I’m always fascinated to see how major 70s artists navigated the musical and cultural shift to the 80s. Many a legend ended up with embarrassing fashion and production detours into the gaudy excess of the neon era.

Linda Ronstadt made the transition relatively unscathed.

Her 1978 release Living in the U.S.A. still felt very much of its decade, with Ronstadt on roller skates sporting short shorts and a tight perm. The song selection skewed a little more rock than her previous releases and included covers of a couple of Elvises: Presley’s ‘Love Me Tender’ and Costello’s ‘Alison.’

The bigger shift came with 1980’s Mad Love, a strange collection that leaned in to the New Wave movement. Ronstadt covered three more Costello songs (‘Party Girl,’ ‘Girls Talk,’ and ‘Talking in the Dark’) as well as a trio of tracks by the L.A. power pop band The Cretones.

Lead single ‘How Do I Make You’ — the brashest song she’d recorded to date — reached #10 on the Hot 100, and an aggressive cover of the Little Anthony & The Imperials ballad ‘Hurts So Bad’ made it to #8.

Both of these albums topped a million in sales, extending her record-making streak to seven straight Platinum releases.

Mad Love must have gotten the 80s trend out of her system, because she quickly shifted her attention to performing on Broadway and exploring the Great American Songbook (more to come on both of those detours later this week). But she still owed another album to her label, so she went back to her country rock roots with 1982’s Get Closer.

That album was a commercial disappointment, breaking her million-selling streak but still managing to go Gold. She sounds great but the song selection is lacking. It’s the first Ronstadt album that feels like it’s looking back rather than forward.

That’s not a mistake she’d ever make again.

🎵 Part of the Linda Ronstadt Deep Dive 🎵
This post is part of my exploration of Linda Ronstadt’s studio catalog.
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