. Yokohama Ginbae R.S.