Secret Agent (Robin Gibb album)

Secret Agent
Secret Agent
Studio album by Robin Gibb
Released	June 1984 (US) ; July 1984 (UK)
Recorded	March – June 1984
Studio	Criteria (Miami)
Genre	Synth-pop; new wave; dance-pop; Reggae; Latin freestyle;
Label	Mirage/Atco/Atlantic Records (US) ; Polydor Records (UK)
Producer	Robin Gibb; Maurice Gibb; Mark Liggett; Chris Barbosa;
Robin Gibb chronology
Singles from Secret Agent
	"Boys Do Fall in Love"; Released: May 1984; "Secret Agent"; Released: August 1984;

Secret Agent is the third solo album by British singer Robin Gibb, released in 1984. The album enjoyed limited success, mostly in Europe and Australia. The lead single "Boys Do Fall in Love" made the Top 10 in Italy and South Africa.

Background

The album followed on from How Old Are You? the previous year with Robin's twin brother Maurice again co-writing and playing keyboards. Three songs were written by all three Bee Gees, including oldest brother Barry. The album is heavily electronic, relying mostly on multi-layered keyboards with bass and drums played on synthesizers. Recording took place at Criteria Studios as Barry Gibb was occupying the Bee Gees' own Middle Ear studio at the time, recording his solo debut Now Voyager.

Robin and Maurice continued the Bee Gees tradition of "making it up" in the recording studio. Assistant engineer Richard Achor recalled the years when Robin and Maurice would come in with only ideas for songs. Robin wrote lyrics with Maurice, and sometimes they set up drum and synthesizer grooves first, in which a song would work out from that. Maurice played synthesizer and drum machine, but played relatively little on the finished tracks in favor of Rob Kilgore's expertise. Robin had long been interested in the electronic sound and Maurice was a willing accomplice. The concept was to carry on the sound of the big freestyle hit by Shannon, her 1983 song "Let the Music Play", which is why Robin brought in the same producers, Mark Liggett and Chris Barbosa, and musicians Rob Kilgore and Jim Tunnell to work on the album.^[1]

Robin asked Barbosa and Liggett to produce this album. As Barbosa explained: "Robin really wanted a dance hit, he specifically wanted to avoid a Bee Gees sound-alike record."^[2] "The Gibb project was different for us in that way", Liggett added. "We're not usually working with mega budgets, and its better that way. All the money comes out of your pockets anyway."^[2] Gibb said of the album, "I don't like songs of the past. I like to get ahead. These songs are very 1984, maybe even more futuristic."^[3] He further described the record as "very black and urban – it reflects street music."^[3]

Bob Stanley said that Secret Agent dove deeply into "the worlds of Roland, Korg and Fairlight." He said the title track mixed Gibb's melancholy style with contemporary Latin freestyle production, and noted its mid-song "fight scene".^[3] "Robot" is a reggae song with a vocoder, while "In Your Diary" was another heavily electronic track.^[3] Cash Box called "In Your Diary" a "a pleasing piece which suffers slightly from its formula quality, but benefits strongly from the familiar strength of the Gibb’s reliable performance, production and styling."^[4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Robin and Maurice Gibb, except where noted

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Boys Do Fall in Love"	3:50
2.	"In Your Diary" (Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Barry Gibb)	3:41
3.	"Robot"	3:42
4.	"Rebecca"	3:51
5.	"Secret Agent"	4:58

Side two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Living in Another World" (Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Barry Gibb)	3:40
2.	"X-Ray Eyes"	3:53
3.	"King of Fools"	3:40
4.	"Diamonds"	3:57

Personnel

Robin Gibb – lead vocals and backing vocals
Maurice Gibb – synthesizers, drum machine and backing vocals
Robbie Kilgore – synthesizers and guitars
Jimi Tunnell – guitars and backing vocals
Chris Barbosa – sequencers
Lori Ellsworth – backing vocals
Arlene Gold – backing vocals
Cindy Mizelle – backing vocals
Evan Rogers – backing vocals
Audrey Wheeler – backing vocals
Lari White – backing vocals

Production

Chris Barbosa – producer
Maurice Gibb – producer
Robin Gibb – producer
Mark Liggett – producer
Dennis Hetzendorfer – engineer
Richard Achor – assistant engineer
Mike Fuller – mastering
Dick Ashby – project coordinator
Tom Kennedy – project coordinator
Scott Sands – project coordinator
Bob Defrin – artwork
Richard Schmidt – artwork
Mark Tucker – photography

Chart positions

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Swiss Albums Chart	20
US Billboard Top Pop Albums	204
US Cashbox Top Albums	183
West German Media Control Albums Chart	31

References

^ Joseph Brennan. "Gibb Songs: 1984".
^ ^a ^b Weinger, Harry (5 January 1985). Liggett, Barbosa: Let It Play. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Stanley, Bob (2023). "The Bunker". Bee Gees: Children of the World. London: Nine Eight Books. p. 279. ISBN 978-1-7887-0541-7.
^ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 10 November 1984. p. 9. Retrieved 26 July 2022.

[1] Joseph Brennan. "Gibb Songs: 1984".

[hit-2] Weinger, Harry (5 January 1985). Liggett, Barbosa: Let It Play. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

[Stanley-3] Stanley, Bob (2023). "The Bunker". Bee Gees: Children of the World. London: Nine Eight Books. p. 279. ISBN 978-1-7887-0541-7.

[cb-4] "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 10 November 1984. p. 9. Retrieved 26 July 2022.

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